Chaos Corona Forum
General Category => Gallery => Topic started by: bartosz.domiczek on 2018-04-29, 16:00:45
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Hi!
Here's my most recent project which was made for Ronen Bekerman's Cabins Challenge. The goal was to visualize the prefab cabin in a location of choice. My design is placed in Icelandic Thórsmörk and I made several different scenes to show various aspects of the place (from quite barren hills to thick woody areas). The cabins themselves are formed as white ephemeral monoliths, contrasting with the organic surrounding and being something between the reminiscence of the ancient dwelling built around the fireplace and the idea of Nordic gods standing in the row on a mountain ridge.
I've been working on it in my free time since January so it got pretty vast and may seem kind of visually inconsistent. However, it's not to be a tailored commercial set so I feel free to share everything that was created.
The project is full CGI, including the landscaping in the backgrounds. High res images: https://www.behance.net/gallery/64980791/Northern-Wisps (https://www.behance.net/gallery/64980791/Northern-Wisps)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/51b65664980791.5b030e5594f39.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/ee274f64980791.5ae54c24f03c7.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/51874164980791.5ae440fd1af8e.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/560b8064980791.5ae440fd1c3b5.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/4a3a9464980791.5ae440fd199fd.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/1a623064980791.5ae440fd1d7ab.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/7dc28164980791.5ae440fd1fd7c.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/d4772c64980791.5ae440fd1c84c.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/c56d9864980791.5ae440fd19e02.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/a98cef64980791.5ae440fd1a8ec.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/5457af64980791.5ae440fd1de27.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/16e95464980791.5ae440fd1e7bc.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/1d93ec64980791.5ae440fd1cc51.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/226f3f64980791.5ae440fd195f0.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/e7785864980791.5ae440fd1ec49.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/22bcc664980791.5ae440fd1a2eb.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/401fb364980791.5ae440fd1e307.jpg)
(https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_3840/c32e4864980791.5ae440fd1b856.jpg)
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Very Very Nice , well done. Fantastic Detail.
phil
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Saw this on Behance and couldn't take my eyes off. Very creative and distinct piece of work. I like the artistic approach that you took to represent your work and I believe the inconsistency between your images just goes to show how much effort and conceptual thinking you put in this work.
Congratulations on being patient and producing such beautiful visuals. Even if these don't win you the contest, I think they will amaze any future client/employer. Great job!
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Every piece of this is absolutely mindblowing!
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These are just beautiful !
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This is crazy beautiful! Stunning work.
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Beautiful work!
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wow.... amazing work! So beautiful!
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beautiful work :-)
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wow !! stunning images ! several closeup shots are particularly amazing. Congratulations :)
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I'm in total awe. This is fantastic!
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So so so good! :))
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Outrageously high quality, these are amazing images +1
Can you elaborate on the material and the geometry that form the cabin? There is a lot of translucency and light interplay between the surfaces inside and outside the cabin.
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wow amazing
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FANTASTIC!!
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Thank you, guys. That's really a heart-warming reaction.
cjwidd > there's a lot that I could elaborate on here. Generally, the transition was inspired by contemporary polycarbonate facades from Japan. I wanted this form to have a very uniform look on the outside (being some idealized reminiscence of an original shelter as well as contrasting with rough surrounding) while retaining subtle details on many levels of the surface. In the end, it's some unspecified fluoropolymer. Of course, one can argue that closing the direct view from the inside onto the spectacular surrounding is merely a mistake but frankly, there are many arguable solutions here and this project is mainly to be a fun with CGI; to build upon some slightly naive poetry. I just like to think about the inside as of the shelter besieged by the reckless nature during long, cold nights.
Technically, the mesh is from Marvelous Designer, refined in Zbrush. The corona material is made from scratch as the effect of a long testing with various lighting conditions. It has both translucency and some blurred refraction. Diffuse and translucency are combined from several textures of plastics from Megascans. There is also some smudgy dirt in glossiness and normal.
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You are heartless! How should we other peasants feel after seeing this...
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Nothing to say except it's beautiful! I've seen the entry already but I'm blown away every time! Keep up the good work
edit: Did you plan to do a making-of? That would be great To see your approach on that one!
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Thank you!
Fluss> yes, I think I will make it. I just need to think about its form since the project is a bit too vast to cover it thoroughly.
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SO FUCKNG AMAZING
You should submit this to the CG Awards. Seriously.
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Truly amazing stuff! Great Images!
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wow, really amazing.
how did you go about making the terrain?
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Amazing work! Congratulations!
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Thank you very much.
how did you go about making the terrain?
I will probably write more about it in some making-of. Especially that I'd probably change a few elements of the workflow. Generally speaking, there are background and foreground assets. The first one (ie. Thorsmork valley, some single mountains, rocky areas) were created from the scratch in world machine and sculpted a bit in zbrush. I prepared a bunch of scattering sets distributed according to the world machines maps but in the end, I turned them off because they were barely visible in the environment fog and simultaneously quite resource demanding while being rendered. The foreground terrains (the ones where all the environment assets, as well as the cabins themselves, were placed on) were started in low-poly in 3ds max. After getting the rough shape, I placed crucial elements (cabins, rock formations creating the cliffs, etc.) and continued high-poly detailing in their context (I also moved to zbrush for a while to get some extra tweaks but it wasn't that necessary because the low vegetation covered most of it).
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Looking at your portfolio, I am very impressed by the amount of personal projects you manage to pump out.
It's rare to see such consistency and drive to do so.
I know this is mostly a personal quality, rather innate, but should you ever have time to write about how you go month-by-month about you CGI work I would be very interested.
Of course, you might just write "I am very disciplined" :- ), but even in that case you don't seem to suffer from quite common fatigue from the subject.
It's a thing that comes up lately a lot in discussions and I see that fatigue heavily on myself. Lately, instead of working on hobby project, I've rather play God of War.
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I haven't played anything since Witcher 3 and I rather see my fatigue growing in this field. : ) I can only turn on a new game to appreciate some technical aspects and then instantly get this ineluctable pop in my head warning about wasting my time. On the other hand, I am quite the opposite of "disciplined" and I am genuinely wasting hours on ineffective indolence (I guess it doesn't switch that pop on).
But to answer your question about the source of my drive:
Firstly, I don't think that my commercial commissions are satisfying enough in terms of creativity. They are often rushed, with hectic deadlines, and require a lot of mediocre design work. I cannot complain but I would easily get burnt off if not for my personal projects. It's also not that long since I decided I would like to focus totally on arch-viz and I just need to craft my career a bit into that direction since my client base is at the moment pretty random, spanning from vfx industry to advertisement.
Secondly, I have some constantly insatiate hunger for it. I get inspired a lot on a daily basis and my head is crowded with unrealized ideas. Making them come to life is still one of my biggest joys. I have also this kind of affliction that makes me really positive about the stuff I am currently working on and really negative as soon as it's finished. It may not sound that great but it really pushes me forward.
On the other hand, I am pretty impatient and try to work smart and fast. I buy, re-use, adapt, fake as much as possible, which is not my preference at all but I have learned to accept it. I look with some hints of envy at artists that create their intricate works entirely with their own hands in every crazy detail.
I must also admit in the end that I probably just work too much and it'd be much healthier if I did less. : )
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Amazing work!!!!
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But to answer your question about the source of my drive:
Firstly, I don't think that my commercial commissions are satisfying enough in terms of creativity. They are often rushed, with hectic deadlines, and require a lot of mediocre design work. I cannot complain but I would easily get burnt off if not for my personal projects. It's also not that long since I decided I would like to focus totally on arch-viz and I just need to craft my career a bit into that direction since my client base is at the moment pretty random, spanning from vfx industry to advertisement.
Secondly, I have some constantly insatiate hunger for it. I get inspired a lot on a daily basis and my head is crowded with unrealized ideas. Making them come to life is still one of my biggest joys. I have also this kind of affliction that makes me really positive about the stuff I am currently working on and really negative as soon as it's finished. It may not sound that great but it really pushes me forward.
On the other hand, I am pretty impatient and try to work smart and fast. I buy, re-use, adapt, fake as much as possible, which is not my preference at all but I have learned to accept it. I look with some hints of envy at artists that create their intricate works entirely with their own hands in every crazy detail.
I must also admit in the end that I probably just work too much and it'd be much healthier if I did less. : )
I gotta say that I can identify with all this very well. I personally havent really found a solution for me yet. I do have the same problems you descibe which often leave me exhausted and lacking the drive to do more.
Finding the balance between perfectionism and speed is another problem. Its also not what i want but I figuered latley that I have to accept it.
What I actually wanted to say is, you kind of hit the sweet spot in all this crazy complexity. Thats really something to be proud of. Well done once again!
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Excellent work. Love everything about it. I also do personal work as well mostly for practice and trying to achieve exactly what I want. I tend to create every intricate detail down to the tiniest in modelling and texturing everything by hand as this gives me complete control over the final look and feel of the completed work but when working with clients speed is also vital as well as managing assets efficiently. So faking stuff or reuse, re-adapt or buying isn't a bag thing. The end result is what matters. I think finding a balance on when and how is an important thing.
I myself am learning to not always use handpainted textures unless when necessary (although this has been very useful as I can now create very high res textures from scratch for any asset I need, no need to search for difficult to find textures, better understanding of how materials should look, how textures should look with respect to natural lighting), use premade models if I have to, maybe fake stuff if it's taking too much time (but I love my raw renders looking good with no post process so I tend to work towards everything looking nice and crisp straight from renderer especially lighting and materials). I think what u have is a practical skill which is enviable, if your end result looks as good as this. I remember reading somewhere that the maker of the Third and seventh, Alex Roman uses premade models,as he doesn't see the need in modelling something that is already available as its a waste of time, like wise Koola ue4. So they have more time to focus on creating great looking renders.
EDIT: Alex Roman interview here:
https://evermotion.org/articles/show/8268/alex-roman-i-love-architecture
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Thanks for sharing your points of view. Creating a decent looking, neatly unwrapped model can be satisfying, especially when shared with the rest of the community. My problem is that even if I prepare something for myself, it so much tailored to fit just my needs that I'd be ashamed to make it available to the others. You summoned the name of Alex Roman and I really identify with his approach. On the other hand, I would also mention here Marek Denko as the person who seems to be the titan of labor at all levels of a project. I don't know him personally but (as for the fan) his personal works seem to be really persistent. I am also dazzled how he is able to pull out just the one and only perfect image. If I did all his work with the scene creation, I would probably not be able to resist to plug all the different HDRIs and rotate the sun like crazy. So I'd end up with about ten images (certainly couldn't choose the best) with a way less influence than his one. That would be so much fun though.
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Marek Denko is a very talented artist. I love his personal projects. I think his projects takes considerable time since he makes every thing himself. The truth is quality work takes time to ensure the best is achieved. If I remember from watching some interviews of some of the world top archviz studios, projects take up to 6 months and it is nice to know some clients have come to understand the need for time to get the best quality of a project. If u also check out work by Jesus Selvera (Zuliban) (very talented artist), his projects take time as well. This may also be due to working on it on and off. Quality work should not be rushed.
I agree with Alex Roman's approach as well. I remember a discussion I had not too long ago with a friend. He mentioned how some areas of cg will be handled differently in the next 3 to 5 years. Modeling everything by hand is going to be a thing of the past. We already have photogrammetry which is being adopted very fast in the industry for games, films and archviz. This is a faster approach for both modeling and texturing rather than doing everthing by hand. In the possible future, there are talks of AI handling modeling assets. I remember how certain 3d artists used to feel about using character creation softwares like DAZ or Poser being unoriginal work but currently, scanning is being used for characters these days for games. It's all about speed and quality. I have always watched the industry closely and I remember during my masters degree course, noticing how game engines would change the archviz industry. My fellow coursemates thought otherwise. So I always advice that observation is key, and trying to get with where the industry is moving towards. The fact is ''clients don't really care about the process, it's the end result that matters'' feng zhu used to say this. He is an awesome concept artist. I think sometimes, we get too purist about things when practicality should be the norm.
For a lot of us, freelancers, time is money as a lot of clients want work done in a week or two. So here is where the balance need to be worked out. So I have realized, putting every detail in takes time (I would very much love to add them if I have the time) but a satisfied client is also important. So if u are very fast and the quality of your work doesn't suffer or get compromised, even better.
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Thank you for giving a glimpse into your perspective. I may be giving some speech next month about things connected with the personal work routine and this topic can help me shape it in my mind. I am also sorry if I get too random and disorganized with my thoughts.
To be honest, I am very defensive about my work. We are made to be quite a bit 3d generalists in arch-viz industry so I juggle with software trying to learn on a daily basis but I feel to be merely scratching a surface everywhere. Sort of the consumer of a user-friendly, egalitarian, nicely crafted set of tools than any kind of a creator. You mentioned AI in the context of the changing industry and I often try to figure out how easily I could be replaced by AI with my job. A lot of people deem the artistic values as irreplaceable but for me, it seems just a snap. A few classic principles, learning on errors and maybe some random dose of a bizarre.
But I don't want to sound too negative. Actually, I am not negative at all (probably just a bit concerned within this inertia of the change) and love the fact that we have nowadays the access to that abundance of sources. It has never been easier and faster to get the magic out of the render button and we start to be able to pull off the projects that used to require at least a small team a few years ago. There is also something a bit ethically reassuring about the photogrammetry as it's bereft of this personal creation aspect that custom 3d modeling used to have. It is like getting the genuine bricks of the world and playing gods with them.
To sum up this bipolar disorder: I have a problem with appreciating my own work but also a lot of fun with doing it. My commercial endeavors are nearly always compromised by the aspect of time (to the point of producing 20 renderings a day) and I see this impatience projected into the personal work as well. But I notice that images finished within 30 minutes are sometimes way better than the one crafted for days in sweat and tears so I probably start to understand the value of the simple and fresh approach prevailing upon the over-complicated solutions. A bit like an impressionist painting juxtaposed with some tiresome academic piece.
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Well it's already been said, but...WOW!
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Not at all. I am also learning from this discussion as well and I think the points u have raised are important.
I strongly believe that artist should try to evolve as technologies concerning 3d art does. I think the techniques for photogrammetry is going to evolve where 3d assets can be created even faster. We already have megascan, substance designer that works towards getting things done faster.
As for AI taking our jobs, I think that is less likely to happen. Tools have always evolved in every industry freeing more time for creativity. I still think that will be in the next 7 to 8 years. So picture an artist posting a work saying this AI maybe Setana was used to create this apartment in 4mins. I do think there are informations or language u have to feed the AI for it to produce the end result. That itself would require a certain amount of skill. So maybe a job category will be created for people who are good at using Ai to create worlds and environment.
There will always be need for people who are skilled at using certain tools to produce something especially if the quality required is met and its even faster.
If u are faster at creating personal projects as a result of the commercial ones. I see that as a good thing. It encourages you to learn more things and try out different techniques. From my dabbling with game engines, I have learnt a lot about resourcefulness and how not to waste assets, textures e.t.c. Streamline techniques and other stuff. It has been a very eye opening experience especially how gorgeous games nowadays look like God of War. Imagine a client exploring a forest before getting to the main house, or driving a car along a road before getting to the main house similar to the existing site. The possiblities are endless and there is a likelihood of clients wanting this in the not too distant future.
I know change may be sudden or threatening but sometimes, looking at how such technologies would work to one's benefit or advantage is another way of looking at it. :- )
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Lovely project. I first saw this at the very beginning and i saw the potential in this work. great design !! Love those small little "houses".
I would have keep my images down though. Cause there is some very good images and there is some that i think doesnt match up at all.
Overall great design and good materials and feeling.
1,3,5,6,9,12,13,14,15,16 good images the rest...really gives the project a minus side..
/DIA
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts. As I wrote in the first post, I know that there are better and worse images here but I decided to attach everything for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, I asked a few friends within the industry about the entire set and their favorites before making this project public. I had my own picks but I was certainly biased as the author. Surprisingly, their answers were really scattered and some of them even voted as the best the renderings you crossed out.
Secondly, it is a competition project and I think that this kind of work should be openly shared with the community, all flaws included. Therefore feel free to elaborate on what you don't like. I think that in most cases it would fit with my own feelings.
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Just saw your making-of on Ronen's page and thought I should look this up on the Corona forum. I was pretty sure I'll find something. An here we are XD
I really envy you for all the fun you had on this amazing project. I simply love the lighting and the composition. In my opinion these are very important, even more so than texturing or modeling. Specially in archviz.
Like the discussion about burnouts and non-commercial projects. Very interesting stuff. Lately I am a bit frustrated with all the tools available that I never use because there is simply no time to incorporate them into commercial projects.
I would really love to use Megascan or Substance designer, even Marvelous is to much of a hassle. Clients simply don't pay you enough , so you end up buying assets.
As I said, I love your lighting. So I'm curious if you have any background in photography or film. The same goes for post-production. Most of you work with interior shots simply looks amazing and I would like to know what is you usual go-to software.
In my opinion Corona is great to get an idea of the final image but in most cases you still have to do post in an external software.
Hope you are already working on your next thing.
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Congrats on the win. You really did exceptional work here. Saw your making of on ronen bekerman. Very informative :- )
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I have no words. Compliments!!!
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Thank you, guys!
Sorry for the late reply but it's my vacation time. : )
Like the discussion about burnouts and non-commercial projects. Very interesting stuff. Lately I am a bit frustrated with all the tools available that I never use because there is simply no time to incorporate them into commercial projects.
I would really love to use Megascan or Substance designer, even Marvelous is to much of a hassle. Clients simply don't pay you enough , so you end up buying assets.
I understand you well. I rarely try new tools when having a commercial commission. That's why a personal work is so important for me. If not for it, I would be probably burned out for a long time, possessing just a very basic skill set.
As I said, I love your lighting. So I'm curious if you have any background in photography or film.
Not really. My background is rather traditional art and architecture but certainly, I am interested in film and photography as probably most of us do.
The same goes for post-production. Most of you work with interior shots simply looks amazing and I would like to know what is you usual go-to software.
In my opinion Corona is great to get an idea of the final image but in most cases you still have to do post in an external software.
I used to work with ArionFX when dealing with rendering on V-ray but I don't find this need anymore with Corona. Maybe just slightest adjustments are all it takes. I always try to minimalize the amount of necessary postwork.
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Thank you, guys!
Sorry for the late reply but it's my vacation time. : )
Thanks for your reply. Don't worry, sadly I have little time to read trough the forum.
I used to work with ArionFX when dealing with rendering on V-ray but I don't find this need anymore with Corona. Maybe just slightest adjustments are all it takes. I always try to minimalize the amount of necessary post-work.
That is exactly the way I do it right now. Always try to solve everything before render-time and than go to post. Right now I am looking into CaptureOne, since I don't see a reason to use video editing software that is far to complicated and I'm getting tired of Photoshop and CameraRaw. It looks like a god alternative and the tools are very well designed.
Congrats again on your win and enjoy your vacation
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Woah, congratz on this one! All the images look truly stunning and amazing. I love the night shots where you really see the structure of the cloth!
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So it's this project yet one more time. It's been recently nominated for CGAwards, which I am really grateful for.
I promised to make some cinematic piece and I guess it's finally done. It wasn't easy to create any kind of narration when actually starting from the end (ie. having the scene ready). Thus it may feel somehow coerced but I haven't had time to re-interpret it from scratch into something different.
I am glad I can move on now into some new endeavours. : )
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What the hell did I just watch? I'm going to take a smoke break, and watch it again. ; )
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sounds like horror movie, cool!
we are waiting making of =)
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sprayer> do you mean the making of the video or the project generally? Because if it's the latter, then the making-of has been at Ronen's website for over the month. : )
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It reminded me (in style and theme) of the alien planet sequences from "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (though I can't say I remember those sequences ALL that clearly, but it was what popped into my head!) Cool stuff :)
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It reminded me (in style and theme) of the alien planet sequences from "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (though I can't say I remember those sequences ALL that clearly, but it was what popped into my head!) Cool stuff :)
Yup, nice one !
Same feeling here. In my case, Stranger things come to my mind, especially framing and atmosphere. Can't remember any specific shot but that's what popped in my head.
edit: maybe the sound too
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So I've got until now:
Kubrick x3
Lynch x2
TMWFTE x2
Stranger Things x1
All of them pretty decent associations. : ) Thanks!
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I'd certainly take all of that as compliments! I can see the Lynch and Kubrik too. All that's left to say is.... Encore!