Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1495092
Joseph Comeau IV Illustrations are about getting everyone on the same page. 'This is the story we want to tell right?' They become part of a contract between department heads. 'We all agree this is the goal.' There are a variety of different ways to get at that final image and it varies. I've found being able to communicate efficiently in 2D and 3D to be essential regardless of software/medium, switching between the two depending on the needs of the moment. For location work, sometimes the best bet is a classy Photoshop paint-over. On my most recent project for Marvel, I was handed specific shots of a street in Atlanta and a ton of reference. If we're happy with the photograph and there's no big build, sometimes just Photoshop is all you need to get ATL to look like somewhere specific in NYC that I am not at liberty to divulge. Lots of collage, lots of painting and lots of back-and-forth between the PD, director and I, but no 3D… That being said, different set, same project, I was able to model certain aspects of a set in 3D and then comp them into a location photo. Using Blender and fSpy, you can closely match the lensing and perspective of a photo, allowing you to essentially model into a photo. For a built set, it's tough not to use 3D. It's just so helpful. Fast, efficient blocking of space. Files that are easily passed between Set Designers, screenshots for views to construction, a decorator, DP and director. Flying around a model over Zoom while the world is locked down or a PD is scouting out of state. Quickly getting everyone on the same page and starting important conversations. 3D is great for this. Dave Blass, the PD on Picard, started us off with a Sketchup model. The size of the stage was pretty small for what had to fit, so he'd spent some time working out where all the main pieces would live. Set Designer James Addink and I worked closely from the start, going back-and-forth between his Sketchup and my Twinmotion renders and fly- throughs, trying to get the geography approved. We'd pass reference photos back-and-forth and redline over grey-box models. Once those had a soft approval, Dave chose some angles, I rendered a few images out and then dug into Photoshop. At the time I was testing Twinmotion, which was great for dropping in temp furniture and other set dressing for the general approval. But I needed to be much more specific for the finished pieces. Decorator Tim Stepeck and Dave came up with a pretty solid dressing direction which gave me enough to go on. I began collecting images to collage in over the renders or use as reference to paint in. Tim would feed me images and links to items he was purchasing, and I'd gradually replace my temp items with his until we ended up with a set of images that was very true to the set we delivered. Nowadays, my go-to is Blender and Photoshop with sketching in Infinite Painter, but that's constantly evolving. I love popping in and out of new software to take advantage of what it has to offer—finding new ways to bring ideas to life. A. STAR TREK PICARD SOLARIUM. ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH COMEAU IV USING BLENDER AND PHOTOSHOP. A