Youtube Tutorial: Full-process series part 3

Making a wood planks PBR material in Substance Designer

Full-process tutorials: modeling, texture making and texturing a medieval well

In the third part of my full-process series Youtube Tutorial we will finish making our first PBR material in Substance Designer. This will be a worn wood planks material for the covering of the well. As always for this series, this will be a timelapsed video, but you can manually adjust the playback speed in the video settings, so that you can follow the tutorial better.

In the next part, we will be making a PBR wooden rooftiles material in Substance Designer for the roof of the well.

As always, you can download a 1k resolution version of this PBR worn woodplanks material here.

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07.02.2021 by vfx-world

Youtube Tutorial: Full-process series part 2

Finishing the Medieval Well 3D Model in Blender

Full-process tutorials: modeling, texture making and texturing a medieval well

In the second part of my full-process series Youtube Tutorial we will be finishing the Medieval Well 3D Model. This includes modeling and UV-Mapping the model so it will be nearly ready for texturing.

The next tutorials will be focusing on material making in Substance Designer. Of course you will find every PBR material made for free download in 1k resolution on my homepage.

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03.02.2021 by vfx-world

New YouTube Tutorial

Full-process tutorials: modeling, texture making and texturing a medieval well

Full-process tutorials: modeling, texture making and texturing a medieval well

I am making a tutorial series about the full process of modeling and texturing a 3D Model for games, films, or just for still renders. The whole workflow will be covered - from start to finish.

We will start with modeling a Medieval Well in Blender, then make us some materials in Substance Designer, texture the Model in Substance Painter and finally apply the materials in Blender and render it with Cycles.

The whole series will be timelapsed, as the duration of each video would be far too long. The full series will be available for free on YouTube. You can find the link and the first video by clicking on read more...

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18.01.2021 by vfx-world

New free PBR half-timbered house textures and a free videotutorial

New version of my PBR Fachwerk material

New Fachwerk Texture and full-process Tutorial

I am proud to present you my first full-process Substance Designer videotutorial on YouTube! You will learn how to make you very own customizable half-timbered house texture and you can download a 1k resolution version of this texture directly at my homepage - like always completly free.

The tutorial is really easy to follow, as it will show you the whole process step by step. It is about an hour an a half long, it's not narrated though, but that shouldn't be a problem.

You can view it directly at my page or click the YouTube links, just click on Read more.

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20.12.2020 by vfx-world

New free PBR textures

More variations of the Woodplanks PBR Material released

New Woodplanks Textures

Today I published three more variations of my woodplanks PBR texture:

One more light-colored version
Two dark-colored versions

So there are now four woodplank PBR materials available for download. Like with the other textures, only 1k versions are available for free.
If you would like to get these PBR materials in a resolution up to 8k, consider supporting me through PayPal or soon via Patreon.

I will also start uploading my textures on cgtrader in near future, where you can then buy them directly for a few bucks.

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03.12.2020 by vfx-world

vfx-world.com relaunch!

Website relaunch with much new stuff!

Website relaunch

After some monthes of downtime, I am happy to announce the relaunch of vfx-world.com! Much happend under the hood. The page is now optimized for at least 4k resolution and the sourcecode is cleaned up.

More interesting should be the fact, that we are now offering free seamless PBR materials and textures for download and a shop, where you can buy 3D models made by me. You can find the links to this categories in the main navigation.

The latest category "my work", which I introduced sooner this year is now called portfolio and is a showcase of my work.

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30.09.2020 by vfx-world

Portfolio: Medieval 3D Models - Horse-drawn wagon

Game-ready horse-drawn wagon 3D Model

Medieval Horse-drawn wagon 3D Model

This is a fast, game-ready, 3D Model of a horse-drawn wagon. As I recently played Kingdom Come: Deliverance and fell in love with this game, I got the motivation to model some medieval stuff, so this is not the last one to come.

It is a lowpoly 3D Model, thus it works perfectly with videogame engines like Unreal Engine 4, Unity or CryEngine. Because of this, the textures are made in a 2048x2048 resolution only. This applicates for the two bigger meshes, namely the cover of the wagon and the loading area. The other textures are between 256x256 and 1024x1024 in size. The PBR-workflow was used for texturing.

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30.07.2020 by vfx-world

Portfolio: New character model - Plague doctor 3D model

Finished Plague Doctor 3D Model

Plague Doctor 3D Model

Inspired by the current Coronavirus crisis and due to having more time than usual, I decided to model a stylized medieval plague doctor and this is the result.

Sure, SARS-CoV-2 isn't as deadly as the plague used to be, but still nothing to be joking about, and the daily reports about this pandemic reminded me of the dark times I used to read about in history books. Some Plague Doctor Memes did the rest so I came up with this 3D Model. The dirt effects and the blood splashes on this one might be a bit over the top, but I like the result, especially after playing the new Doom Eternal.

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28.07.2020 by vfx-world

Portfolio: World War 2 models - Tschechenigel (czech hedgehog)

Czech Hedgehog 3D Model sneak-peek

Czech Hedgehog 3D Model

This is an update to the first model I completed for my new project and the first from the range of World War 2 3D models I am currently working on.

It's the famous anti-tank obstacle called Czech Hedgehog (Tschechenigel or rozsocháč/ježek). It's a well known item not only used in the biggest war the world has ever seen, for example on Omaha Beach, but was also a part of the Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer) in the time of the cold war and widely used in many other cases for anti-tank defense. This is a truly historical piece!

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24.07.2020 by vfx-world

Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

Pictures taken in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

Berchtesgaden Pictures

Today I want to show you some pictures from a vacation in Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, Germany, taken in June 2019.

It is one of my favourite places on our planet and I think everyone will agree with me that it is just astonishing, especially if you ever had the chance to visit Berchtesgaden. It is not only home to one of the most beautiful mountains in the world - the Watzmann, but also to the lovely lake Königssee and the Roman Catholic Church St. Bartholomä.

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09.06.2020 by vfx-world

VFX-World update

New Section - My Work

New Section - My Work

In the process of restructuring vfx-world.com I came up with a new section called "My Work" and you can find it in the main navigation on the right. The new link will replace the forum button in the navigation and the new category will be the main part of the page in the long run. For now, a Forum is no longer planned and the new category will be a guarantee for more regular updates of my site.

The new section is exactly what you can expect from the name: A place where I will show my work with renders, wireframes and descriptions. I will also provide some context for things that are inspired by real objects.

As of now there is not much to see there yet, but I will add more content shortly and regularly. For now you can find two models I made for my World War II project there - the Czech Hedgehog and the brand new Stielhandgranate M24 3D Model. The main categories of the new section are:

3D Models: Here I will show more and more 3D Models from different projects like Character Designs, Architecture, Level Art, Weapons, and much more
VFX: Everything related to VFX, Motion Graphics and so on
Animation: Not hard to find out - various animations
Photography: Last but not least - photography. This is not a place for textures, but for images and photos I took from different things and locations

This new section is not for downloads, although I will maybe provide some of the things for download in the future, but as there is a seperate download section for free stuff, you will continue to find it there.

I hope you like the new idea and will enjoy what you'll find there now and especially in the future. Stay tuned for new updates!

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30.01.2020 by vfx-world

Restructuring vfx-world

About the new focus of my page

Restructuring vfx-world

Like you propably already noticed, there weren't many updates in the last years. The reason is pretty simple: I just didn't have much time to focus on the website as I had many things to manage in my personal life. This will change now. I am planning to make many more regular updates in the future, but the focus will change.

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11.12.2019 by vfx-world

First project: PzKpfw VI

Modeling the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger (Tiger Tank I)

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger

This is the first project I want to show on my page. It is a 3D model of the Tank "Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger" from the German Wehrmacht, which gained a reputation as one of the strongest tanks in World War 2.

I am modeling it for practice and I think this is a good exercise to get better at hardsurface modeling, as it is not only one mesh, but it is made of many small parts which have to be modeled seperately. In this way I can gather experience without having to model many small objects, but can focus on one big item. And what would be better, as this iconic german Tank? This project is about realism and a good capture of all the details, I want to make it as authentic as I can.

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06.12.2019 by vfx-world

Freebie - High Res Texture Pack

Free 2k Textures

Free Texture Pack

Since we are moving towards christmas, here is a little gift for you. This are four free high resolution textures (2048x2048). This small pack contains two wood and two stone textures. You can use them freely in all of your work. The textures are taken with a Canon EOS 50D and are not seemless.

Merry christmas to all of you guys around the world!

Get your free textures here...

14.12.2017 by vfx-world

Pixologic Streamingevent on ZBrush 4R8

Livestream about the new ZBrush 4R8 on june the 13th held by Pixologic

Pixologic News Logo

Just a quick news about a livestream held by Pixologic about their new release of ZBrush on june the 13th at 12PM PDT. This will be an exclusive stream where the developers will show some new stuff that comes with ZBrush 4R8 and answere live user questions.

You will finde the links to the stream inside.

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08.06.2017 by vfx-world

Blender News: Eevee incoming! Official Roadmap

New Realtime PBR Engine coming to Blender this year.

Blender Logo News Image

It's been a while since we had our last industry news, but this one is big, so big, that it's definitly worth the article! The speech is of the upcoming PBR Engine codenamed Eevee, which will be available in Blender later this year. PBR stands for Physically Based Rendering and is a trending technology which allows realistic real time rendering within the viewport. This is a really great benefit, as Users will be able to get a direct feedback of their work, without needing to do endless renders to get the right result.

The new viewport with Eevee implemented will support many new technologies such as image based lightning and of course others, that are already available. Eevee will support nearly all realistic Blender lights types like diffuse point lights. Only Hemi wont be supported. Other things like soft shadows, regular materials, uber shaders will be supported as well.

Image Based Lightning is the big thing in the CGI industry so it is no wonder, that Blenders Eevee will need HDRIs to work probably. The focus is always on the viewport to be responsive and fast, the User will be able to see results much quicker than with traditional methods and will be able to improve his workflow and meet deadlines.

When it comes to deadlines, especially in the CGI industry the slogan "time is money" is always a factor. Every artist will exactly know what I mean...

[...]

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07.06.2017 by vfx-world

Character Model

Stylized Seahorse Character 3D Model

Seahorse Character Model

This is a character model inspired by a sea horse, designed by a good friend of mine, modeled by me. It really isn't a large or a complex model, but rather a base shape where you can put displacement maps on after sculpting more detail in. Due to the low poly count this model is perfect for video game engines like Unreal Engine 4 or Unity, but it is also very suitable for realistic renders.

The model consists of only 804 faces!

You can see more sample images by clicking read more.

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26.01.2017 by vfx-world

Free photorealistic textures on poliigon.com

Great free textures for video gameengines and rendering on poliigon.com!

Free samples from poliigon.com

The new year starts with some great freebies! poliigon.com is a website that offers many photorealistic textures for authentic renders and for use in video game engines like Unreal Engine 4 and Unity. Now they also offer some freebies!

All of their textures come in bundles with diffuse-, specular-, normalmaps and so on. You can create great looking materials without worrying about your textures ever again. They have a big database with different types of textures to offer. All textures are of course seamless and ready to use as is. You can download different resolutions for any texture, with high res textures up to 6K and more on their website!

All textures can be used in any modeling software like Blender, Maya, 3DS Max or Cinema 4D. More so, the textures are perfect for the video game engines Unreal Engine 4 and Unity. You can find the free samples directly on the landing page. When this isn't enough, you can get a 30 days trial to test their services to the whole extent!

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18.01.2017 by vfx-world

The Evolution of Video Game Graphics

Let's take a look at the evolution of video game graphics over the past 20 years

Evolution of Video Game Graphics

Even I am no hardcore gamer I still like to play a video game once in a while. This hobby is what brought me into CGI/VFX in the first place. When I bought an Asus motherboard lately, I got Doom 4 for free. I know the Quake series from Quake 1, played the original Doom and Doom 3 (though not excessive) so I decided to give this game a try. Not that I bought the board for the game, in fact, when I wouldn't have got the game for 'free' I even wouldn't think about buying it. Not because I expect a bad game or something, the plain fact that I didn't play a competitive shooter for years is the reason and that I lost my interest in that kind of games over the time.

Nonetheless when the game arrived I was excited and I started the steam download immediately. As this isn't a game review, I'll get straight to the point this article is about: The first thing that catched my attention was the graphics! Not that it is something that I haven't seen before, in fact there are many games with visuals that can compete, but looking back at games like the mentioned Quake 1 this really is a lot of progress. And this is just 20 years of time. Quake 1 was released in 1996 and the difference is just astonishing. With this in mind and looking back on quite a 'gaming career' I decided to search the basement for CD's and DVD's and write an article about the evolution of video game graphics.

I found some real treasures, although I hoped to find some of my other classics, but they seem to be really well hidden... However, I found enough to write about and to have a good comparison. Important to mention is, that I only took first-person-shooters as this will guarantee the best comparison of development. Looking at, for example, an open world game and compare it to a first-person-shooter is not going to work well. There is much more to render at the same time and an open world needs more resources than a closed level. On the other hand you can place much more details into small levels, that's why a first-person-shooter from the same generation will usually look much better than an open world game. To get a good overview over the evolution of video game graphics we will be looking at the following games:

Quake - released in 1996
Unreal Tournament - released in 1999
Battlefield 1942 - released in 2002
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault - released in 2004
Crysis 1 - released in 2007
Bioshock - released in 2007
Battlefield 3 - released in 2011
Bioshock Infinite - released in 2013
Doom 4 - released in 2016
Unreal Tournament 4 - pre-alpha in 2016



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20.07.2016 by vfx-world

Building a Workstation for VFX, 3D Modeling and Video Editing

A small guide to System Building

Building a Workstation

Whether you are an VFX Artist, Video Editor or 3D Modeler, the thing you will need for your everyday work the most is your workstation. Every artist who also wants to freelance will be depending on his workstation every day. Maybe more than in any other industry, content creators will know one rule: time is money. Especially when it comes to rendertimes. Assuming most artists only have one machine, the problem is very clear: you wont be able to work while your system is rendering. So the faster the better. But fast hardware comes at a price, and not everyone can or is willing to pay a huge amount for his system. This article is meant to be a little guideline for people who have an older system and want an upgrade to save time and to earn a little bit more money or have more time for other projects that way.

If you are an artist who wants the best service and fast exchange of hardware in case of a hardware defect, I mean if you really are a fulltime artist who can't afford to wait some days for a replacement you might be better off looking for a prebuild workstation by Dell, HP or Lenovo. This would guarantee the best possible service but also has it's cons. This workstations usually come at a higher price, when upgrading hardware you are forced to look at your manufacturers range and you are not allowed to do any repairing by yourself, otherwise your product warranty will expire. Although this prebuild workstations with excellent service are prefered by many professionals I myself am also a bit of a hardware enthusiast and so this article will be focused on custom build PC's. This also means nothing for the Mac users here I'm afraid.

Let's take a look at what you will need for your workstation first. Depending on what you are actually planing to do with your PC, the possibilities seem to be endless. In the end the core parts stay the same, so everyone will at least need:

CPU + Cooler
Motherboard
RAM
Graphics card
Storage (HDD, SSD)
Power Supply
A Case obviously

This are the main components. Lets start with the CPU.

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09.06.2016 by vfx-world

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