The Albedo Map Mystery Revealed

18 May 2017

There seems to be quite some hype about Albedo Maps recently, especially in 3D Rendering and Realtime Rendering Applications.

I recently learned what impact the correct usage of an Albedo Map can make in my projects and wanted to share my insight here:

An Albedo Map is basically an Image texture without any shadows or highlights.

Take the following Image as an example. On the left we have a picture of a brick wall with shadows and highlights and on the right these shadows and highlights are missing.Continue Reading

9 Fulfilling Ways to Make Money as a 3D Artist

12 May 2017

How do you want to make money as a 3D Artist? Shouldn’t we all be able to create what we can do best, are passionate about and especially what fulfills us and gives us purpose in life?

I used to have so much fun creating my own 3D projects in school or at home. Now it just seems like I have to adjust my work to where the money lies.

Do you adjust to the industry, look for jobs and create whatever a client wishes and has money for?

Shouldn’t it be the other way around, that you create what you are passionate about and the right customers will come to you?

Creative Jobs, especially in the 3D industry, that let you create entire worlds and stories digitally, sound like jobs that should fulfill you to the core!

3D shouldn’t be just for paying the bills.

It is for telling stories, building audiences and sharing a common vision.Continue Reading

Best CPU For Rendering

12 April 2017

Researching what Processor (CPU) is best for 3D rendering and especially, what CPU has the best Performance / Price ratio, is something you will want to do before building a new Computer or a Renderfarm.

3ds max, Maya, Cinema 4D, Blender and many other 3D Software packages have in-built and external CPU Render Engines that all rely on maximum CPU multi Core Performance.

Since there are so many different CPU types concerning clock-speeds, core-count, hyperthreading and brand, it can be difficult to select the right platform to go with. AMD Ryzen, Intel i5, i7, XEON, Pentium, some Multi-Cored, some Multi-Threaded.

In the End it all comes down to raw CPU rendering performance, that I will be measuring with Cinebench R15, the currently leading Benchmarking Software for CPU Rendering Performance.

Of course there are lots of lists online to check cinebench points, but what is most important is how well the Performance / Price ratio is.

This is why I have generated a Performance/Price Table that you can sort to your liking and will show you the best CPU for the Money:Continue Reading

How to use the After Effects Wiggle Expression

28 March 2017

The Wiggle Expression in After Effects is a great way to make objects move randomly, have some sort of idle Movement in character joints, animate a random camera shake, create wobbly text or animate a blinking/flickering light.

Although it is somewhat common knowledge what Wiggle does, I keep forgetting how the correct syntax is and what parts of the Wiggle Expression does what.

So here are some basic and advanced wiggle() Expression snippets for you to copy and paste into your After Effects projects and adjust to your liking:

Continue Reading

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