Created by 3D World magazine, the CG Awards 2015 recognises the work of the entire industry: from software and hardware developers who create the tools and engines to drive creativity, to the artists and technicians involved in pushing the boundaries of visual effects, illustration, animation and design. You have just one day left to put forward your favourites in this year’s awards: tomorrow (21 May) is the closing day for nominations.
Install
the pattern file named black_background.pat by double clicking it.
Step 2
Create a new document
(File > New). Set Width to 600 px and Height to 500 px.
Resolution must be 72 ppi.
Step 3
Select
the background and duplicate it (go to Layer
> Duplicate Layer > OK). Rename the new layer as Background Pattern.
Step 4
Now we are going to
add the texture using a Layer Style. Keep in mind that we are going to use
Layer Style a lot, so try to remember how to reach the menu.
Go to Layer > Layer Style > Pattern Overlay,
select ‘
black_background.pat ‘ from the list, set the Scale value to 50%, and press OK.
Step 5
To
create the top lighting effect, go to Bevel & Emboss inside the Layer
Style dialog box and apply the following settings:
2.Creating the Text
Step 1
Type
the word Round or a text of your
choice using Stonecross font. Set the
Font Size to 132 pt and Tracking
to 20 pt. For best quality, change the anti-aliasing mode to Sharp. Rename the
layer A01.
Step 2
Using the Move Tool, select
the text and background layer, and then click Align Horizontal Center and Align Vertical Center on the top menu
to center it.
Step 3
Duplicate the text and
rename the new layer A02, as shown
below. Hide the A02 layer to work
more comfortably, because we are not going to use this layer until part 4 of this
tutorial.
3.Styling
the Main Layer
Step 1
Install
the .pat file named scratched_metal.pat.
Step 2
We are going to work on the A01 layer. Go to Layer Style
> Pattern Overlay, click on the Pattern box and choose scratched_metal.pat from the list. This texture will work as a
base to the metal effect.
Step 3
To achieve a realistic
bronze color, go to Layer Style > Color Overlay. Change the Blend Mode to Multiply and set the following values.
Step 4
In the Layer Style
window,modify the settings of Bevel & Emboss and Contour as shown below.
You’ll need to create two custom contour curves
to get the volume effect. Follow the images carefully and use the values shown in the right column.
Step 5
Go to Layer Style > Satin
and use the following settings to brighten up the text.
The Contour is a default curve named Cove – Deep.
Step 6
Now we’re going to improve the shiny metal effect by adding glow. Go to Layer Style > Inner Glow and set the following values.
Step 7
We need to add some shadows to separate the text from the background. Go to
Layer Style > Outer
Glow and use the values shown below.
4.Styling
the Second Layer
Step 1
We’re going to work with the A02 layer, so make sure you turn it on! Go to Layer
Style > Outer Glow and use the settings shown in the image below.
Step 2
To start improving the 3D look, we are going to accentuate the lights
and shadows on the edges. Go to Layer Style >
Bevel & Emboss and use the following settings. Create a custom contour with the values shown in the right column.
Step 3
This is an important step. We have to achieve a perspective with a
central vanishing point.
Go to the Character
window and change Horizontally Scale
to 98% as shown below.
Step 4
To match the color of both text layers, go to Layer Style > Color Overlay and use the following values.
Step 5
Select Stroke from the Layer
Style window, set Fill Type as Gradient and use the values shown below
to brighten up the edges.
Tip: To create a new point
in the gradient you have to click under the gradient bar. Clicking each one of
the color stops allows you to modify Location and Color.
Step 6
In this final step we are going to add some
depth to make the text stand out. Modify Drop
Shadow using the following settings.
Great Job, You’re Done!
In this tutorial I showed you how
to create a metallic background and a bronze beveled text effect using layer
styles.
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and can use what
you’ve learned for your own projects. Please feel free to comment and show me your results.
When it comes to CG, there is some incredible work taking place in a number of arenas, including archviz, 3D art, videogames and TV. But when it comes to grabbing attention, nothing can beat the increasingly amazing visual effects seen in blockbuster movies. And here are three great examples: the winner and runners-up respectively of the Best VFX category in last year’s CG Awards.
A tri-fold brochure is one of the simplest print layouts you can create. Without the need for any fancy die-cutting or complicated folding, we’ll be taking a look at how you can elevate the simple tri-fold layout to create a high-impact, design-led brochure guaranteed to catch the eye! In this tutorial we’ll be creating a brochure advertising a fictional music festival.
This tutorial is aimed at intermediate or advanced users of Adobe InDesign, who have some familiarity with using layers, typography and working with vector images in InDesign. We’ll also be hopping over briefly to Adobe Illustrator, to edit a vector graphic for use in the brochure design.
Let’s get started!
1. Preparing for Folding
Before we begin designing the brochure and thinking about color and typography, let’s pause and think about how the final brochure will be folded once printed.
The brochure will be tri-fold, with three folded sections to each side of the brochure (three ‘pages’), and printed on both sides on a single A4 landscape sheet.
This image shows one side of the brochure, which will include the visible front page when folded up. The pink dotted line indicates an inward fold and the solid pink line indicates an outward fold.
This image shows the other side of the brochure, which includes the back page of the brochure, which is visible when folded up.
We can set up this layout in InDesign. Open up InDesign and we can get going…
Step 1
In the New Document window, keep the Intent to Print, and up the Number of Pages to 2. Uncheck Facing Pages.
From the Page Size menu select A4, and then switch the orientation to Landscape.
Set the Margins on all sides to 10 mm, and the Bleed on all sides to 5 mm. Click OK to create the new two-page document.
Step 2
From the Pages panel, navigate to the A-Master of the document.
Ensure the Rulers are visible (View > Show Rulers), and then drag out a vertical guide to X position 148.5 mm, the center-point of the brochure.
Drag out another guide to 99 mm and another to 198 mm, to mark out the three foldable sections of the brochure.
To allow for a 10 mm margin around the entirety of each section, drag out vertical guides to 89 mm, 109 mm, 108 mm and 208 mm.
Step 3
Leave the A-Master and return to Page 1 of the document. If you would find it helpful, you can use the Type Tool (T) to mark out the different sections of the brochure, and keep them on a separate layer for reference, as shown below.
I have renamed Layer 1 from the Layers panel (Window > Layers) as Guides, and then locked it. I can switch the visibility off and on as I work, using the text as a reminder for where content should be placed.
2. Only a ‘Rich Black’ Will Do!
This brochure design uses a dramatic, high-contrast color palette, with just three tones: a deep ‘rich’ black, a coral, and white.
Creating a custom ‘rich’ black, rather than using the default [Black] swatch you can find in the InDesign Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches [F5]), will give the background of the printed brochure a truly black color, giving your brochure depth and drama.
Step 1
Open the Swatches panel (find it docked to the right-side of the workspace if set to Essentials) and click on the New Swatch button at the bottom of the panel. In the window that opens, rename the Swatch as Rich Black – Warm and set the sliders to the following values: C=40 M=60 Y=60 K=100.
If you prefer, you can create a cooler rich black by reducing the level of Yellow and increasing the percentage of Cyan.
Step 2
On Page 1 of the document, first create a New Layer in the Layers panel, renaming it Rich Black. Then take the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag to create a shape that extends across the whole page, up to the edges of the bleed.
Select the shape and Edit > Copy, before Edit > Paste in Place onto Page 2 of the document. You can now Lock the Rich Black layer.
3. Get Experimental With Your Typography
The content of this brochure is going to be stripped back and simple, with typography and high-contrast color being the main focus. That doesn’t mean we can be dull with our typographic efforts, however—let’s create text that’s high-impact and eye-catching!
Step 1
First up, select a pairing of typefaces that complement each other and represent different type styles. Let’s try out a decorative slab font, like Glamor:
Pair it with a more pared-back, ultra-legible sans serif, like Gandhi Sans:
Download and install the fonts, and then return to InDesign.
Step 2
On the visible front section of the brochure, we’re going to write ‘Music ‘15’ in an experimental, jaunty format, to give the text a sense of movement, imitating musical notes.
Navigate to the far right side of Page 1 of the document; we’ll be working in the far-right third of the page for now. Create a New Layer, renaming it Decorative Typography.
Select the Type Tool (T) and drag to create a large square text frame at the top of the third section of the page.
Type just the letter ‘M’ and set the Font to Glamor Bold, Size 400 pt.
Let’s give the text a pop of contrasting color… hop over to the Swatches panel and create a New Swatch, setting the CMYK values to C=0 M=84 Y=57 K=0 to create a hot coral color. Set the ‘M’ to coral.
Position the M so it fits snugly in the top corner of the brochure, allowing some of the edges to spill into the top and right-hand bleed, and the central section of the page.
Hit W on the keyboard to switch between the Normal and Preview Screen Modes to assess how it’s positioned.
Step 3
Create a second text frame and type ‘u’ into it, setting the Font to Glamor Light Italic, Size 250 pt and the Font Color to [Paper].
Position the ‘u’ snugly under the center of the ‘M’.
Build up the text further, with more text frames, respectively reading ‘S’, ‘I’, ‘c’, and finally ‘‘15’. Adjust the Weight and Size of each letter, keeping the Font set to Glamor. Set the color of some to coral, others to [Paper].
Be playful, and don’t be afraid of rotating a text frame or two, to allow the letters to fit nicely together. Try to imitate the look of the letters exactly below, or have a go creating your own version… get experimental!
Step 4
Move over to Page 2 of the document, and create two new text frames using the Type Tool (T). Type ‘F’ into the first, positioning it to the top left of the page and setting the Font to Glamor Bold, Size 400 pt, and Color to [Paper].
In the other text frame (position at the bottom left of the page) type ‘M’ and set the Font to Glamor Bold, Size 250 pt and to the coral swatch.
Pair these capitals with separate text frames, completing the ‘estival’ for ‘Festival’, at top, and ‘usic’ for ‘Music’ at the bottom. Set the text for both to Gandhi Sans, increasing the Size until the text fits snugly against the 188 mm guide.
4. Make Some Music
Because we’re advertising a music festival, we can create some references to the musical nature of the event with musical notes.
Introducing lines, which will imitate the look of sheet music, can give your brochure structure and a visible grid, marking out areas to position text and other elements.
Step 1
Head back up to Page 1 of your document and Lock the Decorative Typography layer. Create another New Layer, naming it Lines, and drag it to sit just below the top Decorative Typography layer.
Take the Line Tool (\) and, holding Shift, drag downwards to create a perfect line about 115 mm in Length. Position the line along the left-hand margin of the page, towards the top-left corner, so that some of the line extends past the edge of the page and onto the bleed.
Set the Stroke Weight to 0.75 mm and the Color to [Paper].
Next up, take the Line Tool (\) again and, holding Shift, drag from left to right to create a perfect horizontal line, letting the left edge touch the white line, and the right edge cross the left part of the ‘M’ on the far right of the page. Set the Weight to 0.25 mm and the Color to coral.
Step 2
Create the illusion of sheet music by creating a series of five evenly spaced horizontal lines, set in [Paper]. Give the central three lines a Weight of 0.15 mm and the outer lines a slightly thicker Weight of 0.25 mm.
Position roughly as shown below, disguising the right edges of the lines by extending them onto the far right side of the page, letting them sit under the decorative letters.
Select the series of lines and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste, positioning below with a generous gap between the two sets.
Step 3
Copy and Paste in Place all of the lines onto Page 2 of the document, adjusting the bulkier groups of lines so that they sit behind the ‘Festival’ and ‘Music’ text, as shown below. Adjust the color of the second set of lines to coral, and create a completely new coral line that sits below ‘Festival’, at Y position 115 mm.
Return to the Layers panel and Lock the Lines layer.
Step 4
What will really bring this brochure to life are a few well-chosen graphics. Don’t distract from the high-impact typography with busy photos—try out some silhouetted graphics instead!
I’ve downloaded this vector image of sheet music from GraphicRiver and opened it up in Adobe Illustrator. Do the same, or feel free to select your own vector image of sheet music or musical notes.
I switch off the visibility of the lines sitting behind the notes, and then drag to select just one complete line of notes. Go to Edit > Copy in Illustrator, and then return to the InDesign brochure document.
Create another new layer for the graphics to sit on. From the Layers panel create a new layer, sitting above the Lines layer, and rename it Music Notes.
In InDesign, Edit > Paste the graphic onto Page 1 of the document. From the Swatches panel, or from the Controls panel running along the top of the workspace, change the Fill Color of the musical notes from the default black to [Paper].
Resize the group of musical notes while holding Shift to retain the proportions, and sit the notes comfortably on the top set of lines, as shown below.
Step 5
Return to the Illustrator vector file, and select another line of musical notes, before going to Edit > Copy.
Paste into the InDesign document, as we did in the previous step, resizing and positioning onto the second set of lines on Page 1.
Repeat the process for Page 2 of the document, copying and pasting more sets of notes onto the page, until you are happy with the result.
For the lower set of lines on Page 2, you might want to adjust the Fill Color to coral to match the color of the ‘Music’ text.
You might also like to adjust the Opacity of the graphics, to make them more subtle, by going to Object > Effects > Transparency and reducing the Opacity to about 80%.
5. Fill Your Brochure With Text
You’ve successfully set up the layout, decorative typography and graphics for your brochure. Great work so far!
Now all that’s left to do is to populate the design with information for the reader. We’ll need to include a subtitle for the front page, a schedule for the festival, and a bit of blurb about the festival itself, as well as giving the reader some info about the location of the event and contact details.
We’ll use the existing typography and graphics to mark out sections of the brochure for placing text. Let’s walk through the steps now…
Step 1
Go to the Layers panel and Lock the Music Notes layer. Create a final New Layer that sits at the very top of the pile, and rename it Sans Serif Typography. We’ll place all the other text on this layer, so it’s easily editable and separate from the rest of the artwork.
Navigate up to Page 1 of the document, and remind yourself of the folded sections for this page, by switching off the visibility of all layers, or by simply reminding yourself with this image:
The far-right third will be the front page of the brochure when folded up. At the moment, it’s not really clear enough what the brochure is actually about, so we can introduce a small subtitle at the top of the third.
Back on the Sans Serif Typography layer, take the Type Tool (T) and drag to create a small text frame about 59 mm in Width that fits centrally towards the top of the far-right third of the page.
Type ‘SYDNEY (paragraph break) MUSIC (paragraph break) FESTIVAL’ and set the Font to Gandhi Sans Regular, Color to [Paper], Tracking to 140 and Leading to 30 pt.
Highlight ‘SYDNEY’ alone and increase the Font Size to 20 pt.
Highlight just ‘MUSIC’ and set the text to Align Center and the Font Size to 18 pt.
Lastly, highlight ‘FESTIVAL’ and set the word to Align Right and Font Size to 15 pt.
Position the text frame so it sits nestled within the large ‘M’ sitting behind it, as shown below.
Step 2
The two left-hand thirds of Page 1 will be a good place to detail the schedule (programme) of the festival’s events.
Take the Type Tool (T) again and create a long, narrow text frame. Type in ‘WHAT’S ON WHEN?’ and set the Font to Gandhi Sans, Size 20 pt, Tracking 90, Align Center and Font Color to coral.
Position the text frame above the top coral line, and so that it crosses the two left thirds of the page, as shown.
Create a second text frame, shorter in Width, and position it at the top left of the far-left third of the page, just above the first line of musical notes.
Type ‘DAY (paragraph break) EVENT’ and set the Font to Gandhi Sans, Tracking to 50 and Align Center. Highlight the day alone and set the Font Color to coral, and Font Size to 12 pt. Highlight just the event and up the Size to 14 pt and adjust the Font Weight to Bold.
Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste the text frame you’ve just created and repeat down the length of the left-hand third of Page 1 four more times. Populate the central third of the page with the same text frame as well. You can adjust the content of the text as you go, if you like, to create a complete schedule for the festival, as I’ve done here:
Step 3
Move down to Page 2 of your document. Let’s remind ourselves of how this page will be folded:
The ‘Inside Pages’, the two left-hand thirds of this page, will probably be the first pages the reader will look at when they unfold the brochure. So this would be the perfect place to draw the reader in with a more detailed blurb about the festival, and convince them why they should attend.
The reader will also read these two left-hand thirds as a whole, as they are only divided by an inward fold. So we can feel confident placing text that crosses these two thirds.
Take the Type Tool (T) again and drag to create a text frame about 155 mm in Width and 35 mm in Height. Type ‘Welcome’, followed by a couple of paragraph breaks, and then you have room for a couple of sentences.
Go to Type > Fill with Placeholder Text, if you’d prefer, for now.
Set the Font to Gandhi Sans, Size 12 pt, Leading 32 pt, Tracking 50, All Caps, and Align Right. Pull out the ‘Welcome’ in a coral color and the remainder in [Paper]. Position the frame so it rests against the 188 mm guide to the right.
Copy > Paste the text frame, and position below the top set of music notes, adjusting the text to Align Left.
You can adjust the content of the text to give the reader a bit more detail about the festival.
Step 4
The far-right third of Page 2 will be the back page of the brochure when folded up. You’ll usually find need-to-know information on this part of brochures: contact information, maps and addresses, or important dates.
Introduce some more text frames here, using the lines of musical notes to separate different sections of information. Set the text to Gandhi Sans and Align Center for a clear, professional finish. Set titles in coral and other info in [Paper].
6. You’re Ready to Go to Print!
Congratulations! Your beautiful brochure is finished, and it’s looking really polished and professional.
Step 1
All that’s left to do is to check the text for any spelling errors (Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling), perform a technical Preflight(Window > Output > Preflight) and finally, to export the brochure as a print-ready PDF.
Step 2
To export your brochure artwork as a print-ready file, ready for sending straight to the printers, hop up to File > Export and select Adobe PDF (Print) from the drop-down menu in the Export window.
Once you hit Save, select [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset drop-down menu at the top of the Export Adobe PDF window.
Under the Marks and Bleeds options, click to select All Printer’s Marks and check Use Document Bleed Settings under Bleed and Slug.
Select Export to create your print-ready file, complete with printer’s marks.
You’re now ready to send the brochure to print!
Be sure to specify the paper weight (something between 130 and 200 gsm is usually pretty safe, and will give a more luxe finish) and whether you’d like the finish to be gloss or matte (matte often looks more modern).
Conclusion
Your beautiful brochure is complete, and ready for sending to print. Fantastic work!
In this tutorial we’ve covered a range of advanced InDesign skills and techniques, ranging across typography, layout and grid design, color design and working with graphics in InDesign. Specifically, you should now have more confidence in:
Designing 2D layouts that will be transformed into folded, 3D products, and sectioning the layout appropriately to allow for this
Creating ‘Rich Black’ swatches for optimal printed results
Using decorative typography in an experimental, design-led way, to give your layouts an ultra-professional look
Enhancing your type-heavy designs with bold color combinations and simple vector graphics
Be sure to check back to the Tuts+ Design & Illustration page for more InDesign tutorials, and above all have fun with creating your own experimental designs for print!
Thumbnails are the sketch before the sketch. They help us to fully realize our paintings by giving us ample room to experiment. In today’s quick tip for our Digital Painting 101 series, we’ll cover the many benefits of these tiny masterpieces.
So What Are Thumbnail Drawings?
Thumbnail drawings are small, preliminary sketches, usually done within an outlined frame as a quick snapshot of your painting idea. Traditional artists have always used them to plan out their work, so there’s no surprise that thumbnail drawings have crossed over into the digital art realm.
What Can Thumbnails Achieve?
Do you ever feel as if you have a ton of ideas but you’re just not sure how to compose them?
Well, by sketching everything out in Photoshop first, you can work out the perfect composition before committing to a painting. This becomes an important step in your journey as an artist because as your skills improve, you want to prepare your paintings in a way that allows you to avoid any beginner mistakes.
And the number one thing beginners fail to do is prepare. You see, great art doesn’t just fall out of the sky. Behind every great piece is a long list of notes, thumbnails, and even small studies to work out each detail.
Types of Thumbnail Drawings
Creating thumbnail drawings is pretty straight to the point. Here are several different methods you can try out for yourself:
Notes & Research
Personally speaking, I always write more than I draw. All my thumbnail drawings are accompanied by associating words that clarify my vision more than the actual visual interpretation. I name the colors I want to use, write adjectives to describe the piece, and make any notes of important details I might forget. And as long as I have a generalized idea of where I want to position things, I feel comfortable enough to move on to the real sketch.
But not every artist is alike. You might have to do 3 thumbnails or 30 thumbnails before you get to that next stage. For beginners, just keep at it until you find a process that speaks to you. Make plenty of notes that are easy to understand, and always refer back to your originals to keep yourself on track.
Loose vs. Detailed
I have seen everything from the most elaborately beautiful thumbnail sketches to stick figures and “chicken scratch” drawings. They all work, and there are benefits to them all. Any time that you keep things loose, you allow your art to have some breathing room. It lets you get ideas on the page quickly, without wasting too much time.
Detailed thumbnails, however, are great for getting yourself to actually commit to certain details. It forces you to work out any kinks before moving on to your final sketch.
The best way to know which type of thumbnail to draw is to simply listen to your gut. If you need to add more details, then you know what to do.
Outlines & Shapes
What does the negative space look like? Where’s the hierarchy in this piece? And how will your eyes move across the composition? These are all questions that have to be answered before finalizing a sketch.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is just use basic outlines for placement and movement. Want to paint a beautiful landscape? Then incorporate simple shapes into your thumbnails like triangles for trees and rectangles for buildings. As silly as it might look, you’ll actually be surprised at how much clearer your vision becomes.
Color & Values
As I previously mentioned, thumbnails are great for research. So you should also take advantage of experimenting with color as well as the lighting scheme for your paintings. Figuring these out early on will save you the disappointment that is often associated with making poor decisions.
Because of its limitless potential, painting in Photoshop can be overwhelming to beginners. By working with thumbnails you can set your eyes on a specific color scheme so that you aren’t distracted by any others.
The Basic Setup: How to Thumbnail
It’s super easy to make your own thumbnail template. But also feel free to download the template provided in this post.
Use the Rectangle Tool (U) to create several rectangular shapes to represent landscape or portrait compositions on a blank white canvas. Merge all the rectangle layers together and Lock the new layer so that you can use this template with interchangeable sketches.
Create new layers and dedicate them to a specific concept. Now start sketching! Save the file as a normal .psd and continue to use it for all your future digital paintings.
Making the Most of Your Thumbnails
That was pretty easy, right? So whatever you do, don’t worry yourself into a corner. Keep these few things in mind to make the most of your drawings.
Don’t Pressure Yourself
Remember, it’s just a thumbnail. A small sketch. It’s not meant to be too complicated or intimidating. If you find yourself getting overwhelmed even at this stage then dial back the amount of pressure you’re putting on yourself. Coming up with great ideas takes lots of experimentation, so learn to accept the rough parts of this process, even when it’s Mr. Stick Figure Man.
Think Outside the Box
Sometimes a box isn’t going to work, and blank white pages are known for killing art dreams. Try your best to push the way you think about composition. If you have a tendency to create the same composition over and over again, obliterate this habit early in the thumbnail stage. Use circles instead of rectangles, play with perspective and point of view, and even use color to change the way you see your ideas developing.
Know When to Choose the Best Thumbnail
So you’ve made a couple dozen thumbnails. Now what? Choose a sketch that tells the best story. Don’t be lazy and go for what you’re used to doing. To make the most impact, study all your thumbnails and pay special attention to which ones your eyes naturally gravitate towards. No matter the difficulty level, this is a natural response to what works best, so listen to your body and let it tell you which one to choose.
Conclusion
I know it seems like a lot of extra work, but thumbnail drawings help you to put your best foot forward in creating beautiful digital art. Extensive planning is really how artists learn what works and what definitely doesn’t.
So don’t let your ideas go to waste! Feel free to download the template provided to get started, and share with us your ideas for your next digital painting! Good luck!
In recent years 3D printing has received much attention, promising
to revolutionise manufacturing, and completely overturning the way we
produce items. As with many emerging disruptive technologies, a lot of
the coverage in the popular press is exaggerated, more like a Star
Trek replicator than the actual processes.
However, whether some of the
wilder claims pan out or not, for designers 3D printing does offer a
tantalising prospect: the capability to produce objects without the
constraints of traditional manufacturing, the capability even to
fabricate objects on your desk without traditional making or
engineering skills.
By the end of this article you will have been introduced to the
terminology of 3D printing and have an idea which method is best for
you. First we will discuss the three most common technologies, and then
some options in designing a model.
3D Printing Technologies
It would be incorrect to think of 3D printing as a single
technology. Instead it is a set of technologies following a
shared idea of additive manufacturing driven by software.
So what is
additive manufacturing? Many manufacturing techniques start with a
block of material and selectively remove it until we are left with
the desired object. Additive manufacturing turns this on its head, starting with a blank canvas and adding only what is required for the
final object.
In itself this additive manufacturing is nothing
special—a child building sand castles on the beach is using additive
manufacturing. It is the addition of using digital technology for a
reliable and accurate result that makes 3D printing special.
Typically this works by slicing an object we wish to create into
thin sections and building these slices one at a time, stacked on top
of each other. Think of building a pyramid as a series of square
buildings, each smaller than the last, stacked up to make a 3D shape.
FDM: Extruding Filaments
The first technique we will look at is FDM, Fused Depositional
Modelling, or FFF, Fused Filament Fabrication if we want to avoid
trademarked terms. It relies on “extruding” a filament of
material, i.e. heating it to a point at which it can be squeezed through a
nozzle, producing an even thinner filament. This nozzle is moved over
a surface, drawing the outline of the slice we want to create, then
filling this outline with a pattern of material.
Because the material
is hot as it is extruded, it bonds to any filament already laid down,
forming a solid slice of material. Once complete, the nozzle moves up
a small amount and starts extruding the next layer.
Part way though an FDM print, note the outline and infill pattern. Image Credit: Tony Buser via Flickr
This is
the technique you will find in most hobbyist 3D printers, typically
with the material being ABS or PLA plastic. The technique
produces a “wood grain”-like surface with slight grooves between
each layer (although this can be removed by sanding, polishing or
acetone vapour). Imperfect calibration of a machine can result in
strands of filament protruding in places or blobs of molten material.
The technique can struggle with overhanging shapes. Since it is
building on top of the layer below, anything overhanging is extruded
onto nothing but air! As long as we don’t need to overhang too far, the material will support itself and not sag too much. However, commercial machines tackle this with a support material that is extruded
from a second head, built as a scaffold to support any overhangs
which can be snapped or dissolved off afterwards. There are some
hobbyist attempts to replicate this, but they tend to be less
reliable.
SLA: Setting Resins
The next technique,
Stereolithography or SLA, relies on photo-sensitive resins,
photopolymers, materials which change from liquid to solid when
exposed to (usually ultra violet) light. By exposing each slice of
the object on the surface of a thin layer of the liquid with
ultra-violet (UV) light, we can harden just the parts we want. This
hardened resin is repeatedly flooded with another thin layer of
liquid and then exposed with UV light in the shape of the next slice
of model, to leave a hardened 3D structure once we drain off the
fluid.
The method of UV exposure differs: some SLA printers use a
laser, steering it over the surface to draw the slice, while others use a
DLP projector to expose an entire layer at once.
SLA more easily produces a smoother, higher resolution print, but
tends to be more expensive. It has the same issue of overhangs, and
parts tend to be built on a scaffold made of the same resin as the
built object, necessitating quite a bit of clean-up sanding.
A lot of
“model making” type prints in the professional world of 3D
printing tend to use this technique, and there are a lot of
photo-polymers now available mimicking different materials. Until
recently patents limited this technique to professional machines,
but machines accessible to hobbyists have appeared over recent years, and with this, cheaper resins have also
appeared. That being said, the technique uses gloopy chemicals with
limited life, so I don’t think it’ll completely replace FDM in the
hobbyist sphere.
SLS: Melting With Lasers
The
very best 3D printers again use a laser, but this time at a higher
power, either melting or sintering powders together (sintering is
when you heat a material enough to fuse it together, but not quite
enough to fully melt it into a liquid).
These powders can be
engineering grade plastics such as Nylon, or even metals, allowing 3D
printing of parts suitable for machinery. If you see a news article about Formula 1 racing teams or rocket manufacturers using 3D printing, this
will be the type they mean. Very high resolution and very strong, but
typically rather expensive.
These types of machines are usually used
as an alternative to traditional engineering techniques and, although
expensive, can be cheaper than traditional techniques for one-off
parts or small production runs.
SpaceX SuperDraco rocket engines using parts 3D printed with Inconel superalloy. Image Credit: SpaceX Photos via Flickr
For the widest range of materials, look to a 3D printing service with a range of machines, for instance Shapeway’s offering. You’re looking at a number of plastics, metals and ceramics with different properties to suit what you’re trying to make.
Excellent, you may think—I don’t need to care how it works, as long as it works! But there’s the catch: look at each material they offer and you’ll see they all have different requirements, minimum wall thicknesses, minimum surface detail sizes, minimum clearances, etc. You might find you need to tweak your design to work with the material you’re using.
If you go the other direction, getting a hobbyist 3D printer, you are a bit more limited, but not as much as you might expect. There’s a range of filaments out there now that’ll work on this kind of machine. There are flexible filaments, wood-like filaments, translucent materials, and plastics with all sorts of differing characteristics.
Beware, however: these materials will usually need a bit of tinkering with temperatures and possibly even alternative parts in the printer. Most people with these sorts of machines like to tinker with such things, however.
Modelling for 3D Printing
There
are two big approaches to 3D modelling: surface modelling and solid
modelling.
Surface modelling typically represents an object as points,
edges and faces.
Solid modelling instead, as the name suggests,
maintains a representation of the inside of the object. Solid
modelling is typically harder for the programmer to write and more
limiting to the designer to model in, and for this reason most modellers
aiming just to render images from a 3D model will use a surface
modelling package.
For
3D modelling, either can be used, although there are caveats to that.
Remember that the software will aim to slice the model into sections
and must know which is the inside and outside of those sections.
Obviously a modelling package which represents objects as solids will
be unambiguous which is which, but surface modelling can produce
files where it isn’t so obvious.
There is a very strict approach you
must take to produce valid files with such software, quite unlike the
usual approach for making a model to render. In brief the file has to
be “manifold”, i.e. no intersecting faces, no internal faces, no
holes, and all vertices welded not just very very close. The model
would have to be water tight if you made it from plastic sheets. Try
following this guide for more details.
So unless you’re already skilled with surface modelling, I’d suggest
having a go with a solid modelling package. Although they are less
expressive, there is less to go wrong for your first attempt!
I tend
to use Solidworks, but it is rather expensive. Thankfully with
the rise of 3D printing comes a matching proliferation of free solid
modelling packages. The company that produces AutoCAD, another expensive but very powerful 3D package, offers a few packages. Of these, some of most useful for this purpose are Tinkercad, a basic browser-based CAD package, and 123D Design, an offline tool with similar capabilities.
My free go-to tool is usually Trimble Sketchup, which is free for non-commercial use, but you will need an extension to get the right kind of file.
Whichever tool you use, you’ll typically need to end up with one or more stl files. This is a very basic file format, but what most 3D printing tools will accept.
Producing Your 3D Print
So
you know some of the technologies, you know some of the software,
perhaps you’ve even made a file, and you just want to know how to get it
printed already! There are a few ways you can go here: you can invest
in a machine, you can use a 3D printing service, or you can find
somewhere to use a 3D printer. Each has pros and cons.
Buying
your own machine can be quite an investment, although a lot less than
in the past. You’ll be limited to the one technology your machine
uses, and hence the one (or a few) materials used in that technology.
Assuming you’re not made of money and have been able to get a
professional machine, you may have to delve into the techy side of
your machine if anything needs to be replaced or recalibrated, although
many hobbyist machines have excellent online communities to support
this.
However, having said all that, you’ll have the cheapest option
per part you want to make, so if you get hooked you can churn out
parts to your heart’s content. And you’ll be able to rapidly
iterate parts—if you’re anything like me and you’re making multiple
parts to join together, you’ll get something wrong the first time you
make it!
A model underway on the Ultimaker, a popular hobbyist 3D printer. Image credit: Maurizio Pesce via Flickr
Another option is 3D printing services, either online or your local 3D
printing company. This has the benefit of no upfront cost (although
it is considerably more expensive per part), and a range of
technologies and materials available. The other main downside beside
the cost is time, because you’ll have to wait for them to make it and ship it
to you. There are a few big services out there, such as Shapeways or iMaterialise, but shop around and find the solution that has the best
balance of price and speed for you.
3D printed parts from Shapeways, an online 3D printing service. Image credit: Lunatics TV via Flickr
The third option is a halfway house between these, but is dependent
on finding a 3D printer you can use locally. The maker movement has
resulted in lots of local maker spaces, which may have machines
available at the cost of entry and material, or even just someone
who’s willing to trade time on a machine for 3D modelling skills for
their projects. Look into it!
Or
you can do what I do, and do all of these! Quickly test models on your
own machines, send files off for alternative materials, and get involved
with local makers and students to make things.
Conclusion
So you now know a bit of the terminology, some of the options, and the pros and cons of each. Go forth and 3D print something interesting. Also be sure to keep your eyes open for future tutorials delving into some of the details more closely. If you have any questions, post them in the comments!
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Attracting critical acclaim around the world, the six-part BBC drama series Wolf Hall transports viewers to 16th-century London, where an implacable Thomas Cromwell must seek a way to annul the 20-year marriage between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Be inspired by these incredible examples of 3D art
In today’s tutorial I’m going
to show you how to create a simple working space environment using Adobe
Illustrator. The process is pretty simple as most of the steps will rely on
using some of the basic shapes that come with Illustrator, with the help of
which we will create almost all our illustration’s elements.
1. Create a New
Document
As with any new project the first thing you
should do is make sure that you set up your document properly. Assuming you
already have Illustrator running, go to File > New (Control-N) and create a new document with the
following settings:
Number of Artboards: 1
Width: 800
px
Height:
600 px
Units: Pixels
And from the Advanced tab:
Color Mode:
RGB
Raster Effects:
High (300ppi)
Align New Objects to
Pixel Grid: checked
2. Layer Your
Artwork
Because layers
improve our workflow by allowing us to lock and hide certain parts of the
illustration, I recommend that you set up a couple of them so that while you’re
moving through the creative process you won’t accidentally misplace elements.
I’ve set up eight different layers and named them as follows:
background
delimitation
line
desk
coffee mug
macbook
books
trash can
calendar
3. Setting Up a
Custom Grid
If you are
familiar with the way Illustrator works, you should know that it gives you the
option to snap your design to its Pixel
Grid. That means that each anchor point will be positioned at the middle
intersection of four pixels.
Because there
are different situations that require different grid settings, sometimes you
might find yourself in the position to adjust the ones running on your version
of Adobe Illustrator.
I personally
have gone for the lowest and at the same time the most accurate settings,
because I feel I have more control over my designs.
To change these settings, you must go to Edit > Preferences > Guides &
Grid. From there, a little popup will appear, where we need to adjust the
following:
Gridline every:
1 px
Subdivisions: 1
Once you’ve
adjusted these settings, all you need to do in order to make everything pixel
crisp is enable the Snap to Grid option
located under the View menu.
Quick tip:
you should know that the Snap to Grid option
will transform into Snap to Pixel
every time you enter Pixel Preview Mode,
but that’s totally fine, as most of the times you will be going
back and forward with this display mode.
If you’re used to moving things around with the
help of the keyboard’s directional arrow keys, you might want to change the Keyboard Increment to 1 px to get it as precise as possible.
You can do this by going to Edit >
Preferences > General > Keyboard Increment.
If your version
of AI has the value set to px, just go to Units and change the General and Stroke units to Pixels and you’re good to go.
4. Creating the
Background
The first thing we need to do is add a
background onto which all the other elements will be laid out. To do that,
simply select the Rectangle Tool (M), click
anywhere in Illustrator, and then enter the same width and height values as our
little Artboard(800 x 600 px). Once you’ve created the shape, change its color to #999999 and then center it both vertically and horizontally to the Artboard using the Align panel.
Quick tip:
If your version of Illustrator doesn’t have the options visible, like the Distribute Spacing and Align To, you will have to click on the
small down-facing arrow located on the top right side of the panel and select Show Options from there.
5. Adding the
Delimitation Line
Using the Rounded
Rectangle Tool create a 554 x 4 px shape
with a Corner Radius of 1 px. Color the line using #453F3C and then position it by entering
these values (coordinates) into the Transform panel:
X:
400 px
Y: 445 px
6. Creating the
Desk
Step 1
Using the Rectangle
Tool (M) create a 336 x 10 px
shape, set its color to #797270 and then position it using these coordinates:
X:
384 px
Y: 314 px
Step 2
Create a copy of the previously created shape (Control-C > Control-F), select it, and then give it an Offset Path effect (Effect > Path > Offset Path) of 6 px, making sure to set the Joins to Round.
Step 3
Change the offset’s color to #453F3C and then
send it to the back of our desk’s top section by right clicking >Arrange > Send to Back.
Step 4
Add a small highlight to the top section of our
desk by creating a 336 x 4 px white rectangle,
which we will adjust by setting its Blending
Mode to Overlay and its Opacity level to 30%.
Once you’ve added the highlight, select it, the outline and the lighter section of our desk, and group them using Control-G so that the elements won’t get moved by mistake.
Step 5
Grab the Rectangle
Tool (M) and create a 10 x 112 px object,
which we will position towards the bottom of our desk’s outline, at about 26 px to the interior from its left
side. Give the shape the same #797270 shade, and then create an outline
following the same process we used for the desk’s top section.
Step 6
Add a small shadow by creating a 10 x 6 px rectangle and positioning it
right next to the desk’s outline, making sure to horizontally align it to the
leg. Color it black (#000000), and then change its Blending Mode to Multiply,lowering
its Opacity level to 30%.
Step 7
At about 182
px to the right of the leg, create a 98 x
112 px rectangle, which will act as our drawer base.
Step 8
Again, following the same process used before,
add an outline and a shadow to the drawer’s base.
Step 9
Create the first drawer by drawing one larger 82 x 36 px rounded rectangle (#453F3C) with a Corner Radius of 3 px. Add a smaller 74 x 28
px rectangle on top of it, which we will use to create a cutout so that in
the end we will have just the outline of the drawer.
Once you have both shapes
selected, use Pathfinder’s Minus Front option to subtract the top
one (which I’ve highlighted with red) from the one underneath.
Then add a 74 x 4 px highlight (white #FFFFFF with Blending Mode set to Overlay and Opacity set to 30%) towards the top, and a 10 x 10 px circle (#453F3C) in the middle, which
will act as the handle.
Step 10
Select all the elements forming up our drawer,
and then group them (Control-G).
Once you have them grouped together, position the drawer onto the cabinet at
about 24 px from its top side,
making sure to horizontally align it.
Step 11
Create a secondary drawer, by selecting and then
dragging the one we have towards the bottom while holding down Alt. Once you’ve created the duplicate,
make sure to use the Align panel to
distance it at about 8 px from the
original.
Step 12
Using the Rectangle
Tool (M) create a 176 x 18 px shape,
color it using #797270, and position it between the drawer compartment
and the desk’s leg.
Step 13
Add a 176
x 6 px rectangle (#453F3C) underneath, which will act as the drawer’s
outline. Using the Rectangle Tool (M), add
the top and side shadows, which will have the Blending Mode set to Multiply and the Opacity lowered to 30%.
Switch to the Rounded Rectangle Tool and create a 38 x 6 px shape (#453F3C) with a 3 px Corner Radius, which we will position just under the top
section shadow, making sure to align it horizontally to the drawer.
Step 14
Once we have created all the desk’s elements,
select them and make sure to group them together using Control-G.
7. Creating the Coffee
Mug
Step 1
Move onto the coffee mug layer, and using the Rounded Rectangle Tool create a 14 x 18 px shape with a Corner Radius of 2 px. Set its color to #CCC4C4, and then using the Direct Selection Tool (A) remove its
top-center anchor points by selecting them and then pressing Delete.
As soon as you remove the
anchors, press Control-J to unite
the remaining ones. Next, use the Offset
Path effect to create an outline of 6
px, making sure to position it under the mug itself. Add a 14 x 2 px highlight (white #FFFFFF with Blending Mode set to Overlay and Opacity level set to 60%) and position it towards the top
section.
Create the handle by drawing a 7
x 14 px rounded rectangle with a Corner
Radius of 2 px. Flip its fill
with its stroke (Shift-X) and then
change the stroke’s weight to 4 px.
If you’re using the CC (Creative Cloud) version of Illustrator, you can add
rounded corners to any anchor points, by selecting it with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and then
adding the desired value into the Corner
Type option. If you’re using an older version of AI then try to use
the Pen Tool (P) to draw the desired
sections.
Step 2
To create the coffee flavored steam coming out
of the mug, you will have to be creative and draw a couple of rounded
rectangles of different sizes and widths. For example, I created the base using
an 18 x 4 px (2 px Corner Radius) shape, and then created a smaller 11 x 2 px one which has its left and right sections cut out using a 2 x 2 px circle.
Then I added another 16 x 4 px (2 px Corner Radius) shape on top, and then I varied the size of both my
round lines and cutout ones, making sure to color them using #797270. When you have something that you like, simply group
all of its elements (Control-G) and
send them to the back of the mug using the Arrange
> Send to Back function.
Step 3
Group both the coffee mug and the steam (Control-G) and then position them on
top of the desk, towards the left side at about 14 px from the edge.
8. Creating the
MacBook
Step 1
Start by creating a 126 x 6 px rounded rectangle with a 2 px Corner Radius. Color the shape using #E2E0E0 and then use
the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select
and remove (Delete) its top-middle
anchor points, uniting the remaining ones (Control‑J).
Using the Offset Path effect, create
an outline of 6 px and make sure to
send it to the back of our MacBook’s base. Then add a subtle highlight towards
the top by creating a 128 x 3 px rectangle, which we will position onto the main shape, and then mask by pasting a copy of
that onto it and then right clicking and choosing Make
Clipping Mask.
Finish the base of the MacBook by adding a 28 x 8 px rounded rectangle (#453F3C)
with a Corner Radius of 2 px on top of all the other elements,
making sure to horizontally align it to the top section of the outline. As always
make sure to group all the elements using Control-G.
Step 2
Position the MacBook’s base onto the desk,
towards the left side, at a distance of 14 px from the mug’s handle.
Step 3
Start working on the screen section of the
device, by creating a 106 x 72 px rounded
rectangle (#CCC4C4) with a Corner Radius of 6 px. Remove its
bottom-centered anchor points using the Direct
Selection Tool (A), and then create a copy onto which you will apply an Offset Path effect of 6 px.
Send the resulting outline to the
back (right click > Arrange > Send
to Back) and make sure to change its color to #453F3C.
Step 4
Grab the Rectangle
Tool (M) and create a 94 x 54 px shape
which will act as the screen. Change the color to #453F3C and make sure to
position it right in the center of the top section lid.
Step 5
Now, let’s start adding some details by creating
a 106 x 3 px black rectangle and
positioning it right at the bottom side of the lid. Change the shape’s Blending Mode to Multiply, and then lower its Opacity to 30%.
Step 6
Move towards the top section of the lid, and
using the Ellipse Tool (L) create a 4 x 4 px circle which will act as our
webcam. Color the shape using the same outline shade #453F3C, and then position
it towards the center of the top side of the lid.
Step 7
Create another 108 x 4 px white rectangle which will act as
a highlight, and position it towards the top side of the lid so that it covers
half of the webcam circle. Change the shape’s Blending Mode to Overlay
and lower its Opacity level to about 60%.
Once you have the rectangle positioned in place,
create a copy of the entire lid (not the outline) and paste it on top of highlight,
and then with both selected right click
> Make Clipping Mask.
Quick tip: In case you’re wondering why the shape is
wider than our actual lid, I found that creating larger shapes and then
masking their surface to that of the shape underneath creates a more reliable
option for when you decide to scale your artwork.
Step 8
Finish up the
MacBook by creating two diagonal highlights (one narrower and one slightly wider)
and positioning them towards the center of the screen. I’ve created one 4 x 108 px rectangle for the first and
another 8 x 108 px for the wider one.
Then I grouped (Control-G) and
rotated them at a 45 angle towards
the right by pressing R and then
dragging their top sections to the right. I then colored them white, setting their Blending Mode to Overlay and
their Opacity to 30%.
After positioning them onto the screen, I created a copy (Control-C) of the display, and pasted (Control-F) it on top of the highlights, and used that to create a Clipping Mask.
The result is a nice looking MacBook that
anybody would love to use.
9. Creating the Books
Step 1
Because essentially all the books have the same width, height and outline,
we will create the first one, and then create variations based on it to get the
rest.
Grab the Rectangle
Tool (M) and draw a 60 x 8 px shape, which we will color using #B86F52. Create a copy of the object (Control-C > Control-F) and then give
it a 6 px outline using the Offset Path effect, making sure to set
the Joins to Round. Group the two and then position them on top of the desk,
towards the right side at about 51 px from
the MacBook.
Step 2
Enter Isolation
Mode by double clicking on the book (or right click > Isolate Selected Group) and using the Rectangle Tool (M) create a 60 x 2 px black shape. Set its Blending Mode to Multiply while lowering its Opacity to 30%. Then create a bunch of
decorative elements using rectangles of different widths, coloring all of them
using #453F3C. Once you’re done, simply press Escape to exit Isolation
Mode.
Step 3
Make a copy of the book that we’ve just created
(Control-C > Control-F) and then
move it towards the top left side using the Move tool. To do that, simply select the duplicate right click > Transform > Move and
enter -7 px for the Horizontal value field and -14 px for the Vertical one.
Step 4
Select the second book and enter Isolation Mode so that you can tweak
its appearance, by changing the color of the cover to #797270 and modifying the
decorative elements to something different.
Step 5
Create the third and last book by using the same
trick with the Move tool. First,
create a duplicate from the first book and then position it by entering 5 px into the Horizontal value field and -28
px into the Vertical one.
Once
you’ve done that, change the cover’s color to #F78764, play around with the
decorations, and then make sure to change the top section shadow to a highlight
by coloring it white and then setting its Blending Mode to Overlay and its Opacity to 30%.
10. Creating the
Trash Can
Step 1
Make sure you’re on the trash can layer, and using
the Rounded Rectangle Tool create a 46 x 68 px shape with a Corner Radius of 6 px. Color the object using #453F3C, and then using the Direct Selection Tool (A) remove its
top middle anchor points.
Next, add a 34
x 66 px rectangle (highlighted with red) with a Corner Radius of 2 px on
top, leaving a gap of 6 px between it
and the bottom side of the previously created object.
With both of the shapes
selected, use Pathfinder’s Minus Front option to create a cutout
which will act as our trash can interior. Create another shape that covers the
top rounded corners and remove these also, so that in the end your shape
resembles a tall “U”-like shape.
Step 2
Once you have your base shape, add a bunch of
rectangles: 12 vertical (with the Height set to 2 px) and eight horizontal
(with the Width set to 2 px), spacing them at 2 px from one another. Color them using #797270 and then make sure to send them to the back of the trash can’s outline (right click > Arrange > Send to Back).
11. Creating the
Calendar
Step 1
Start by creating a 64 x 56 px rectangle with a Corner
Radius of 2 px. Color the shape
using #E2E0E0, duplicate it (Control-C
> Control-F), and then create an outline by applying an Offset Path effect of 6 px to the copy, making sure to change
its color to #453F3C and send it to the back afterwards (right click > Arrange > Send to Back).
With both of the
objects selected, press Control-G to
group them, and then position them using these coordinates into the Transform panel:
X:
469 px
Y:
199 px
Step 2
Enter Isolation
Mode by double clicking on the calendar, and then create a copy of the
lighter section and color it using #797270. Using the Direct Selection Tool (A) select its bottom middle anchor points
and remove them by pressing Delete.
Unite the remaining anchors using Control-J,and then with the bottom ones selected, right
click > Transform > Move. Enter -46 px into the Vertical value
field, leaving the Horizontal one set to 0
px.
Step 3
Add a 64
x 4 px rectangle underneath the previously created shape and color it using #453F3C.
Step 4
Add a 4
px tall highlight and shadow to give it the same visual treatment as we
used on the other objects.
Step 5
Using the Ellipse
Tool (L) create two 4 x 4 px circles,
color them using #453F3C, and then distance them at 40 px from one another, making sure to group (Control‑G) and then horizontally and vertically align them to the
darker top section of our calendar.
Step 6
Create four rows of seven 4 x 4 px squares (#453F3C), distancing both the elements and the rows at 4 px from one another. Remove the first
square of the top row and the last one of the bottom row, and then apply some
different colors (#797270 for the slightly lighter ones and #F78764 for the
orange highlighted one) to some of the day indicators to make it more
interesting. Group all the squares together (Control-G) and then both vertically and horizontally center them to
the lower empty section of our calendar.
Step 7
Finish off the calendar by creating a 2 x 2 px circle (#E2E0E0) with a 2 px outline (#453F3C) which will act
as our wall pin. Then using the Pen
Tool (P) trace the string starting from the left bullet hole’s center,
going up to the center of the pin and then back down to the second bullet hole,
setting the stroke to 2 px.
And It’s a Wrap!
That’s it! If you followed each step
correctly you should now have a cute looking desk scenery, which you can further
tweak by adding or rearranging objects depending on your
personal taste. I hope you had fun doing this little
illustration, but most importantly I hope you learned something new along the
way.
A good texture is an essential part of a realistic effect. This tutorial will show you how to use Filter Forge to get a cork texture, and then use it along with other material settings to create a mosaic cork text effect. Let’s get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:
After downloading the Cork Board Texture filter, open it in Filter Forge, and double click the second preset under the Presets tab to create the texture.
Step 2
Click the Save Image As button in the bottom right corner, and save the texture’s image.
2. Creating the Text and the Mosaic Shape
Step 1
Create a new 1250 x 935 px document.
Create the text in All Caps using the Aller Display font for the main parts, and Berkshire Swash for any decorative letters (the & in this case). Set the color to Black.
After that, you’ll need to adjust the settings under the Character panel (Window > Character) to arrange the text as you like. Here, the Size is set to 318 pt, and the Leading value is set to 298 pt.
Step 2
Duplicate the text layer and make it invisible.
Select the copy and go to Type > Convert to Shape. Then duplicate the shape layer and make it invisible as well.
Step 3
Pick the Line Tool and set the Weight value in the Options bar to 5 px, or any other value you like depending on how thick or thin you want the spaces between the mosaic pieces to be.
Then choose the Subtract Front Shape option from the Geometry Options menu, and start drawing random lines to subtract them from the main text shape.
Step 4
Once you’re done with the lines, and you’re happy with the result you get, click the Geometry Options icon again and choose Merge Shape Components.
Step 5
Make the original shape layer visible again, and then create a new layer on top of all layers and fill it with any color you like.
3. Creating the 3D Scene
Step 1
For each of the shape layers you have, select it and go to 3D > New 3D Extrusion form Selected Path, and for the top layer (Layer 1), select it and go to 3D > New Mesh from Layer > Postcard.
Step 2
Select all 3D layers and choose 3D > Merge 3D Layers. This will place all the 3D meshes in one scene.
Step 3
To access the 3D mesh settings and properties, you’ll need to open two panels: the 3D panel, and the Properties panel (both found under the Window menu).
The 3D panel has all the components of the 3D scene, and when you click the name of any component, you’ll be able to access its settings in the Properties panel. So make sure to always select the tab of the element you want to modify in the 3D panel before you change its settings in the Properties panel.
Step 4
If you select the Move Tool, you’ll find a set of 3D Modes for it to the right of the Options bar. When you choose one of those, you can then click and drag to perform changes (on the selected element in the 3D panel).
4. Modifying the 3D Meshes
Step 1
Select the Layer 1 Mesh tab in the 3D panel, and uncheck the Cast Shadows box in the Properties panel.
Step 2
Click the Coordinates icon at the top of the Properties panel, change the X Rotation Angle to 90, and change the Y Position value to 0.1.
Step 3
Click the original shape layer’s tab in the 3D panel, and change its Extrusion Depth value to 250.
Step 4
Click the Cap icon, and change the Bevel Width to 3% and the Contour to Half Round.
Step 5
Click the tab of the copy 2 mesh, and change its Extrusion Depth to 20.
Step 6
Click the Cap icon, and change the Bevel Width to 3% and the Contour to Half Round.
5. Moving the Meshes and the Camera View
Step 1
Change the Current View to Front. Then select the tabs of both shape meshes, click the Coordinates icon at the top of the Properties panel, and change the X Rotation Angle value to 90.
Go to 3D > Move Object to Ground Plane. Pick the Move Tool, and use the 3D Axis to place the smaller mesh on top of the bigger one.
The arrows at the ends of the axis move the mesh, the part below them is used for rotation, and the cubes are used for scaling. The cube in the center is used to scale the object uniformly. All you need to do is click and drag the part you want.
Step 2
Go back to the Default Camera view, select the Current View tab, and use the Move Tool Modes to change the camera angle to get a top view.
Select both text meshes and scale them down. Then zoom in the Current View. Repeat that until the text fills the document, and no empty sides are showing.
Step 3
Once you’re happy with the result, select both text meshes, and go to 3D > Move Object to Ground Plane.
6. Creating the Cork Material
Step 1
Make the top text (copy 2) mesh invisible. Select all the original text mesh material tabs, and set the Shine value to 80%.
Step 2
Select the Front Inflation Material tab, and then click the Diffuse texture icon and choose Replace Texture.
Step 3
Load the Cork texture image you created earlier using the Filter Forge filter.
Step 4
Click the Diffuse texture icon again and choose Edit UV Properties.
Step 5
You’ll need to adjust the values until you like how the texture looks.
Step 6
Click the Bump folder icon, and then choose the Cork texture again.
Step 7
Edit the UV Properties for the Bump texture so that their values match the Diffuse textures values.
Step 8
Select the Front Bevel Material tab, load the Cork texture for both the Diffuse and the Bump, and then Edit the UV Properties using values that look good for the bevel parts.
You can also increase the Bump value to 30%.
Step 9
Repeat the same steps to create the Extrusion Material. Keep in mind that the UV values don’t have to match for all the materials. Each part needs its own UV values.
For this tutorial, the Scale values for the Extrusion Material are 2% for the U/X, and 400% for the V/Y.
Also, you need a much bigger Bump value for the Extrusion. The value used here is 70%.
Finally, match the Back Inflation Material to the Top Inflation Material, and the Back Bevel Material to the Top Bevel Material.
7. Creating the Plastic Top Material
Step 1
Make the top text mesh visible, and select its Front Inflation Material tab. Then click the Diffuse texture icon, and choose Edit Texture.
Step 2
This will open the original shape layer’s document. Duplicate the shape layer, and change the original’s color to #e3e7e7.
Pick the Direct Selection Tool. Make sure that the original shape layer is selected, and then click and drag to select the part that you don’t want to have a light color.
In this case, the word White will be in Black, as well as half of the &, and the word Black will be in White, along with the other half of the &.
So we’ll need to remove the word White and the black half of the & for the light shape’s layer, and remove the word Black with the white half of the & from the dark shape layer.
Once you’ve selected the parts, hit the Delete key to remove them.
Step 3
Some areas can’t be selected with one click and drag, so you can just click and drag where possible, and then click and delete the rest of the anchor points.
Step 4
Once you’re done, go to File > Save to save the changes, and update the original document.
Then go to File > Close to close the texture’s document and go back to the 3D one.
This will update the coloring of the Front Inflation, Front Bevel, Back Inflation, and Back Bevel Material textures.
Step 5
Select the Extrusion Material tab, click its Diffuse texture icon, and choose Edit Texture.
This one is trickier. First, you need to use the Rectangle Tool to create three rectangles that fill the whole document vertically and cover it horizontally.
The two side rectangles should have a light color, and the one in the middle should be black.
What you’ll need to do after that is save the document, make sure not to close it, and then go back to the 3D document to check the changes.
According to the result you get, you’ll need to reposition the rectangles in the texture’s document, save it, and check again, until the Extrusion Material has the same coloring as the Front Inflation Material.
Step 6
Once the black and white areas of both the Front and Extrusion materials match, you can close the Extrusion Material texture file.
Step 7
Select all the top text mesh material tabs, and change the settings as shown below.
The color values used in RGB are:
Specular: 207, 209, 209
Illumination: 0, 0, 0
Ambient: 0, 0, 0
8. Creating the Ground Material and Adjusting the Lighting
Step 1
Click the Layer 1 Material tab, and Remove both its Diffuse and Opacity textures.
Change the rest of the settings as shown below.
The color values used in RGB are:
Diffuse: 236, 236, 235
Specular: 0, 0, 0
Illumination: 0, 0, 0
Ambient: 0, 0, 0
Step 2
Click the Infinite Light 1 tab and change its color to 252, 252, 249, its Intensity to 25%, and its Shadow Softness to 30%.
Step 3
You can then use the Move Tool to change the position of the light, or click the Coordinates icon and type in Angle values.
Step 4
Click the Add new Light to Scene icon at the bottom of the 3D panel and choose New Point Light.
Step 5
Place the light on top of the text, and then change its color to 244, 242, 235, its Intensity to 60%, and its Shadow Softness to 30%.
Check the Light Falloff box, and change the Inner and Outer values depending on how you’d like the light to fade out.
9. Rendering the 3D Scene and Adding a Gradient Map Adjustment Layer
Step 1
Go to 3D > Render. The rendering might take a while, but you can stop it any time by pressing the Esc key.
Step 2
Once the rendering is done, click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Gradient Map.
Step 3
Create the Gradient fill using the colors #8f8e8e on the sides and #ebeaea in the middle. Change the adjustment layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply and its Opacity to 20%.
Congratulations! You’re Done
In this tutorial, we created a piece of text, converted it into a shape, and used the Line Tool to remove some parts of it in order to get the mosaic shape.
Then we created 3D meshes from the different layers we had, merged them in one scene, and placed them after changing the camera view.
We modified the settings of those 3D meshes, and created the different materials and textures needed to achieve the cork and plastic materials.
Finally, we worked on the lighting, rendered the scene, and added an adjustment layer to finish off the effect.
Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.
About Filter Forge
Filter Forge is a powerful third-party plugin that allows you to apply over 11,000 amazing textures and effects to your images, and even create your own. To learn more about Filter Forge, you can download the trial version of the software, or check out their filter gallery.
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