Just a little post to stongly recommand you the fantastic nDo free toolset for photoshop. With nDO you can generate normal maps from any single picture and customize it, adding details directly by drawing them in photoshop. This script can be installed easily in PS and is ready to use. I discovered it one year ago but the author still improved the script since and apparently more and more users are joining the community. Have a try I’m quite sure you will love it.

If you want to know more, go tho the web sites : http://www.cgted.com & http://www.philipk.net/ndo.html. A good tutorial will tell you how to use the tool.

The Black Guardian

(3DSmax – Mentalray renderer / Makehuman  / Photoshop)

Why not to start this new year with a little post ? I finished this week end my last render. Recently I played again to an old but so good Neo Geo game : “Samurai Spirit” (サムライスピリッツ2). When playing to the second opus of this saga, I have been interested in a soldier character in the background of the screen (the Sieger stage).

Samurai Spirit 2 – Siegler Stage

This character was particularly ridiculous  but nevertheless I really appreciated this style of heavy knight. So here I decided to make my own render of this guy, with a slightly more sober look but the same big armour, completely impossible to use in combat.. Please note the fact that with the helmet and the shoulder protections, this guy does’nt see anything beside.. Really convenient.

Certainly a very kind guy!

This illustration is clearly inspired from a painting tutorial I found into the May issue of SAI  ス－パ－ペイントてくニク (Paint tool SAI official guide book). I’ve been amazed by a hand painted illustration from Vania600 (バーニア600). So i decided to try a 3D adaptation from his work.  (With the kind authorisation of the author)

First setup of the scene, with the correct  camera angle.

A simple render without texture, and lights simply managed via skyportal.

As I wanted to add some ivy on the background of the scene I discovered the nice 3D studio Thomas Luft’s Ivy Generator . This plug in is easy to use andsimulates  from a seed a random growth of the plant. I recommand it!

Skyportal + mental ray water shader