Prepare to Be Bedazzled!
I've finally finished the third and last part of my diamond modeling and rendering project, culminating in the creation of the artwork that started the idea for the series. This was supposed to have been done by July of last year, but a series of test renders of the CG diamonds created for this artwork busted my PC's ageing power supply and also took out my video card in the process. R.I.P., GTX 1060.
Once I got this machine back up and running again I decided to take it easy for a while and not do any more heavy rendering on it until I was absolutely sure that it wouldn't die on me again. And as you know, in my life, my job as a senior 3D artist always gets me busy with work. So this project got put on the back burner again, only for God to know when it would be resumed.
Then last week I started tinkering with LuxCoreRender again and did some diamond test renders with it. I was using a newer version of it than the one I had before my computer died. This newer version had improved immensely in speed and quality so I thought why not resume this project now and just get the modeling done and out of the way. Then render it at night after work. So on Saturday afternoon last week I started modeling it and finished it in just a few hours after starting it.
Modeling it was easy as it's just made of a few simple 3D volumes shaped into the pieces that make up the parts of the object. Then a newer version of LuxCoreRender was released last Tuesday and I immediately downloaded and tested it right away on my project. After seeing that it had improved even more, I said to myself that it's time to finish this thing and make someone happy. This artwork's recipient is a lady who loves to draw owls.
And looking at the finished work right now and being amazed at how something made of just some simple 3D volumes can look so pretty, makes me wonder how she is going to react to it.
In case you want to read the previous blogs about this project, check them out here, and here.
The Reference Object
Here is the real brooch that this CG version is based on. You can see that I've modified the design a bit and added more details to the flat and featureless design of the original's wings, tail, and head. And you can see why I had some apprehensions in resuming this project.
The real thing has 24 rhinestones that I replaced with diamonds on the CG version. Knowing that a particularly heavy test render of these same diamonds took out my computer last year, I was afraid that the same fate could happen again to this revived machine.
But love has a powerful way of making you face your fears, and just make that leap of faith. I mumbled a silent plea to the heavens for help 'cause you all know how hard it is to buy a new videocard these days. My prayers were answered and now feast your eyes on the outcome.
And although I consider this done, I have a feeling I'll be making more of these over time.
Wireframes and Details
As I've mentioned above, the model is just made of simple volumes, namely cubes, spheres, and cylinders. I wasn't able to record the modeling process because this model began life as just a practice session. But I liked how it turned out and didn't want to repeat the process again. So I decided to just continue working on it until it was done. And yes, that is a Christian cross on its back.
The recipient of this artwork is a devout Catholic and that cross holding all the pieces together as a supporting structure is symbolic of our struggles in life, and our faith that keeps us from falling apart spiritually, especially in the hardships that we face in these dark times. I also put that cross there to remind and assure her that we are on the same page, with regard to matters of faith.
Color Variations
After doing a test render of the brooch in its original colors, I thought why not make color variations to see how they would look. I was blown away by the beauty of the renders that I made more than a dozen of them with different color combinations. And seeing those pictures now laid out here in this blog makes me feel like I'm looking at a jewelry brochure. The blue one is my favorite.
Closeups and Other Views
More eyecandy for your eyes and it's hard to believe sometimes that they are not real. Props to LuxCoreRender's developers for doing a good job on turning this once-slow but high-quality opensource renderer's performance into something that is bearable to use for this kind of visualization.
I must say that this is the prettiest artwork I've ever done so far as a 3DCG artist. We do jewelry viz projects at work sometimes, but I never got tasked to do them as I was always busy doing other stuff. Some of my friends say there is money in this kind of photo-real jewelry visualization work, but no thanks. This is just a hobby. I'm an animator and will always prefer to work in that capacity.
And that's it for now. My next blogs will be the continuation of the basic aircraft modeling tutorial I made for some friends, as well as my first forays into Blender character rigging and animation. Stay tuned for them.
Thank you for reading and I hoped you liked what I shared, and even learned something from it. Stay safe, have a nice day, and God Bless!
Ecency Desktop, Blender, LuxCoreRender, ShareX, and GIMP.