HLabs 3D creators venture from models to the metaverse

Playing with polycounts

I've modeled the JimBeam bottle in Blender using traditional polymodelling, a process in which you create a model by hand, starting from basic shapes and deforming them until the desired object emerges. For the liquid inside the bottle, polymodelling would have been too time-consuming as the brief required the fluid inside to be slushing around in a natural way. A much easier way of creating it has been using fluid simulation, which involves modelling the physical properties of fluids, such as their density, viscosity, and surface tension, and then simulating how these properties interact with each other inside the bottle.

All digital images are a collection of pixels, and each pixel, in turn, is composed of four numbers that essentially represent its colour and intensity. Taking advantage of this, I have used an HDRI map, which is a 360° image of a real-world location. This results in a 3D scene that is illuminated using natural light, and that also has accurate reflections. In addition to this, I have also created a thin lamp behind the glass bottle in order to create visual interest and draw more attention to it.

I created this tree using a combination of techniques.

• The general shape was formed using Groove3D, a Blender add-on that simulates tree growth based on factors like light, wind, and gravity. This add-on allows for pruning and bending of branches to customize the tree's shape.
• The model was then sculpted in ZBrush using both manual sculpting and vector displacement brushes to add intricacy and detail to the branches.
• Texturing was an important step. To mimic real trees, where newer bark appears softer and less deformed, I created an invisible mesh that surrounds the tree. This mesh blends between two textures based on its distance to the tree. One texture aggressively displaces the surface and gives a dry appearance, while the second texture is softer and slightly greener in tone.