100 strata3d tutorials collection - free edition

STRATA 3D-TUTORIALS by Luc Adriaens

100 step-by-step tutorials 766 pages + 1GB of workfiles and assets!

FREE VERSION

with 5 FREE tutorials

STRATA 3D-TUTORIALSby Luc Adriaens

©2015 Luc Adriaens

COPYRIGHT NOTICENeither the 3D files nor any images or textures may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. COPYRIGHT 2007-2015 and later by Stratatutorials and 1n2 bvba, Ubbelstraat 170, 3550 Heusden-Zolder, BELGIUM

Please feel free to report any issues or remarks to [email protected]

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This is the free version of the 766 pages book.

This book contains the index pages of the full

version + 5 FREE tutorials.

100 step-by-step tutorials 766 pages + 1GB of workfiles and assets!

Please consider the environment before printing this book!

FREE VERSION

with 5 FREE tutorials

mailto:info%40lucadriaens.be?subject=Strata3D%20Tutorials%20Collection

Good to know...

Strata reads the PDF data inside the Adobe Illustrator file. So always enable the Create PDF Compatible File checkbox.

The Adobe Illustrator file will be imported as a Shape.

Don’t drop the shape in Isometric view in the modeling window. Switch to Front or other view to insert the shape.

The Origin or center point of the shape is off center. You need the recenter the Origin point if needed.

The Adobe Illustrator file will be imported as a Group. Ungroup to access the separate parts or open the shape by double clicking the Shape in the Resources Palette, Shapes tab.

The Adobe Illustrator file will be imported with a default texture. Remove the texture or drop your own texture on it. The new texture will override the imported one.

6 ways to make holes in 3D

Set up a scene in 5 minutes

3-Basics Adobe Clouds Importing AI into Strata 3D

From Adobe illustrator to Strata 3D

Building a citywith one cube

Working with backdrops

Live Linking Mirroring Reducing polygon count in a 3D-scene

Making textures seamless

The stencil channel Working with de deform tool

Drawing coth curves Modeling theDisney castle

Blister Packaging Boxes

FREE Tutorial

FREE Tutorial

In this tutorial you will learn another way to create a softice. This time with a cholcolate topping!

Create an object like this in Strata with the filled Pen tool or draw it in an application like Adobe Illustrator. Be sure you draw 16 curves.

SoftIce_Basics_2.ai

RemarkDon’t draw sharp tip. make them smooth!

Broken glassIn this tutorial we show you a quick

and simple way to create glass surface or a glass shape that appears to be

damaged or broken.

2 ways to model a castle gate

Modeling a cereals box

Modeling achips bag

Modelingfor Christmas

Modeling a clown character

Curtain cloth

Modeling a diary book lock

Modeling dice Halloween Modelinga ice cream cup

Modelinga ice cream cup

with chocolate topping

Modelinga broken glass

Magazine Illustration 1



Metasurface modeling

MineRide:Part1: modeling

Modeling without modeling

FREE Tutorial

FREE Tutorial

Modeling an orchard

Modelingpencils

Modeing apuzzle book

Modelinga rocking horse

Modeling aroll of blueprints

Modelinga street scene

Table cloth Terrain modeling Modeling Tyres:Technique1

Modeling Tyres:Technique2

Modeling a nuclear barrel

Modelingan airplane:

Part 1

Modelingan airplane:

Part 2

Modelinga captain’s wheel

Modeling Aliens Textures CollectionPart 1

Textures CollectionPart 2

Textures CollectionPart 3

FREE Tutorial

Textures Collection:Trees

Textures Collection:Photographs

Building a tree MineRide:Part2: texturing

Texturing Dice Aging a scene

Texturing a paint bucket

CreatingGrunge Textures

Aging a paint bucket

Burn UV UV texturing cloths

Subdived UV in CX 6.1

Modeling and animate a well fountain

Modeling bubbles and waterdrops

Fire and Smoke LensFlare PixieDust Disney Castle

Solar Eclipse

UnderwaterScene Scripts 3 Point Lighting Interior Lighting LightBeam Lightdome

Lighting with Textures

Working withDepth of field

Animation Cycle Bones:Basics

Bones:Linking

Bones:Targets

Robot joints Leaf Animation Let It Write Walking Robot Waterdrop Waving Sea

MineRide:Part1: curved track

MineRide:Part1: animation

Animated Textures Stereo Images Stereo Movies Basics RealIstic Rendering

Renderers Schadows on white Speeding Up RadiosityRendering

Studio_v1

BASICS

In this tutorial you will learn how to create more complex holes in Strata without using Adobe Illustrator, the SDS-modeler or Booleans.

Holes! No illustrator, no SDSand no Booleans.

BASICS

STRATA TUTORIALS© LucAdriaens

INDEX

http://www.lucadriaens.be

Double click on the Ellipse Tool and enter 80% as the Inner Hole Radius.

Exercise 1

Draw an oval on the groundplane.

Duplicate it several times by holding down the Alt-key while dragging one of the anchor points.

Select the Pen 2D Region Tool and draw a polygon to close the gaps between the ovals.

Choose Edit to adjust the polygon if needed.

BASICS


INDEX


Next, draw a Filled Rectangle at the left side. IMPORTANT: Copy it by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the right anchor point. This way the rectangle stays in the same plane!

Copy the left polygon a third time with the same technique. This way the polygon is now perfectly aligned with the top side of the most left polygon.

Select the Scale tool and grab the most right anchor on the bottom of the polygon and scale.

Repeat this last step for the bottom polygon.Close all gaps with the Closed Bezier Pen tool.Group all items and Extrude. You’re done for this example!

RemarkSince all drawed items are in the same plane you will not see the seperate items in a rendering!

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Exercise 2




Draw an oval on the left side and duplicate it to the other side by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the right most anchor point.

Select the Rectangle tool and draw a polygon.

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Duplicate the polygon to the middle. IMPORTANT: Copy it by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the right anchor point. This way the rectangle stays in the same plane!

Draw two other rectangles to create the illusion of a square.

Next, select the 2 rectangles and copy them to the right.

Draw a last rectangle to finish. Group all items and Extrude. You’re done for this exercise!


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Exercise 3

Double click on the Closed Oval tool and enter 70% as the Inner hole radius.


Next, draw a Filled Rectangle at the left side. Slight thinner than the tickness of the oval.

Select both objects and Align horizontal. IMPORTANT: Copy the polygon by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the right anchor point. This way the rectangle stays in the same plane!

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Select the left polygon and the oval.Group them together.Select this group and the right polygon.

Select both objects and align to the right. Copy the polygon at the right side by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the left anchor point.

Select the Scale tool and grab the top anchor points of the polygon to scale the polygon.

Copy the polygon by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the top anchor point.

Select the Pen 2D Region Tool and draw a polygon to close the gaps. Choose Edit to adjust the polygon if needed.

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Group all items and Extrude. You’re done for this exercise!


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Exercise 4Draw a Rectangle. Copy this rectangle 2 times.

IMPORTANT: Copy the rectangle by holding down the Alt-key while dragging the right anchor point. This way the rectangle stays in the same plane!

Copy one of the rectangles an extra time.Select the scale tool. Grab the anchor points and scale this polygon. Repeat this two extra times.

Group all parts and Extrude.Rotate the object.

TIP:If some parts are not aligned properly you can use the Snap-to Tool to correct this problem.Ungroup and select the Snap-to tool.

BASICS


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Resources• Exercise_1.s3d• Exercise_2.s3d• Exercise_3.s3d• Exercise_4.s3d

Enlarge the view. Click on the corner of the top object. Hold down the mouse key and drag to the corner of the most right object and release.The object will snap to this point and will be correctly alligned.

If the top object is to short... ... you can move it back using the anchor-point.This way the object stays in the same plane.

End of exercise.This could be the starting point to model a building.

RemarkThere is one big downside to this way of creating holes. There is no way to add a bevel since a bevel would be added to each of the seperate objects.

Download

BASICS


INDEX

https://db.tt/S8r1nsNC


Setting up a scene in less than 5 minutesIn this tutorial you will learn how to set up a scene in 5 minutes and render a realistic image from it.

For this tutorial you will recreate this house made from puzzle blocks.

BASICS


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3D BasicsEvery 3D illustration or animation starts with the creation of 3D objects. These object are placed in a 3D space. Afterwards your set up camera and lights and to make a picture or a movie of the scene, just as in a photo- or film studio.

BASICS


INDEX


The Clouds filterFor the tutorial ‘Animate a waving sea’ you

need a clouds-texture. Here we show you how to create this texture.

BASICS


INDEX


This is a quick overview how Adobe Illustrator files will import in Strata CX5 (5.1.1) and Strata CX6 (6.1.2)In a glance you will see the advantages and problems after import.

This Adobe Illustrator file is saved as version 8, 9, 10, CS, CS1, CS2, CS3 and CS4 and will be imported in Strata CX version 5.1.1 and Strata CX version 6.1.2The square has an outline and no filling.The star has an outline and a filling.The circle has only a filling and no stroke applied.

Importing AdobeIllustrator files inStrata CX5 and CX6

STROKE STROKE + FILL FILL

• Import_v8.ai• Import_v9.ai

• Import_v10.ai• Import_CS.ai

• Import_CS2.ai• Import_CS3.ai

• Import_CS4.ai

On the Resources page

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In this tutorial you will learn how to go from 2D Adobe illustrator shapes to 3D Strata objects.

From illustrator to Strata

Illustrator file (Preview) Illustrator file (Outlined)

STROKE

FILL

For this tutorial I’ve drawed this Route 66 emblem. As a start a did a search on Google and find the image I want to recreate. I imported this image as a template in Adobe Illustrator and drawed on top of it.

Then I saved it as an illustartor . ai file with the “Create PDF Compatible” checkbox enabled.

TEXTCONVERTED TO

OUTLINE

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In this tutorial you will learn how to model cityblocks in no time!

Modeling cityblocks

BASICS


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Working with BackdropsUse backdrops to simplify and speed up the creation of a scene or object, and to model in proportion.

BASICS


INDEX


Live LinkingAdobe Photoshop LayersA very handy feature in Strata is the option live-linking of Photoshop files (Adobe). When importing an image into a texture, you have two options: embed or link. Here are the pros and cons of each option.

BASICS


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The power of mirroringAn interesting tool is the mirror-tool in the Extensions palette.An extra functionality was added in version 5.

BASICS


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Reducingthe number of polygons

Modeling in 3D is a time-consuming process. Sometimes you find out that a rendering takes forever because you’ve

made a scene too complex. Certainly in case of a deadline for a project, this can be very enervating. Use our tips

to reduce the number of polygons in a scene, and save yourself from a nervous breakdown.

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Making your own texture library is one. Making those images seamless so the will tile perfect is another challenge.

In 99% of the cases you need a texture that will repeats itself infinitely across a 3D-object without showing any edges.

Also, there is a bad lighting gradient.Fortunately, there is a technique to remove the lighting gradient and a technique to make images seamless in Adobe Photoshop.

The first image is the original image of a “sand” surface. When tiled, it becomes checkered.

Making Textures Seamless

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In this tutorial you will learn how to use the stencil channel while texturing objects.

The stencil channel

BASICS


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Create a new texture. In this case a photograph of a brick wall. name it “TEXTURE_1”.Import the image into the Diffuse Color channel.No need to adjust settings for this tutorial.

Draw a cube and scale it like in the example and apply the texture on it.In the Object Properties palette, texture tab set the projection to Planar projection.

This will be the basis of this exercise.

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Create another texture, and name it “TEXTURE_3”. Import the brick wall texture into the Diffuse Color channel and import the image with the word STENCIL into the Stencil channel.

Create another scaled cube and drag the texture on it. Set projection to Planar.

We don’t see anything special in our modeling window, but when rendered we see the effect we are looking for!

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What is does this Stencil channel do?

Maybe the term Alpha channel tells you more. The Stencil channel is the Alpha channel of a texture in Strata 3D! It controls the visibility and transparency of a texture!

In simple words:Black says: no textureWhite says: textureGray says: semi transparent

With this channel we can make holes in our 3D objects!

In this specific texture, only the word STENCIL is textured with the brick wall image because the black area makes the rest of the texture transparent so it will not show up in our final rendering!

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Create a new texture. Name it TEXTURE_2. Give it a nice blue color and import the image with the word STENCIL into the Stencil channel.

Draw a cube and scale it like in the example. First, apply TEXTURE_1 on it. Second drag the newly created TEXTURE_2 on the cube.

In the Object Properties palette, texture tab set the projection of both textures to Planar projection.

The brick texture will show up beneath the blue letters!

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Another example:Draw a cube and scale it like in the example.

Create a new texture and give it a nice blue color. Give it the name COLOR. Apply the texture on the cube. Second, drag the previous created TEXTURE_3 on the cube.

In the Object Properties palette, texture tab set the projection of TEXTURE_3 to Planar projection.

We now have letters filled with the brick texture over the blue cube!

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As a last example, draw 1 filled rectangle. Create a new texture and place the image of a robot in the Diffuse Color channel.Also, place the Alpha channel from Photoshop in the Stencil channel.

Drag this texture to the rectangle and copy and move it 5 times in the scene.

Test render.

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• Examples.s3d• Bricks.jpg• Stencil.jpg

• Robot.jpg• Robot_Stencil.jpg• Robots.s3d

You now have 5 robots with schadows!

AdvantageOnly 5 polygons in the scene and a extreem fast rendering!

Resources

Download

BASICS


INDEX

https://db.tt/2JFpYzW1


DeformationsBASICS


INDEX


In another tutorial you have learned how to create a nice curved table cloth. One of the things you need to draw was a curved closed line. Wondered how to draw such a curved and twisted line in Adobe Illustrator in no time?

Drawing cloth curves

First, draw an oval. Hold down the shift key to create a perfect circle.

Next, Choose Zig Zag... from the Filters menu, Distort submenu.

Choose the distortion you want and the size of the distortion. Choose Smooth for the points.

You’re done. A nice twisted circle!

ANIMATION

STRATA TUTORIALS

INDEX

© LucAdriaens


MODELING

Modeling Disney’s CastleMODELING

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a blister packaging in no time.

Blisterpackaging

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to model box packaging without UV mapping.

The first exercise is modeling a simple box without tickness. The second exercise is a box with thickness and a bended lid.

Box packaging, modeling and texturing, without UV mapping

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


STRATA

Castle Gate

Tutorials©www.stratatutorials.com

Modeling a Castle GateThere are several approaches to building a castle gate in 3D. In this tutorial we show you two ways, and explain the advantages and disadvantages.

MODELING

STRATA TUTORIALS

INDEX

© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial we will model this cereal box and a plate filled with cornflakes.

Modeling aCereal Box

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© LucAdriaens


The most flexible way of mapping a 2D texture over a 3D object is a process called “UV mapping”. In this process, you take your three-dimensional mesh and unwrap it to a flat two-dimensional image.

Since Strata doesn’t have such a UV unwrap func-tion we must be creative to fold an image on a chips bag with wrinkles and folds.

In this tutorial you will learn how to model a bag of chips and texture it.

Important:This is a Strata CX 6.1.1 tutorial since this version has almost no UV distortion.This technique can be used in older versions, but you need to avoid text on the edges of the object since there is much UV distortion on those areas.

Modeling and texturing a bag of chips

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© LucAdriaens


Every year I have to design Christmas greeting cards, and last year I came up with this design in Strata Design 3d. Some friends asked me how it was done, so I brewed up this tutorial. Good luck and have fun.

Herman

A tutorial fromHerman Van SynghelMember since 2009

Graphical designer

Hobbies:One project that keeps me busy is the Retinaproject: (www.retinaproject.be) a browsable collection of pre-1980 printed material (posters, magazines, covers…)

So, this is Christmas…

Resources• All files used in this tutorial

Download

MODELING

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INDEX

© LucAdriaens

https://db.tt/LGinQ29w


In this tutorial you will learn how to model this clown character.

Modeling a clown-character

© Studio100 - Belgium

© Studio100 - Belgium

Character design and the name ‘Dobus’ © Studio100 - Belgium

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to create a curtain cloth.

Curtain Cloth

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


This tutorial starts with a photograph of a book lock. The goal is not to create a copy of this scene in 3D, but to model the lock and to give it a basic texture.

Along the way I will show you where the advantages lies when starting with an Illustrator file, but I will also show you the problems and disadvantages of this approach.

In the other two parts you will learn other approaches to model some parts.

Modelinga diarybook lockPart 1 of 3

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© LucAdriaens


Open the image as a template in Adobe Illustrator and draw these basic schapes. Save the file as version 8.

RemarkSaving as version 8 is the best way to import Adobe Illustrator files in all versions of Strata 3D.

Import the Illustrator file by choosing Import from the File menu.

Ungroup the imported shape by selecting Ungroup from the Modeling menu.A warning dialog box appear. Choose Ungroup.

Click anywhere in the modeling window to deselect and select one part. In the Object Properties palette, Texture & FX tab you will see the texture of the object. This is the standard texture of a Adobe Illustrator file. Hit Remove.

Select the other parts one by one and Remove the textures.

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© LucAdriaens


Select the Path Extrude tool by holding down the mouse key while selecting the (Standard) Extrude tool.

Click on the circle, hold down the mouse key and drag to the curved path. Both objects highlighted.Release the mouse key.

The circle is now extrude along the curved path.

Repeat the previous steps for the other circle and line.

Both objects seems fine, but enlarge the view. As you can see, the curving isn’t that good.Let’s fix it.

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© LucAdriaens


Go to the Object Properties palette and select the Object tab. Change the Number of Ribs per Segment to a higher number. This will straighten the curve much better.

Rotate this part 90 degrees while holding down the Shift key in combination with the Rotate tool. This will constrain the rotation to 90 degrees.

Select the Extrude tool.

Extrude the object.Extrude the key...

... and Extrude this part. Switch to Top view and scale the extruded object so it’s in proportion with the other objects..

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© LucAdriaens


While still in Top view, select the Cube Primitive tool and draw a cube while holding down the Shift key to constrain.

Switch to Isometric view to check the position of the cube. In this case way to low.

Move it upwards so it covers the extruded object.You can now delete the object on top.

Select the Cube and the extruded object. Convert them to a Polygon Mesh by selecting the Convert button on the top left of the window.

Both objects are now a Polygon mesh.

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© LucAdriaens


Select the Subtract tool. Select the cube, hold down the mouse key and drag to the extruded object and release the mouse key.

This will result in a Boolean operation and the cube is now extracted from the extruded object.

Switch to other views and position the parts. Hold down the Alt key, select the Origin point (Blue diamont) and drag it to the left.

Switch to Isometric view and rotate the object 90 degrees. Thanks to the new location of the origin point the object will rotate along this point.

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


Move and rotate the other parts in place.Switch to Outline view the check the position of the objects.

Time to test render!

As you can see there is a problem with the boolean object. While the cutting of the cube seems ok in modeling view, it isn’t in rendering...

At this stage you have to decide if this detail/artifact is visible or not in your final set-up.If it’s away from the camera, use it.

In part 2, you will learn how to model this part in another way without using a boolean operation .

Resources• Diary book lock.s3d• Diary book lock.ai

Download

MODELING

STRATA TUTORIALS

INDEX

© LucAdriaens

https://db.tt/VnLuEDUg


Draw a filled oval. Convert it to a Polygon Mesh.

Hit Edit and double click on the Extrude tool and enable both checkboxes. Select the Face button and select the oval. Hit the Left arrow key several times.

Create an new texture with this image

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a dice with the

SDS-modeler in Strata.

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


Modeling a Halloween pumpkin

There are many ways to model a pumpkin in Strata. In this tutorial you will learn a fast way to model a simple Halloween pumpkin.

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


Draw this shape with the closed Bezier Pen tool.

Choose Edit to adjust the curves if needed.

Select the Lathe tool and lathe it 360 degrees by clicking the left handle just once.

Select the Object Move tool to see the lathed object. Select the pumpkin en open the Project Window. Click on the little triangle before the lathed object. There is no complexity attribute so we need to create one. Go to the Plus menu on the right and select Add Attribute, Complexity Attribute. Now we have added a Complexity attribute to the pumpkin. Value is 100. Lower it to 10. Why? We just have a lot of polygons to manipulate and we don’t need that many.

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© LucAdriaens


As you can see we have now less polygons on our pumpkin.

Convert the pumpkin to a Polygon Mesh. Hit Edit and select the top faces.Delete them by choosing Delete from the contextual menu.

After deleting the top faces, you will get something like this.

Select several edges on top of the pumpkin. These will become the grains of the pumpkin.No need to select them all vertically.

Right click to get the contextual menu and select Loop Select.

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© LucAdriaens


After Loop Select, choose the Bevel tool and drag on one of the edges to bevel the edges.

Switch to Top view and select the all double edges.

Right click and select Loop Select.

Select the Scale tool and scale inwards.

Hit the Subdivide button in the Extensions palette, Commands tab.

This will subdivide the pumpkin.

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© LucAdriaens


Select the scaled edges again. Right click and select Hard Edges.End Edit.

Time for building the stem. Draw a curved surface with the closed Bezier Pen tool. Copy it several time upwards and scale every copy a bit smaller. Scale the last part a bit larger.

Select the Skin tool in the Tools palette. Click on one part of the stem, hold down the mouse key and drag to the second part. When this becomes red, release the mouse button. Repeat these steps for all the other parts of the stem.

Hit Edit. Scale and rotate some parts until you are satisfied with the result.

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© LucAdriaens


Move the stem into place and scale it in proportion with the pumpkin.

In Shaded view you will get something like this. Draw one eye and mouth with the closed Bezier Pen tool. Duplicate and rotate the eye to the other side.

Group the eyes with the mouth and Extrude.

Open the Project Window and open the three extruded objects.Enable the Anti-matter checkboxes.This will subtract these objects from the pumpkin while rendering.

Create a orange texture for the pumpkin.

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© LucAdriaens


Load this kind of image in the Bump channel and give it a strong bump. Such an image is easily created in Adobe Photoshop.

Drag this orange texture to the eyes and mounth.

Duplicate the Orange texture and change the orange color into a green color.Drag this green texture to the stem.Drag the orange texture to the pumpkin and set the projection to Cylindrical2.

Move the eyes and mouth into the pumpkin so they intersect. Place a light inside and render!

You’re done!

Resources• Pumkin.ai• Pumpkin_Stem.s3d• Scene.s3d





You’re done!






You’re done!


Download

MODELING

STRATA TUTORIALS

INDEX

© LucAdriaens

https://db.tt/DgcuhzVx


This is a tutorial as an answer to a question posted on Stratacafe.com. How to create a ice-cup with piped ice on top.?

There are many ways to create such a model. Here is one.

Switch the modeling view to Front view. With the Bezier Pen tool, draw this shape. Hit the Edit button to modify the shape if you didn’t draw it like you would.

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn another way to create a softice. This time with a cholcolate topping!

Create an object like this in Strata with the filled Pen tool or draw it in an application like Adobe Illustrator. Be sure you draw 16 curves.

SoftIce_Basics_2.ai

RemarkDon’t draw sharp tip. make them smooth!

MODELING

STRATA TUTORIALS

INDEX

© LucAdriaens


Broken glassIn this tutorial we show you a quick

and simple way to create glass surface or a glass shape that appears to be

damaged or broken.

MODELING

STRATA TUTORIALS

INDEX

© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to create illustrations for magazines or newspapers.

Creating magazine illustrations

MODELING

STRATA TUTORIALS

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© LucAdriaens


Meta-surface modelingWhen starting with Strata 3D, you might find the SDS-modeler too difficult to master. Then meta-surface modeling comes in handy.

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


This tutorial shows you how to modelthe mine car.

In part two you will learn how to texture the mine car and age it.

In part three you will build a railtrack and animate the mine car over it.

In the part four you will be learned how to create a more complex curved railtrack and how to speed up and slow down the mine car will riding.

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Creating a mine rideThis tutorials is part one of five.

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you learn a technique to model a sea star without modeling at all!

What you need are textures, created in Adobe Photoshop.

Modelingwithout...modeling

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to create an orchard with a lot of trees and still got a scene that renders unbelievable fast!

Modelingan Orchard

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to model and texture pencils.

Pencils

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to model this 3D puzzle book in no time.

Modeling a 3D puzzle book

© lic STUDIO100 - Belgium

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© LucAdriaens


As always, analysing an object before modeling is important. This would save you a lot of modeling time. Take photographs from a wooden horse: isometric, top, front, left and right.

Modeling a wooden horse

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to texture rolls of blueprints.

Magazine illustrations:Rolls of blueprints

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© LucAdriaens


STRATA

Streetscene

Tutorials©

In this tutorial we will model a street scene:

2 buildings, an alley, streetlights and a road.

Start from a little sketch or a photograph. Analyse the scene and break it down in small parts. In this case

I have inspired me on this drawing from Karl Dussart (© Studio100), featuring MegaMindy.

© S

tudi

o100

• w

ww

.stu

dio1

00.b

e

Modeling a Streetscene

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In this tutorial you will learn how to create a table cloth

Table Cloth

MODELING

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INDEX

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STRATA

Terrain Modeling

Tutorials©www.stratatutorials.com

Terrain modelingStrata is not a terrain-modeler like the programs as Bryce or Vue. It comes not even close. But there is one function that easily build a terrain in Strata.

MODELING

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Modeling a tyre Technique 1

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Technique 1

Modeling the basic-shape of a tyre is easy. With the Bezier Pen Tool set to Line, draw a shape like on the right.Click on the Lathe tool and lathe this object just a little bit by dragging the red dot on the top.Next, click on the blue line

and drag it down. This way this blue line becomes the axis of the tyre. In the Objects Properties palette, enter 360 so the shape lathes 360 degrees. Click on another tool to show the result.

The basic-shape is now finished. Time to add the relief on the tyre.

Use the reshape functionto adjust the lines if needed.

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Create an image of the tyres relief in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop, import it into the bump-channel of a new texture and add a value to it. Drag the new texture on the tyre.

Hit Position in the Texture & FX

tab to edit the position of the texture on the tyre.

Use the rotate and scale-tool to position the texture.

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TIPTo see the relief in real time, you can place the same image in the Map channel. After positioning, you can delete it from that channel.

Do this by rotate the texture 90 degrees and scale it afterwards.

REMARKUsing the bump-channel does not change the geometry of the object.

Test render. You now have a tyre with a nice relief.

Disadvantage:Using the bump channel gives an illusion. The edge of the tyre stays sharp!

Resources• Tyre_basic_shape.s3d• Tyre.pct• Tyre.s3d

Download

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https://db.tt/EHWy5gtL


Modelinga tyre Technique 2

MODELING

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In a previous tutorial we have created an oil-barrel as an illustration for a magazine or newspaper.In this tutorial you will learn how to create a completely new concept with the same object.

Creating magazine illustrations

MODELING

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© LucAdriaens


Part 2

Part 1

Modeling an airplane

MODELING

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Part 1Part 2

Modeling an airplane

MODELING

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Modeling an Captain’sWheel

MODELING

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Modeling Aliens

MODELING

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TEXTURING

Recently, I have taking a lot of photographs.Here are 9 interesting textures that you can use as grunge maps or for other purposes.More will be uploaded in the near future.

I will use these textures in upcoming tutorials.

You can download them directly from our freeresources page as JPEG (900 K each). 1162 pixels wide / 778 pixels high / 72 dpi

For those who have access to all of our resources, uncompressed, highres RAW .DNG footage (8 MB each) can be downloaded from our resources page.6144 pixels wide / 4113 pixels high / 72 dpi

DSC_2473

DSC_2451

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Recently, I have taking a lot of photographs.Here are 8 interesting textures that you can use as grunge maps or for other purposes.More will be uploaded in the near future.

I will use some of these textures in upcoming tutorials.

You can download them directly from our freeresources page as JPEG (900 K each). 1200 pixels wide / 803 pixels high / 72 dpi

For those who have access to all of our resources, uncompressed, highres RAW .DNG footage (8 MB each) can be downloaded from our resources page.6144 pixels wide / 4113 pixels high / 72 dpi

DSC_2976

DSC_2984

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Floor_Bricks Wall_Damage Wall_Stones3

These textures can be downloaded from our resources page.3872 pixels wide / 2592 pixels high / 72 dpi (30 MB each)

12 Textures

Granite Sand Marble

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© LucAdriaens


20 Tree textures

100 MB of textures on our Resources page:2368 pixels width,variable height72 dpi

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© LucAdriaens


Photograph your own textures-library

After modeling, the next step to make your object or scene more realistic, is to add textures. Here is a way to make your own library and safe money on copyrights.

TEXTURING

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to create a tree with only one

image of a leaf.

Modeling a Tree

TEXTURING

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© LucAdriaens




In part three you will build a rail track and animate the mine car over it.

In the part four you will be learned how to create a more complex curved rail track and how to speed up and slow down the mine car will riding.

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Creating a mine rideThis tutorials is part two of five.

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Now we have learned how to model dice, texturing comes in mind.Texturing dice is easy... because we don’t use a texture!

Texturing Dice

TEXTURING

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Modeling and creating a scene is one thing. Aging it, another.

Everything you create in 3D is brandnew and therefore to perfect.

That’s why you need to age you scene. Sometimes subtlexx, sometimes extreme.

In this tutorial you will learn how to age a scene by using rusty textures.

Aging a scene

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This tutorial is part two of three tutorials.

This one is focusing on the texturing the paintbucket

You can find the first one in the modeling section.

In the third one you will learn how to create a photorealistic image of the paintbucket.You will learn also how to age the bucket.

REMARK: There is no sound in the movies

Texturing a Paint Bucket

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In this tutorial you will learn how to extract grunge maps from textures or images.Let’s start with a texture that we already used in another tutorial: the rust texture from the paint-bucket tutorial.

In Adobe Photoshop, open the Channels palette and choose the channel with the most contrast. In this case the Blue channel.

Copy the channel.

Creating Grunge TexturesTEXTURING

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This tutorial is part three of three tutorials.

You can find the first one in the modeling section and the second one in the Texturing section.

In this third tutorial you will learn how to age the paint bucket.

The fastest way to age the bucket is to place a rust image on the bucket and parts.

Using the textures below result in the rendering on the right.

Rust.tif

But what if you want the rust only on specific parts of the bucket?

RemarkYou can find the textures in the Texturing section; Textures collection 2

Aging aPaint Bucket

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In this tutorial you will learn how to texture an object with UV-mapping inside Strata CX

BasicUV-mapping in Strata CX

More info about UV-mapping can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping

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First, texturing cloths in Strata isn’t that easy without using the technique of UV texturing.But luckely there are a few options to texture cloths without the help of other programs.

In this tutorial you will learn how to texture cloths in Strata

Texturing Cloths

For this tutorial I use a texture that I found on the internet.

Create a new texture with this image and drop it on the cloth.

Next, change the mapping to Cylindrical 1 and position the texture like shown on the right.

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The engineers added support for Subdivided UVs in the release of CX 6.1.

The UV texture is ‘glued’ on the object and distorts in the same way as the polygon where it is pinned down.

More info about UV-mapping can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping

Subdivided UV in CX 6.1 UV mapping is a technique to map a two-

dimensional image or texture to a 3D model.

The coordinates of the three-dimensional object (X,Y,Z) get two extra coordinates (U,V).These last coordinates are the X and Y coordinates of the starting point of the texture on an 3D-object. The UV map says ‘this portion of the image ‘starts here’ and ‘that part starts there.’

UV-mapping?

Strata cannot edit this info, but can handle this UV-information on an 3D-object.

Example of a standard UV-mapping

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© LucAdriaens


With the Fountain FX you can do pretty fun stuff. This tutorial will show

you a way to build a well.

Fountain FX

FX

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In this tutorial you will learn how to create 3D waterdrops and bubblesin no time.Stop using textures, stop placing spheres manual!

Create a bottle with3D water-drops and bubbles in no time!

FX

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INDEX

© LucAdriaens


Fire and SmokeFire&smoke is a fun FX-effect! In this tutorial we show you how to apply this effect on a – guess what – a rocket!

FX

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© LucAdriaens


Lens flareIn this tutorial you learn a way to

add a lens flare to a 3D-scene.

FX

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial we add a PixieDust-effect to the Disney’s Cinderella Castle.

Everybody knows the Disney’s openings animation: a light sweeps around the castle and leaves pixie dust as a trail.

© Disney

FX

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In this tutorial you will learn how to create a underwater scene in no time! Complete with sharks, rocks and plants.

Create a large rectangle with the Filled Rectangle tool.

Convert it to a Bezier Surface.

Creating an underwater scene

FX

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© LucAdriaens


In thistutorial you will learn how to use and adjust the new Script FX presets in CX 6.1

Script FX in CX 6.1

Place a sphere in the scene and animate it so it move a certain distance in 2 seconds.

FX

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LIGHTING

3 Point Lighting Set-upNow we have created models, it’s time to light the scene.

Lighting can add a certain mood to a scene, but it can also destroy all the work you put in modeling and texturing by using the wrong lighting technique.

In this tutorial you will learn how professional photographers and filmmakers lit up their scenes: the classic 3 point light technique.

We will use the robot from another tutorial as an example.

LIGHTING

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In this tutorial you will learn how to light an interior scene without using a point light or spotlight INSIDE the room.

The scene is a simple room. All objects are cube primitives, scaled into place.

The room have just one window, covered with blinds.

In the room is one camera, no lights whatsoever and there are no textures applied.

Interior LightingLIGHTING

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Adding a light beam in a scene can make it more dramatic and interesting.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create and use a light beam in 3 different scenes.

LightbeamsAdding a light beam in a scene can make it more

dramatic and interesting.

In this tutorial you will learn how to create and use a light beam in 3 different scenes.

LIGHTING

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© LucAdriaens


A light dome is like a sphere that surrounds the scene and illuminates it.

LightdomeRendering

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In this tutorial you will learn how to light a scene without the use of Ambient, spot or other lights whatsoever.

Impossible? No.

Lighting with Textures

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to create depth of field in your rendering.

In film and photography, depth of field is the area within the object is sharp. Objects on the foreground

and background are out of focus and unsharp.

Rendering

Depth of field

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ANIMATON

Animation Basics

CYCLINGIn this tutorial you will learn how to use the cycle attribute in an animation.To explain this clearly we will create a part of our solar system: The moon cycling around the Earth, and the Earth cycling around the sun.

ANIMATION

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© LucAdriaens


Move that robot!With the Joint tool you can attach two object to each other. This is a helpful tool if you want to animate mechanical parts.

ANIMATION

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to use animated textures in your projects.

For this tutorial we will reuse the ‘Building a tree” tutorial in the Modeling section.

From spring to winterWorking with animated textures

ANIMATION

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© LucAdriaens


Let it writeIn this tutorial I show you a technique to let a marker make a drawing on a piece of paper.

ANIMATION

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© LucAdriaens


Animating a water dropCreate a water drop animation in no time without any difficult techniques or special animation-techniques.

ANIMATION

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© LucAdriaens


Nothing is so difficult as creating a realistic view on a moving water surface in 3D. Strata does not have specific tools to build or animate a scene of (waving) water. But there is one technique that does the job pretty well.

Animatingwater

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In part three you will build a railtrack and animate the mine car over it.

In the part four you will be learned how to create a more complex curved railtrack and how to speed up and slow down the mine car will riding.

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Creating a mine rideThis tutorials is part three of five.

ANIMATION

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INDEX

© LucAdriaens


In part four you will learn how to create a more complex curved railtrack.

Part four

Creating a mine rideThis tutorials is part four of five.

ANIMATION

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In this tutorial you will learn how use animated textures in Strata.

In this case we bought this animated texture of a waving sea from Duchamp models. For as little as 30 dollars, this texture is a real bargan!

RemarkBecause of copyright laws we cannot include this animated texture on our resources page, but feel free to check out Duchamps offers here.

We received the animation in 310 seperate JPEG files.The first thing to do is create a movie from it.In this case we used Quicktime Pro to convert this sequence of images into a movie file.

ANIMATION

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RENDERING

You properly have seen images in real 3D. Thanks to the special glasses you then have experiences the illusion of real depth.Did you know you can render stereoscopic images (and movies) in Strata? In this tutorial you will learn how to create such steroscopic/anaglyph images!

Creating stereoscopic/anaglyph images is fairly simple in Strata. All you need are two rendered images; one for each eye. Combined this gives the stereo effect we need.

Creating stereoscopic (anaglyph) images

RENDERING

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© LucAdriaens


You properly have seen images in real 3D. Thanks to the special glasses you then have experiences the illusion of real depth.Did you know you can render stereoscopic movies in Strata? In this tutorial you will learn how to create such steroscopic/anaglyph movie!

Creating stereoscopic (anaglyph) movies

RENDERING

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© LucAdriaens


Basics of realisticrenderingIn this tutorial you will learn how to set-up a simple scene and render a more realistic image from it.

RENDERING

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© LucAdriaens


Vector - Ambient Light

2 ambient lightsources.Lightdome disabled

Result: Rendertime: seconds

Prebuild types of rendering

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to create shadows on a white groundplane.

For this tutorial I’ve created these medicin bottles with just a colored glass texture aplied and a simple color with bump-map for the rubber pipetxx. For those who have bought access to our resources can download this scene.

Schadows on WhiteIn this tutorial you will learn how to create shadows on a white groundplane.

For this tutorial I’ve created these medicin bottles with just a colored glass texture aplied and a simple color with bump-map for the rubber pipetxx. For those who have bought access to our resources can download this scene.

RENDERING

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© LucAdriaens


How to speed up Radiosity rendering?Advantages of Radiosity rendering are: realistic rendering and soft shadows.Downside: extreem long rendertimes when using this renderer.

In this tutorial you will learn how to speed up Radiosity rendering.

RENDERING

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© LucAdriaens


In this tutorial you will learn how to set up a Studio where you can place your objects and render a more realistic image without fiddling to much with lights and textures.

In this image objects areloaded from the Strata Resources Palette and rendered with a standard Lightdome.

In the second image are the same objects, but placed and rendered in the Studio Lighting Studio.

Members with no access to the resources can download this Studio-file below.

Studio Lighting Set UpVersion1

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