Some more tests with XGen archives and spheres. This time with a bit more color. I basically use a texture map to ‘drive’ the length and color of an XGen primitive. These primitives can range from spheres, splines or as in most of the examples below, cube geometry that has been exported as an archive. I then use expressions with XGen in Maya to modify the length, size and orientation of the archives.

Finally, I use the Arnold software renderer to create the final image. Arnold is able to realistically render millions of these pieces of geometry very quickly at high resolutions without any problem.

A tutorial that goes through the process can be found here.  All of the images are rendered with Arnold for Maya. Click here to view my initial tests without color. Click here to view more XGen tutorials.

Many thanks to Pedro F. Gómez for his assistance with XGen. Featured on: Daily Planet Show, COLOSSAL, GIZMODO, THE VERGE, theCreatorsproject, CREATIVE BLOQ, 3dtotal, BEHANCE, SPLOID, LESTERBANKS, CG RECORD, ronenbekerman, CGFeedback, DIGITAL PRODUCTION.

Its nice to see that my work has inspired other artists to also have a go. Please share your results with me!

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/BWX06

http://cgterminal.com/2014/09/01/cinema-4d-colorful-abstract-x-particles-tutorial/ http://paessel.com/blog/2014/08/24/converting-pixels-to-voxels-in-blender-with-pythong.html http://bertrand-benoit.com/blog/2014/08/07/griggles/ https://www.facebook.com/beeple/photos/a.10150428845566781.356955.95211636780/10152255873401781/?type=1&theater http://vimeo.com/104469156 http://paulsheehy3d.blogspot.com.es/2014/08/xgen-primitives-in-maya.html http://vimeo.com/103107232 http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forest-pack-texture-distribution/ http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/making-colorful-abstract-with-x-particle-in-cinema-4d/ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152449739139775&set=gm.680935698642325&type=1&theater http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/discussion/topic.aspx?f=8&t=92074 http://lwtoa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33&sid=bdcd15e55399adb78bc5af6b96a8e346 https://www.behance.net/gallery/38001119/Chroma-Landscapes

http://www.lovbomb.com/ https://www.behance.net/gallery/19418997/Texture-Distribution http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/tutorials/fast-3d-topographies-in-cinema-4d-tutorial/ http://2014.blendermonth.com/?p=1607 http://forums.newtek.com/showthread.php?143497-mutated-ladscapes http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/discussion/topic.aspx?f=8&t=92074 http://www.3rd-floor.org/portfolio/abstract-landscapes https://www.behance.net/gallery/20212217/Abstract-Scapes-I https://www.behance.net/gallery/19971111/3D-Topography-Design https://www.behance.net/gallery/19853135/Tiny-World-Pt2

Landscape (Scattered) | High-Res

http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/discussion/topic.aspx?f=8&t=93404

http://vimeo.com/110462511

http://henri-hebeisen.com/article14/abstract-landscape

http://dominikraskin.com/2014/09/28/digital-landscapes/

http://www.cutsquash.com/2014/08/abstract-landscapes-blender/

HOME

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?346181-Colored-primitives

http://www.swirlypillow.com/sparkly/

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Crater-481208172

http://davidjohnrobertson.co.uk/343541/4658061/gallery/lee-griggschris-schmidt-enspired-blocks

Topographic Logocube Animation

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CuGmgXdWcAAGwNW.jpg:large

http://www.maximeroz.com/abstract#2

https://scontent-mad1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10606202_299526486902035_6809322541291735273_n.jpg?oh=f73743b921a6b3a89e8eb152bdafbf7c&oe=5615E212

http://1drv.ms/1fHivoS

https://scontent-mad1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12036572_1671279826428322_5886910495280060713_n.jpg?oh=7df25f7037fa5b186fd5853df93ed7aa&oe=569BD51D

http://mareyuspictures.com/nebula-cinema-4d-arnold/

http://www.judebi.sg/

http://www.clintrea.com/

http://www.fubiz.net/2015/12/05/abstract-landscapes-digital-manipulations/

https://www.behance.net/gallery/50671661/HoudiniMantra-Renders-inspired-by-Lee-Griggs

http://armieri.deviantart.com/art/Lee-Griggs-Tribute-537141643

http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/15488/creating-a-scene-with-huge-amount-of-geometry

https://www.instagram.com/legible/

https://www.behance.net/gallery/20605983/CGI-CG-PHOTOGRAPHY-CG-EXPERIMENTING

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CstMbmBXEAAajXE.jpg:large

Google – Cubes

http://paulsheehy3d.blogspot.com.es/2014/08/xgen-primitives-in-maya.html?m=1

http://www.davidcurtis.co.uk/pflow-world-map/

https://www.instagram.com/_waarp_/

http://www.maximeroz.com/#/new-page/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKGlmOyh–o/

https://vimeo.com/channels/1106239/176340596?ref=tw-share

I was having fun playing around with the new ShrinkWrap deformer in Maya 2015 and came up with this odd looking fella. Rendered with Arnold for Maya using the skin shader.

It really is incredible how easy it is to create complex scenes with XGen in combination with Maya to Arnold. Here are a few tests that I have rendered recently using nothing but a beveled cube as the primitve archive. A tutorial that goes through the process can be found here. 

Featured on:  3dtotal.com, Behance.

Issue 66 of 3D Artist magazine features a simple quick start tutorial for Arnold what I did wrote and stuff:

I am pleased that my Maya XGen tutorial is on the front page of the Autodesk Area website (although Im guessing its been pushed off the front by the time you read this 🙂 )

Here is the direct link and here is a link to the render curves tutorial that was also picked up by the Area.

More XGen tutorials can be found here.

After a lifetime of not being able to render curves, I have to say its a true joy being able to render curves straight in Arnold. Below is a paint effects brush called ‘gloppy’ that I converted to curves (Modify>Convert Paint Effects to Curves), with a ramp that defines the curve width (lit with an Ai Sky). More examples here.

The animation below was achieved by keyframing the ‘gap size’ attribute of the paint fx stroke from 1 to 0:

I thought I’d put together some old head modeling experiments that I’ve done over the last couple of years. What a bunch of misfits!