Practical tips and tutorials from pro artists to improve your CG skills
SOFT WARE: KEYSHOT
Amy Thompson, Belfast
Paul Hatton replies
KeyShot provides powerful yet simple-to-use rendering tools through both a standalone package and a plugin for all the best-known DCC applications. Whichever workflow you pick will depend on your circumstances, but either way you’ll get incredible lighting, materials and camera tools to help bring your models to life.
Setting up the cameras is one of the most impor tant parts of any 3D artist’s workflow. To get the best results, it requires creativity, technical knowledge, and mastery over the software. Thankfully, KeyShot does an incredible job of making the process as straightforward as possible while still providing more advanced tools like depth of field functionality.
Many camera shots are defined as cinematic because of their stylised colour grading or inclusion of film noise. Postproduction effects like this are outside the scope of this Q&A, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a huge amount that we can achieve in-camera with KeyShot.
When using KeyShot, we’re able to position our cameras in specific ways that communicate a narrative, as well as introduce lens effects and depth of field bokeh to images. The impor tance of the position of the camera is often overlooked or under valued in the pursuit of storytelling, but it’s vitally impor tant.
Let’s take character visualisation as an example. Through the camera angle, it’s possible to present a character in a specific way. A high angle above the character makes them seem vulnerable and insignificant, while a low angle, on the flip side, makes the character seem bigger and more ominous. The best thing to do is just experiment with different angles and see how each one makes you feel. KeyShot is ideal for this because the results are displayed in real-time.
Paul Hatton After graduating with a first-class computer science degree, Paul Hatton has spent nearly two decades working within the 3D visualisation industry. bit.ly/3vuv0AT
Mike Griggs Mike Griggs is a digital content creator with over two decades of experience creating VFX and CGI for a wide range of clients. www.creativebloke.com
Glen Southern Glen runs SouthernGFX, a small Cheshire-based studio specialising in character and creature design. He is a Wacom ambassador, VR Artist, and accredited ZBrush instructor. youtube.com/c/SouthernGFX/videos
Pietro Chiovaro Pietro is a freelance 3D artist and YouTuber. An expert in the creation of game assets and environments, he shares many of his creations on his channel. www.pietrochiovaro.com
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