On official Shade 3D channel

Official Shade 3D Channel on YouTube picked up my Gumroad tutorial and started publishing the clips, couple of them at a time. So, if you want to check them out without downloading them (in 1080p), you'll be able to find all of them there soon.

'Introduction to Shade 3D' is up.

OK, so my brief (well, 2.5 hours) intro to Shade is up for download on Gumroad. More content on Shade will come (probably project-based, showing the pipeline from start to finish). To get the goodies, go here.

Shade 3D tutorial coming up

Yesterday, exactly 12 months on the current gig have passed. Tons of concepts done (and other art-related stuff) and the official website is about to launch. Some of that art was accomplished with an assistance from Shade 3D, pretty kick-ass 3D app from Japan. Since it's relatively unknown to the 'Western audience', I'm cooking a small introductory tutorial, which will be available for free on my Gumroad in a week or two. Later on, if there is any interest, more specific, project oriented tutorials will follow. Cheers.

Design Sketching Series - Ep.1 - Our traditional and digital tools

The first introductory clip is online and, hopefully, is watchable :) In it, I go over some traditional and digital tools I'll be using throughout Digital Sketching Series. Get your pencils ready!

'Creation'

Personal piece. Mixture of Photoshop and Copic Multiliners. Prepared for the upcoming series of YouTube tutorials.

'Advanced Photoshop' Issue 112 - illustration and tutorial

Here's something I cooked recently for 'Advanced Photoshop' magazine. A post-apocalyptic illustration and a few-pages long tutorial on how to mix 2D and 3D. You can pick up the latest issue here

'Spaceship Concept Design Pipeline in Photoshop' released

Video tutorial I recorded recently for Digital Tutors, has just been released. Over 3 hours long process, using Photoshop, Modo and Apophysis. Make sure to check it out!

And only few days left to sign up for the first edition of my new VFX Workshop, don't miss the opportunity to learn how to create your animated matte shots and compose them in Nuke.

Promo clip for my workshop

Interested in enrolling but hesitating? Watch this short promo clip that explains a few things about the workshop. Only two weeks left!

3D matte painting and compositing workshop!

Great news for those all interested in matte painting. On April 1st, I'm launching 6-week long workshop related to 3D matte painting and compositing, using mainly Maya and Nuke. Course will be hosted and provided by VFX Workshops created by Alp Altiner. I will be sharing lots of industry tricks and techniques. Workshop has a limited number of participants, so if you're interested in enrolling, quickly go to: http://vfxworkshops.com/instructor-workshops/3d-matte-painting-maya-nuke-ak/

A few thumbnails

Currently, in my free time, I'm working on another mini-series, much more epic in scale, which hopefully I'll show you guys in about 2 weeks. In the meantime, here's some thumbnails I made a while ago, just to show a few different ways of creating these little buggers (or at least some methods I use). Each method results in slightly different outcome, so it's good to try them all when looking for a shape you like.

v1 - silhouettes created with black marker or digitally. Since silhouette is vital to a good design, it's good to bang out some of these first, without thinking about any details - just the shape.

v2 - soft marker tip (e.g. in Copics Sketch line) is good for creating more curvy lines, with varying thickness, a bit like in comic books.

v3 - pencil is great for more detailed approach. For thumbnails, a simple mechanical pencil will do. Start very lightly and then tighten stuff up. An alternative way is to use pencil first (normal or blue) and then trace on top of it with a pen.

v4 - marker and pen combo is a nice combination I use quite often, also for bigger sketches. First, sketch some loose shapes with a light marker (I use Copic's C2 or C3) and then sketch the lines with a pen.

Happy sketching!

'Final lap' tutorial in .PSD magazine

If you're interested in a little step-by-step tutorial, with the image 'Final lap' (here's the post and the completed image) as the outcome, you can grab the latest issue of .PSD magazine. It's a downloadable magazine featuring workshops and tutorials.

The whole process is described in 14 steps (in English), each with WIP graphics. Cheers.

Task force + quick tutorial

My little homage to awesome series like 'Metal Gear Solid', 'Appleseed' or 'Ghost in the Shell'. Small squad during leisure time (more or less). Got the idea while flipping through downloaded scan of 'Appleseed' (I know, I know, shame on me).

And here's a quick tutorial on how the image was made, hopefully it will be useful for those who are interested:

Jade Castle

New personal matte, done entirely in Photoshop. With this piece, I was aiming at achieving a dramatic sky, interesting lighting and mood. The architecture is a mixture of medieval and Asian style. Hope you guys like it.

I also created a pretty long tutorial in Polish, describing creation of a typical matte step by step. Tutorial can be downloaded here:

Matte painting tutorial (Polish version)
click here to download (1.92 mb)

A piece of the action

Here's a sneak-peak into the series mentioned in the previous post. Highway hit by a courageous chick on a bike and space marines approaching the enemy base.

Currently, I'm working on 'The Arrival' - a sequence mentioned some post ago - several shots, based on matte painting projections, with an addition of 3D digital environment and greenscreen footage. Hopefully, it'll be ready in about a month. I'll post some mini-tutorials with it (e.g. using DEM maps in Vue or complex NUKE matte painting projections), as well as a behind-the-scenes article.

Right now, a few simple tutorials I did on NUKE in the past are available but only in Polish for the time being (sorry). New tutorials will be both, in Polish and English. The old ones are available below:

Projekcje matte w NUKE

Tutorial 1: Symulowana kamera 2.5D w NUKE: tutaj + pliki robocze tutaj
Tutorial 2: Projekcja 2.5D in NUKE (prosta): tutaj + pliki robocze j.w.
Tutorial 3: Projekcja 2.5D in NUKE (złożona): tutaj + pliki robocze tutaj

Tutorial 1: traditional media + Photoshop

Ok, so here it is, the first tutorial, in Polish, focusing on traditional media and Photoshop. The tutorial has step-by-step files included.

Tutorial 1 (in Polish): click here to download (~4.8 mb)

Tutorials coming up

As I like to keep myself busy, while working slowly (but surely) on the matte shots for the demo reel, I'm preparing a couple of tutorials presenting some of my techniques.

Tutorial 1 will cover the use of traditional media with Photoshop coloring and will be illustrated with two examples, one interior and one exterior, from start to finish.

Tutorial 2 will show how you can mix a number of 2D and 3D applications together in order to create a realistic production painting.

The first tutorial should be available within a week, so don't forget to drop by. Each part will be available as a neat PDF document, maybe I'll throw in some project files as well.