 THE BOOK Digital Sci-Fi Art - A step by step guide to creating stunning and futuristic images is the full title of the book and thats exactly what it contains. Its very well laid out with hundreds of images and walkthroughs using various 2D and 3D software applications and covering pretty much every aspect of Digital Art Creation. From the introduction it goes on to talk about Sci-Fi Artwork in general and then various 2D and 3D applications explaining how and where to use them in images with great illustrations of this process. Basically giving some great ideas for compositing and creating artwork from numerous elements. Below are a couple of example pages, Left - Showing how to get your pencil drawings into Photoshop and using LEVELS to clean them up ready for painting. Right - Shows a few rough concept sketches and this walkthrough also includes the process of using photo reference's for various aspects of the image. Theres also various technical info on painting, lighting and creating brushes for 2D artwork.  VARIOUS 2D/3D SOFTWARE I've already mentioned that this book is aimed at multiple Apps 2D and 3D alike, Heres a loose list. Cinema 4D, BodyPaint, Photoshop, Max, Maya, Xsi, Lightwave, Z Brush, Bryce, Poser, Vue D'Esprit, Terragen, Mojo and I'm sure theres a few more in there. Although its Application specific in some of the walkthroughs the same techniques can easily be applied to other software and also serve as a source of inspiration in many ways. The explanations are clear and include many step by step illustrations making the walkthroughs easy to follow at the same time as drilling that info into ya head ;-) Below is another photo I took from the book, It shows a short walkthrough on the process of importing a Poser model into BodyPaint, setting up the materials and painting the model with various coloured and textured brushes. It also explains the use of Bump Maps in Bodypaint allowing you to paint in raised detail with a quick stroke of your brush (or pen ;-))  CONTENT The introduction runs you through the various applications and their uses/differences including some info on Computer Graphics technology in general. Each App is described along with an Illustration broken down into its component parts with explanations such as :- Modelling, Textures, Lighting, Level of detail, Environments, Rendering, Skies etc. These are a good source of inspiration as you get to see that most images are made up of lots of elements each rendered/Painted in various different Apps before being composited together. There are around 20 walkthroughs based around various 2D and 3D Digital Art techniques for example:- Layers and Channels, Art of Noise, Creating Clothing, Realistic Lighting, postwork - Motion Blur, Light rays etc. Then there are 16 walkthroughs Following various projects from Concept sketches to final images. These also show you various universal techniques from creating futuristic cities and colouring up Comic Artwork to creating alien lifeforms and Building your very own robots ;-) Below Are two images taken from the book Upper - is a four page example of making a cool mechanoid including info about creating the design, modelling it and Uv mapping and texturing it (Theres also a little about rigging). Lower - Another example of using multiple Apps, this one shows the use of a Poser Female who is then "customized" in Photoshop to make her into a futuristic Cyborg!!  GALLERY After all that info theres a chance to sit back and relax and take in some Eye Candy. Theres about 20 pages at the back of the book dedicated to the Gallery with some very inspiring 2D and 3D artwork by various Artists and in various styles. As you can see from the pic below there are some great SpaceScapes, SpaceCraft and thought provoking images of possible futures. This serves to make you wanna try out your new found techniques as soon as possible...in fact I'm off to do just that See Ya!!  FINALLY:- Oh well, better finish the Review off before I go ;-) I found the book a great read for amateurs and seasoned artists alike, Theres a few techniques in there for everybody. That said I think beginners to intermediates will get the most out of this book. Not only learning about the processes involved but also the techniques and inspiration should serve to get you churning out those Cool images in no time!! Dont forget to post em up on my forums ;-) I hope you enjoyed this, my first book Review!! Hopefully there will be a few more to come ;-) Psionic 2004  All images Copyright of ILEX PRESS and their respective Owners. |
Copyright 2004 PSIONIC