Mountain House
This one is my favourite of the two. I love the lighting (I know, it sounds big-headed, but I am just really pleased with the way the lighting has turned out) and the trees. The trees aren't even modelled; they are images on a plane with an alpha map over the top to make the background of the image transparent. It is an incredibly efficient way of displaying trees in the background rather than modelling them. Of course, for up close trees, I would model them to capture the details.
A various array of techniques were used to model this scene, from box modelling for the main building to proxies for the grass. I used a free Max Script for the boulders; it's called Rock Generator and you can manipulate the different values within the window to change the shape and detail of the rocks/boulders.
I did do post processing in Photoshop; this included some colour correction to generally darken the image and I added the mountain range in the background. I also added some small lens flares to the lights in the scene to add some more realism.
This project was incredibly fun to do and I can't wait to do more like it!
For other images please visit the project page on my Behance.
Futuristic Corridor
This is another environment scene, where I was going for a futuristic feel. Again, box modelling was used to model most of the objects in the scene; some used smoothing and others didn't. There is a rather nifty tool within 3DS Max called "Swift Loop" which is used to add a loop of edges onto an object. So I can apply a turbosmooth modifier to an object, which rounds out the corners, essentially. This isn't ideal for something like a door frame, so I can use the swift loop tool with the turbosmooth showing and add a loop of edges to the corners to straighten them out again, but keeping the general smoothness of the whole object. This technique leads you away from chamfering complicated objects, which can result in weird and annoying outcomes.
To create the hose on the floor, the main pipe and the three smaller pipes, I used the Loft object. It's such a nice and quick way of creating long, cylindrical objects. I simply created a spline; in this case I used a line - and laid out the positions of the vertices (so if I wanted a bend in the pipe/hose) and then created a small circle spline off to the side. Using the loft object, with the line selected, I click the circle spline and a 3D mesh appears on top of the line with the same circumference and diameter of the circle. I can then adjust some settings to alter the appearance of the pipe as I see fit.
Again, a little bit of post processing was done in Photoshop to correct some colours and combine the beauty and alpha passes to create the final image above.
I had fun doing this project as I thoroughly enjoy interior and environmental modelling. To see better quality images, visit the project page on my Behance.
That's all for now! I'm currently working on a new project; a car. I'm not overly fond of car modelling but I feel that if I have it in my skill set, it will prove an advantage later on.
