ImagineFX - Issue 179

QUICK CONCEPTS

USING 3D TOOLS

Dune aficionado Alex Jay Brady rapidly generates ideas using basic

modifiers to melt and then recrystallise 3D models in strange new forms

It can be hard to come

up with ideas when

your imagination is as

blank as the page in

front of you. A much

easier task is generating a lot of

possible ideas very quickly, before

selecting interesting ones to develop.

I find this is true at all stages of a

project and most especially at the

beginning. In this workshop I’ll show

you some ways to do this quickly, by

applying basic modifiers to simple

geometry and using trial and error to

generate interesting results.

Essentially, we’re taking simple

solids, melting them and the

allowing them to recrystallise in

interesting ways. The melting part is

3ds Max’s MeshSmooth modifier,

and the crystallisation aspect is the

ProOptimizer modifier. Another way

to imagine it might be when you use

translation software to convert a

phrase to another language, then

back to English. The software makes

odd choices so the phrase can

become garbled and mutated. Often,

the results can be odd, triggering an

interesting idea in your imagination.

Because the process is quick you

can try it many times and keep just

the most interesting results, or use it

iteratively on a single object. Let me

show you what I mean, by depicting

a scene from the Dune universe.

Here, giant Guild Heighliners are

about to transport a f leet of smaller

craft – travelling without moving...

1

Creating the Heighliner’s basic shape

I want my ship to have a giant cylindrical hull covered in

small, slightly irregular panels. I’m not exactly sure what it’ll

look like so I start to experiment by making a low poly cylinder

and cutting the ends off, leaving an open tube.

3ds Max & Photoshop

GET YOUR

RESOURCES

See page 8 now!

Alex Jay Brady

LOCATION: England

The sci-fi-loving

freelance artist lives in

Brighton with her

girlfriend and hundreds

of pot plant children. She

designed some of the

ships in the recent

Captain Marvel film.

http://ifxm.ag/ajbrady

Artist

PROFILE

2

Adjusting the surface appearance

I apply the MeshSmooth modifier. This works by

subdividing the surface polygons, making the surfaces smooth

and curved as if they’ve melted and f lowed like liquid. For now

the default setting will work fine, but MeshSmooth has several

presets that can be tweaked to your personal taste. Feel free to

experiment with these later; some generate an organic look,

others look more like bevelled machinery.

Workshops