Speed up your Modelling

David Edwards shows how to produce detailed 3D concepts using rapid symmetry

How to produce highly detailed 3D concepts using rapid symmetry

David Edwards David is a digital artist specialising in concept design and 3D matte painting. His credits include Avatar and Maze Runner. www.bit.ly/210-rise

This tutorial covers the process of building an asset – in this case a spaceship – with a fair degree of complexity, in a short amount of time, using ‘rapid symmetry concepting’.

This is a great technique for developing an idea when there’s no firm design to begin with. It allows you to evolve the shape into a final concept through the exploration of symmetry and silhouette.

Rapid symmetry design is a loose term that I use to describe the process of generating 3D concepts. The final design arrives through an organic, evolving series of steps using symmetry tools found in most 3D programs, in this case 3ds Max. You begin by creating a very simple geometric shape and quickly produce very complex looking results, that would otherwise take hours, or even days to create, using a more traditional approach.

In addition, I would like to show how you can use path deformation techniques to create some very interesting shapes that would otherwise take a very long time.

The emphasis here is about finding new ways to create complex shapes in a short amount of time.

The process I use is relatively old school, however, with the exception of a few artists, I rarely see anyone using this technique anymore. So, with that in mind I wanted to draw attention to this old trick through creating this tutorial. For all the assets you need go to www.bit.ly/vault-210-film