Our Tools and WorkflowAnswers to questions clients, students and other artists often ask...

Here's what we use in our work!

Many people have asked us about the workflow we use to produce huge murals, museum graphics and animations, and which programs and materials we use. It's been a while since we last discussed that on my web site, so I'd like to share our current workflow and recommendations with anyone interested!

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The programs we use most are Corel Painter, Photoshop, Blender, ZBrush and Unity. We use a number of small utilities, but they change constantly and I assume if you are interested in this field you are looking at new utilities coming out everyday. It's a great time to be working in this field!

We work almost exclusively on Windows 10 multi-processor computers, but have Macs for iOS app development.

Blender

Blender is an extremely powerful and versatile 3D modeling and animation program, and it is free to anyone to use on Windows, Mac and Linux systems. It's got a huge set of features, so there's a lot to learn, but nothing in particular is difficult to learn.

We use Blender for modeling, rigging, animation, hair, and video editing and compositing. I recommend beginning with many of the short videos on Vimeo or YouTube that will familiarize you with the user interface and start you on basic modeling. Once you are familiar with modeling, I'd recommend tackling basic rigging and then basic animation. There are tons of support materials for beginners online, and Blender's site has introductions to many tutorials as well as providing their own. Start simple but with something that interests and amuses you. Keep what you work on so you can play with it later or see how far you've come.

Modeling and animation are big areas. Don't get intimidated: Learn what interests you. If it's just animation and rigging, you'll find that's a very large market. If it's just lighting or modeling or effects, you'll find there are very large markets there, too. But become at least familiar with everything so you can talk to other artists about their workflow.

ZBrush

I use ZBrush for 3D modeling, texturing and painting. If you use other 3D programs in your workflow (like we use Blender), go get Go-Z. It is free and allows on-the-fly sharing of models with Blender, Maya, 3ds Max and others. I have not seen another program that does what ZBrush does. It offers many tools, including fiber and hair, several mechanical types of modeling and great paint tools. But its greatest asset as far as I'm concerned is the ability to sit down with a sphere of digital "clay" and begin sculpting in a fashion as near as conventional clay as any program has managed. If you are a sculptor, you'll love ZBrush. I won't say it's inexpensive, but if you look at what most modeling programs cost, it is an exceptional value and I would say it is affordable. If you are serious, you should be able to make up the cost of the program with your first sale.

Corel Painter

I do a great deal of work in Painter and I think it's still, after almost thirty years, the best painting program out there. It mimics conventional material as well as any and has added a number of wonderful tools in recent releases. If you were trained conventionally, like me, you'll love it. It is also a wonderful program to create textures to use as the skins for your 3D models.

Photoshop

Photoshop is another enormous program and I don't claim to be a power user. I don't use the tools set up for professional printers, for instance. I don't paint in Photoshop, although I know many people who do and produce gorgeous work. I use it for composition, color balance, file format adjustment, and other mechanical uses. You can't do large images without it as far as I'm concerned, and whatever you do it's worth the price. However, if you can't afford it, there are many lighter Photoshop-like raster imaging programs out there.

Here's a recent image for the Witte Museum that includes work done in Blender, ZBrush, Corel Painter and Photoshop. The image above shows the animal in development, and the one below shows her incorporated into a life-size mural.

Unity

The game engine Unity has certainly changed a lot in recent releases, which can be a training nuisance... But, on the other hand, they are improving it everyday with features like realtime lighting and amazing animation capabilities. Ralph is the Unity person here, though I'm hoping to take some time off soon and get more acquainted with it. We are doing more AR and VR projects, and you need Unity or another powerful game engine for that. There are other great options for game, AR and VR development, and I wouldn't discourage anyone from using any of them: They are excellent. But we chose Unity.

Formlabs Form2 Printer

For the small shop, the Form2 is a fantastic printer and I highly recommend it. We use it for small 3D prints or for prototyping before we send out for a print at Shapeways, Stratatsys, or an independent 3D print service bureau. It has proven to be affordable, reliable and easy to use. We've had it three years now. Their software could use some firming up but it's getting better and they continue to upgrade it. The materials are varied and wonderful and the detail is incredible. That was the main factor for us.

Who Does What?

In our shop, I do all of the 2D murals and illustrations, while Ralph does much of the map work. Even our 2D murals often include images generated and rendered from 3D components created in Blender or ZBrush... so a printed mural on the wall (like the Witte mural linked above) can include both components that were painted in Corel Painter and those created and reviewed by the client in 3 dimensions. Given the size of my murals (often hundreds of square feet) my murals always take a lot of painting in Corel Painter, even if I use modeled components, too.

I do almost all of the 3D modeling... Ralph does some.. and I rig, weight paint and add some looping animation like walk cycles, flying, swimming etc. I create all the various texture and UV maps needed for each platform. Ralph also creates loops and animations. I size and modify the models for each platform: animation, large 2D print, 3D prints, AR, VR, and etc. Each use of the model can require a separate version of the model (and usually a different texture file) once it has been approved. I also provide backdrops and other assets for animations. Ralph and I and clients work out story boards and shots and Ralph puts it together with lighting, atmosphere, motion and all the other things that make it a movie or animation section. I don't have the skills to do everything Ralph does and vice versa, but we each understand how it's done so we know what we can ask of each other.

Some tips and observations:

This information is pretty general, because the specifics of digital art seem to change every day, with new software updates, new interfaces and even entirely new color and lighting systems. Be prepared to keep up or your software and workflow will soon be out of date!

If you are a beginner, be patient. Don't get discouraged. The vocabulary alone can be frustrating. You'll find your learning becomes much faster once you understand the vocabulary of each skill. Spend a little time getting to understand what 3D maps, textures, skins and UVs are, for example, because many tutorials will use one set of terms while another describes the same technology differrently.

Allow at least a year to get familiar with the process of modeling thoroughly. None of it is difficult, it's just a lot of information to cover.

• Try a number of programs and see what works for your way of learning, your needs and budget. Once you know one, you'll find that learning the others goes much faster.
• Use online communities. They are invaluable. There are a lot of people out there who know more than you ever will on any specific subject. Don't be too proud to ask for advice: Painting and modeling are enormous areas of knowledge... But there is an enormous number of people willing to help.
• Don't send your most valuable models out. Once it has left your computer, anyone can easily modify it a little bit to escape copyright infringement and then sell it. People are trying to develop some kind of watermark that can't be messed with but I'm not sure how it'll be done. It is OK to send models to 3D print bureaus you trust. We've never had any issue with any of the big, well-known service bureaus, and they have a good deal of respect for intellectual property rights.
• If you sell your best models, sell them for appropriate prices. Look up some comparative models on TurboSquid and other model retailers to determine if there are many, few or no models of your quality and subject matter. If there are none, charge more to reflect that you are adding something new and different. If there are many, charge a price price point you think most represents your model's value. If you are selling to several people, you can charge a price spread out over the number of people who will get first use of the model. Remember, once you begin selling your models to the public, you have to worry about it escaping into the wild. If you are selling it to one client and they will have exclusive rights so long as they don't let it escape, then the price should be much higher.
• Always discuss ownership of models, textures, animations or any other properties up front and clearly with your client. Get it in writing.
• NEVER do work for hire. That is essentially agreeing that you are an employee for the duration of your contract. The client will own anything you do, but you won't get any of the benefits of being an employee. It's not worth it.
• ALWAYS include in your contracts that copyrights DO NOT TRANSFER until the artist is PAID IN FULL. If the client is happy with your work and they won't pay for any reason, you can require that the art be removed until payment is made. I've only had to do this twice in thirty years, and it is another reason not to work for hire.
• Get credit for your work! There's no excuse for your name not to be on the project. At least use it in your portfolio. Make sure there are no exclusions. In your contract always reserve the right to use your work for promotion or competitions with proper acknowledgement for the client and others.

I hope this is helpful. We are always open to sharing any information and support other artists and educators, all over the world and at every level. And remember: "Artists don't learn from nature, they learn from each other." I'm not sure who said it, but I think it's true.

very best,
Karen and Ralph