Creating Battle Damage Effects in 3D Assets
01. Starting with Damage Outlines
Begin by designing basic cookie-cutter shapes in your preferred digital content creation (DCC) tool, ensuring they have irregular edges that mimic damage more realistically. Once satisfied with the outlines, extrude these shapes to create solid 3D forms. These extruded shapes need to be elongated enough to adequately cover any curved or unusually shaped areas on your model where you intend to apply damage.
02. Modelling the Shrapnel
Next, craft a set of distorted shrapnel pieces as shown in the examples here. These should be versatile in size and capable of being scaled up or down without revealing their scale through too much detail. You have the option to create pieces with a fixed scale as well. In our experience, the most effective pieces can be rotated and repositioned along the damaged areas. Include pieces that suggest the direction of damage, such as any that taper to a point to imply entry or exit points.
03. Shaping the Bullet Holes
Construct a series of small, pebble-like models to represent bullet impacts. The scaling for these should generally be smaller than that of the damage outlines, but large enough to show detail. You have the option to create pieces with a fixed scale as well. In our experience, the most effective pieces can be rotated and repositioned along the damaged areas. Include pieces that suggest the direction of damage, such as any that taper to a point to imply entry or exit points.
04. Generating Proximity Masks
When finished, the setup should enable the creation of multiple masks for compositing. These include a softened proximity mask for seamless blending with plates, a bare metal versus paint mask, a curvature mask, and masks for the holes created by the Booleans and bullet holes. All these are derived from the initial proximity mask of the Boolean, with thresholds adjusted as necessary.
05. Destructive Modelling
After the damage locations are approved, you have the option to add destructive modelling for final details. Using sculpting tools such as ZBrush or Blender, you can refine the areas around the Boolean edges to more carefully enhance your details beyond the procedural approach.
06. Composite the Plane
After rendering your passes, use a tool like Nuke to combine the masks and beauty renders with the original plate. Be mindful of layering, as it can become complex if different elements of the plane overlap in the frame. Planning your foreground (FG), midground (MG), and background (BG) layers in advance is crucial.
07. Generating Comp Masks
When finished, the setup should enable the creation of multiple masks for compositing. These include a softened proximity mask for seamless blending with plates, a bare metal versus paint mask, a curvature mask, and masks for the holes created by the Booleans and bullet holes. All these are derived from the initial proximity mask of the Boolean, with thresholds adjusted as necessary.
08. Destructive Modelling
After the damage locations are approved, you have the option to add destructive modelling for final details. Using sculpting tools such as ZBrush or Blender, you can refine the areas around the Boolean edges to more carefully enhance your details beyond the procedural approach.
09. Composite the Plane
After rendering your passes, use a tool like Nuke to combine the masks and beauty renders with the original plate. Be mindful of layering, as it can become complex if different elements of the plane overlap in the frame. Planning your foreground (FG), midground (MG), and background (BG) layers in advance is crucial.
10. Rinse and Repeat
Once you’ve successfully applied this process to an initial shot, ideally one that falls between the most straightforward and the most challenging you’ll encounter, it’s time to apply the same steps to other shots. After the initial setup, you should be able to adjust the Booleans and damage while the other elements largely manage themselves. Ultimately, using this setup prepares you to handle multiple shots efficiently.
Conclusion
This damage creation technique is versatile enough to be applied to various types of damage and can be used on different models, including buildings, structures, and other vehicles. The key is to carefully analyze the style of damage you aim to replicate. Once understood, you can adapt the Booleans and mangled damage components to fit.
FAQs
Q: What is the best software to use for creating battle damage effects?
A: The software used in this tutorial is Gaffer, Maya, and Nuke.
Q: How do I create the damage outlines?
A: Create basic cookie-cutter shapes in your preferred DCC tool, ensuring they have irregular edges that mimic damage more realistically. Extrude these shapes to create solid 3D forms.
Q: What is the purpose of the proximity mask?
A: The proximity mask is used to create a softened mask for seamless blending with plates, a bare metal versus paint mask, a curvature mask, and masks for the holes created by the Booleans and bullet holes.
