Moving to Full Sail

It's been a while since I've written, but much has happened. My passion for digital art has advanced from a mere hobby to a serious degree major. This November, I am moving to Winter Park, Florida, to study Digital Arts & Design at Full Sail University. I have already started online course work in advance, and I am stoked the skills I will learn in graphic design, web design, motion graphics, animation, 3D arts, and more.

What does this mean for you? Well, firstly, lots more information I can share on this blog! Secondly, however, I will be very busy with Full Sail's incredibly fast-paced, accelerated program, and I'm not sure how much time I will have for blogging. But I will try to post on here as much as I can, and share some of what I learn so you can walk this journey with me. I hope to see you along the way!

Me visiting the Full Sail campus in June, 2012

Blender modeling tutorial

Today we have a guest tutorial author!  My younger brother, who has recently joined me on the journey of teaching ourselves Blender (a free, open-source 3D modeling software), created an excellent, thorough tutorial of how he created a simple, yet highly maneuverable human model.  This model can be easily animated or posed.  Because the tutorial is composed entirely of pictures, with step-by-step instructions on each image, the entire tutorial is rather long for a traditional blog post.  Instead, we assembled it on a separate page, which can be accessed by the tab at the top of this blog, or by clicking the link below:

Blender modeling tutorial

Explosions in Bryce

Image from brycetech.daz3d.com

Check out this cool tutorial I found about using the randomize tool to create explosions in Bryce!

Click here to see the tutorial.

(If for some reason the link no longer works someday because this post is old, I found the tutorial at brycetech.daz3d.com.)

Bryce/Photoshop tutorial: underwater iceberg

© 2012 Brianna da Silva

This tutorial is an example of combining Bryce and Photoshop to create an image.  (By the way, if you're interested in 3D design and Bryce, the software makers are offering it for free for a limited time!)  The concepts in this tutorial can be applied to the creation of many other Bryce/Photoshop images.

I wanted to make an image something like these pictures (these were just random photos and drawings I pulled off the Internet):



I wanted the classic tip-of-the-iceberg picture, showing the rest of the iceberg underwater.  How would I go about making this, I wondered?  I knew that Bryce did not have a split-screen, half-above/half-underwater capability.  In Bryce, you're either above water, or you're underwater!  So, I decided to use a combination of Bryce and Photoshop (mostly Photoshop) to get the effect I wanted.

Phase 1: Bryce


Step 1: Above water

First, I created the above-water image of the iceberg.  I did this by creating a lattice (learn more about lattices in a former post), which I made really big so the details later would look more realistic.  (General rule of thumb: If the object you're making is big in real life, make it big in Bryce!)

I gave the lattice the iceberg material (go figure!).

Then, I created a water plane, and moved the lattice down so it was roughly halfway "submerged" in the water.

I gave the water the material called deep blue.

I also gave the sky a preset called The Big Deep for lighting purposes.  (Mostly so the water would look dark blue, which didn't really matter anyway.)

Next, I duplicated the lattice a couple times, making smaller icebergs in the distance, just for variety in the picture.

I made these icebergs a little rounder-looking, by first opening the Edit window (found by clicking the E that appears next to an object when it is selected), clicking New under "Editing Tools", and drawing a rough, blobbish shape with the paint tool.

For a more detailed guide on editing terrains and lattices, I recommend this tutorial.  A couple things to keep in mind: In the tools on the left, you can change the size and softness of the brush (I used a big brush with medium softness), and you can adjust the elevation of the brush with the slider.  The higher the red dot, and the lighter the color of your brush, the higher it is; the lower the red dot, and the darker the color of your brush, the lower it is.

Finally, I got my view where I wanted it -- just about level with the water line -- and rendered.  This was the image I got:

Step 2: Underwater


The next step was to create the underwater view.

First, I saved the document as a new project, so I wouldn't loose my first work. Then I deleted the water plane, moved the icebergs up and zoomed out so I could completely see them, and stretched and enlarged them so they would be bigger than their above-water counterparts.

I used this tutorial, found though googling, to change the atmosphere so it had the allusion of being underwater.

This was the result: (Ignoring the cloud and sky; that wouldn't be used in the final image)

Later, I also temporarily removed the icebergs and rendered an image of just the "underwater" scene (I found out, while working in Photoshop, that I would need it):

Phase 2: Photoshop


Now the real work began!  This phase took more time, by far.

Step 1: Basic image


I used the marquee tool in Photoshop to copy the underwater portions of the iceberg, and then paste them on the above-water image.

Using the marquee tool again, I took the plain underwater image (without the icebergs) and put it behind the underwater iceberg layers, to fill in all the gaps.  (Learn more about Photoshop layers here.)

I erased the water around the underwater iceberg layers, stopping right at the edge of the ice.

Step 2: Dark line


I added a dark blue line at the edge of the water, to make the edge look sharper and a little more realistic.  Tip learned: Hold down the shift key while painting, to paint in a straight line!

Step 3: Light rays

My brother suggested I try making light rays in the water, so I gave it a try.

I chose a soft brush, gave it a white color, and painted diagonal streaks in the water.  I gave the light ray layers a very low opacity (8%), and used a soft eraser to taper the streaks to a point. 

Step 4: Darkening water

I made the water get darker as it went further down by painting horizontal streaks, using a soft brush, and making the color just slightly darker with each stroke.  The result was a smooth, subtle transition to a somewhat darker blue.

At last...


Finally, as a sort of small, side adjustment, I darkened the horizon a little by painting a light gray layer with a low opacity.

The picture still wasn't perfect.  The water probably should have been darker, and the iceberg ended up with a strange purplish hue (probably a poor choice of lighting... lighting in Bryce is next on my list of things to learn!).  However, the result was more or less what I imagined.  Regardless, it was a fun example of how a Bryce image can be completely transformed in Photoshop!

The final image:

© 2012 Brianna da Silva

FREE! DAZ Studio Pro, Bryce Pro, & Hexagon!

"Borgimi Village", created with Bryce 7. © 2011 Brianna da Silva

Are you interested in getting started with 3D art? Well, I'm excited to share the news that DAZ 3D is offering three of its programs -- DAZ Studio Pro, Bryce Pro, and Hexagon -- for free!


I don't know about you, but at first I found this a little suspicious, and suspected there were some sort of strings attached. But I went ahead and downloaded Bryce Pro and Hexagon, and wallah... it really is just free software, no hooks. (With the exception of a small sort-of-hook, which I explain below.)

This is over $800 worth of software for nada. For a limited time, of course.

So, what are these programs, you may ask? In a nutshell:

DAZ Studio Pro: 3D art and animation 
**Personal notes: Beware, there is a catch with this program. From what I can tell, this program predominantly uses prebuilt DAZ models, which you have to buy. And also, a word of caution: The human models for this program start off nude, and it's rather graphic. I haven't actually used DAZ Studio, so I could be a little mistaken about how it works. For now I'm just toying with Hexagon (see below), in the hope that I can create my own models that are neither graphic nor costly. But... the benefit of DAZ Studio is that it's easy and fast, for those who'd rather buy models than make them on their own!

Bryce Pro: 3D landscape and animation
Personal notes: I strongly recommend this software; it's not very user friendly for those that are new to 3D -- personal experience! -- but once you get the hang of it, it enables you to make some pretty cool art! And that's especially awesome when it's free!

Hexagon: 3D modeling 
Personal notes: As I said above... I'm drawn to Hexagon because it appears that, so far, I can create my own models without using DAZ Studio's graphic/costly ones. I still haven't actually gotten to the stage of making models, though! :-)

If you want some links to get you started with these programs, check out my Learn more page, where I have links to some other tutorials and resources I recommend.

Also, you can check out these forums from Daz3d.com:

Hexagon tutorial links
Bryce tutorial links

Happy 3D-making! :-)

Render problems in Bryce

So, you're rendering an image in Bryce, and it looks all nice: it's positioned right where you want it, the lighting is finally perfect, the materials look great, and you're ecstatic about your finished creation, until... you run into a problem.

You go to File, and click "Save image as", saving your rendered image on your computer. Then, when you open the image on your computer, you cry, "WHAT?!"

The image on your computer does not look like the image you rendered in Bryce. The objects are not positioned within the frame in the way you wanted. It looks like the camera zoomed out or moved to the side. For example, something you centered is now way off to the side, and something to the side is now centered.

What happened?

Likely, the problem is that your Document Resolution is larger than your workspace in Bryce. In other words, you are creating an image that is bigger than your computer screen can display! The solution is either to use a larger computer screen, or just decrease your document's resolution.

To do this, you need to open the Document Setup dialog box. This appears when you open a new document, and it can be accessed under the File menu (see the image below).

You can change the resolution to fit your screen by typing numbers in the text fields at top:

My screen so happens to fit 1120 x 660 pixels. If you don't know the size of your screen, you can experiment with numbers until you figure out what it is. 

Here's what a screen looks like with a resolution smaller than the screen's display:

Here's a screen with a resolution at the right size:

Now, your saved images should look the same as they do in Bryce!

For more details on using the Document Setup box, check out this tutorial at robinwood.com. 

Happy rendering! :-)

How to make Calvary Hill on Bryce

Last night, after posting the "How to make a 3D snowflake on Bryce" tutorial, I had a burst of inspiration. I was too excited to wait until the next day to try it out, so I stayed up late making this:

Now I'll show you how I made it. I used the same technique described in the "How to make a 3D snowflake on Bryce" tutorial. If you haven't already, read that tutorial first, so you can understand the basics before reading this tutorial. (I won't give as many specific instructions in this tutorial; just the general steps.)

Part 1: Photoshop


Open Photoshop.

Create a new layer.

With the Paint Bucket tool, fill the background layer with black.

On the new layer, use the rectangle tool to create two white rectangles, overlapping like a cross.

Save the file as a JPEG.

Part 2: Bryce


Open Bryce. Create a symmetrical lattice.

Open the editing window.

Upload the cross picture and click "Apply".

Exit the editing window. Flatten, resize, rotate, move, etc. to get the size, proportions, and position you want.

In the Materials Library, select "Cedar wood". If you want, you can render the image and see what that looks like.

Create a new terrain, and make a flat hill. (I hope to create a tutorial sometime soon with more details on how to edit terrain in Bryce.)

If necessary, resize the hill to get the proportions you want.

Move the cross.

Duplicate the cross.

In the "Sky & Fog" menu at the top of the screen, enter the Sky Lab. Then open the Sky & Fog Library.

In the Sky & Fog Library, choose the "Golden Haze" sunrise.

A test render will show something like this:

In the Sky & Fog menu, you can adjust the position of the sun to get it right where you want it.

After adjusting the sun and moving the camera to your liking, you can then get a finished result something like this:

A final side note...


Art is something God created. It is unfortunate and sad that many kinds of art, including 3D computer art, are often used for dark, disturbing, sensual, and evil purposes. Let's remember that even 3D art can be used in a way that glorifies God, and showcases light, hope, and beauty -- in the way he sees it!