Introduction
In this tutorial, I will include the importance of the theory “Form Follows Function” and talk about the working process from 2D concept to 3D final design. Blender has been used as a tool to try out various compositions and integrate different props into a final scene in Photoshop.
That is the ultimate picture of this venture that illustrates how completely different props combine collectively.
Seek for references
Because it was an area station, I wished to provide some thickness to the constructions and add some quantity into the design with a capability of over 70 aircrafts. I then looked for plane provider references to investigate its stable construction that supplied higher safety and stability for carrying and deploying aircrafts.
Search for references to grasp its construction
Sketch with notes
I did a tough sketch to attract out the concepts first. My preliminary concept was to create two ranges, including extra hangars to extend the amount and placing the principle space on the centre for creating a transparent point of interest. I additionally added some spaceship features in equivalent to photo voltaic arrays, generator, photo voltaic panels, and so forth, to make the station design look extra purposeful.
Sketch out idea first with annotations
Block out in Blender
After I finished brainstorming, I started blocking out shapes in Blender, fixing the overall height and proportion. This modeling was quite challenging as it was not symmetrical and I had to think how it looked in every view. Every time when inserting new geometry, I needed to consider the theory of “Big, Medium, and Small” to avoid repetition and try to make it look interesting.
Block out main shapes in Blender
Refine details
This step was the same as the previous chapter by using toolkit, Boxcutter and Hard Ops to build the model. My concept was to build structural details with thickness like the aircraft carrier and inputted sci-fi element into my design. As the draft was quite rough, I mostly worked on the designs in 3D, building props first and combining or arranging them in different directions to form a complicated shape. To increase more volume, I duplicated more hangars and scaled them in different sizes to prevent too much repetition.
3 completely different views of the ultimate idea with some close-up
First composition of the area station
After modeling, I added a easy materials texture and adjusted the emission lights to power 30. To render the lights properly in Eevee Render Engine, I enabled the Bloom in Render Properties. Subsequent, I arrange a digital camera in Blender and selected a most popular angle. Rendering “Object ID” move was vital as effectively for simply slicing out the area station from background that I demonstrated in subsequent step.
Set up a base in Photoshop
Add background
After cutting the space station out from “Object ID” pass, I searched for a preferred space background in Blender add-on, Pro-Lighting: Skies, rotating to an angel that fit my drawing and modifying the settings as well. As the background looked too sharp, I blurred out the color a bit in Photoshop by adding some mist around with soft textured brushes and adjusted the overall color in “Color Lookup Adjustment”.
Choose a background and modify it with brushes
Clipping mask in Photoshop
Putting an Earth into the scene can make it look more like it is located in space with better storytelling. I firstly inserted a solid shape. Next, I searched for Earth texture and used clipping mask to clip it into the solid shape, doing paint over on top, adding shadows, and blurring out unnecessary details. When adding highlights, I usually set the blend mode to hard light, soft light, or overlay depending on the final result.
Use clip masks so as to add additional particulars
Second composition of the area station
Engaged on two scenes may give me extra concepts on my ultimate illustration piece, making an attempt to search for a greater angle for the ultimate scene that I’d discuss within the subsequent chapter. At this stage, I repeated step 6 by selecting the area background in Blender add on, Professional-Lighting: Skies. I actually appreciated the inexperienced gentle on the backside however for now, it had some lighting issues that wanted to be modified within the subsequent step.
Add background that fits the scene
Work on focal point
As the background was too noisy with too many stars around and missed out focal point, I painted over the top with big soft brushes. To focus on the main structure, I tried to darken the remaining areas and added a purple light gently at the top left, trying to lead eyes to the space station.
Blur out the unnecessary elements to focus on focal point
Color Lookup Adjustment
The overall color was a bit dull without highlights, so I added “Color Lookup Adjustment” to modify it. There are many happy accidents when using this adjustment, so it is better to do more experiments. To control the color manually, I used the soft brush and painted it gently in the mask.
Final image of the second composition
Do not stick to the first idea
It takes time for our brain to warm up, so it is always good to try and work on more sketches for more ideas.
