Patrick Ellis

Digital Creator Portfolio

Creating 3D Renders and Animations

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The Origin of Combat

'The Origin of Combat' was my first project idea that was completed over a longer time frame using Blender. I wanted to push myself to create something truely unique and of high quality.

I learnt many new 3D techniques and tricks to produce the final render. For instance, how to use Blender's curve system to make the rope for the Bow, making it accurately follow the shape of the mesh whilst maintaining a look of tension. The use of curves also allowed for tightly pulled knots at each end of the string.

Through creating the string strengtheners, I discovered how using creases on the edges of meshes can produce sharper edges without increasing the mesh vertex count.

The feathers were challenging at first as it was my first time using a hair based particle system. To achieve the final look, I used the comb tool to literally brush the hair into the shape of a feather. Colour ramps were then used in the material to produce a gradient on the feather, providing unique stem and hair colours.

Endgame

One of my earliest projects, 'Endgame' was an exercise in modelling, utilising modifiers, and applying premade materials to UV unwrapped meshes.

To create the knights, I used 2D orthographic references to position individual vertices to be able to construct the final model. After modelling one side of the knight, a mirror modifier was applied to duplicate and reverse the model. For the other chess pieces, I first modelled a 2D, single vertex outline of the piece. I then used the screw tool to project a 3D model based on the objects' origin points.

To create the marble chess board, I downloaded a detailed material from Poliigon. Then I created a darkened version of the material and assigned it to half of the faces on the chess board.

Chaos Theory

This project was inspired by one of my all-time favourite films.

It was fun to learn to blend textures into one material. As seen on the amber, the entire material is a simple roughness shader mixed with a fingerprint texture.

A Titanic Launch

'A Titanic Launch' provided me with many new understandings of 3D software, as it was my first time hand animating objects in a 3D space, applying cloth physics to rope, using dynamic paint, and creating volumetric shaders.

Animating the ship was an eye opening experience to the potential of 3D animation. I learned how to smooth out animations using different interpolation modes and adjusting the keyframes of different dimensions within the timeline.

Hand made animation isn't the only movement to be seen here, however. Through the use of cloth simulations, I was able to create physically based movements with the ships ropes and flags. Blender provides lots of customisation when it comes to physics, allowing for me to adjust the tensions of the ropes, and the consequences of wind and gravity. I also used a cloth simulation to create a realistic flag on the ship. Through baking the physics animations, I was able to produce reliable and consistent results as I worked on other aspects of the scene.

To have the ship interact with the water and produce foam, I had to learn how to use dynamic paint. This resulted in data being gathered as to where the ship had previously been on the ocean's mesh, and I could then apply a foam material to that data.

Scorched

'Scorched' was my second environmental focused render. It provided me with enhanced understandings of the boolean modifier and instance collections.

In order the create the footprints in the sand, I modelled a simple foot. After modelling and applying a subdivision modifier, I duplicated them and positioned them respectively on the sand. To create indentations in the sand, I attempted to use a boolean modifier, which calculates the difference between objects and can be used to create cut-outs of the modified object. However, my right footprints did not correctly apply, and the sand remained smooth. After some research, I discovered that the normals were incorrectly flipped, so I recalculated all faces in edit mode, which fixed the issue.

Because the dunes were such high-poly, duplicating them would cause my PC to run out of memory during renders and crash Blender. To prevent this, I used instance collections. Instance collections create duplicates of the objects in one collection while reusing the data from the original collection, saving memory and reducing render loading times.

The Forest

'The Forest' provides a dense and highly detailed lush environment. To create this, I used many particle systems, material blending using image texture painting, utilising premade assets to enhance workflow, and volume scatter materials to generate light rays.

To create the lush forest foliage which covers the ground, I used a mix of premade and custom made plant assets. To scatter these assets across the ground, a hair based particle system was used where the hair was set to render as objects. These types of particle systems were also used to create moss growth which can be seen on various trees in the scene.

To create the muddy path, I used both a grassy and muddy material from Blenderkit. Then I painted a path using Blender's texture paint mode and used that as the factor for a mix shader node.

The light rays seen in the final render were generated using a volume scatter material which was applied to a large cube that covered the entirety of the scene. Volume scatter provided a more misty effect rather than the fog look that other nodes such a volume absorption achieves.

My Current Project

I am currently in the process of modelling, texturing and animating a car. To create harsh lines, I applied crease to selected edges. This adds sharpness to the car without increasing the mesh's polygons. By using mirror modifiers, I focused on only one side of the car and know that the details will transfer to the other side. Curently working towards animating the car.

More updates soon!