The AK Project – Album Art Breakdown

Posted by: jonclouter in 3D Graphics, Music

August 28, 2013 12:45 am

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The AK Project – Album Art Breakdown

The main idea behind this piece was to create an object that has the appearance of incredible fury and energy but is in reality quite static. I chose the image of a stylized tree to realize this idea. It’s a still object but has all the details and energy of something in motion. Here’s a quick overview of the steps I used to create the image:

– In 3DS Max I created a 3D tree object using the ‘foliage’ object.
– Next I used the ‘twist’ modifier to give it that ‘thrashing energy’ look, plus a turbosmooth to clean up any jagged edges.
– I used Mental Ray to render out a high res image with an alpha for use in Photoshop.
– In PS I created a nice desolate background using photographic elements and digital painting.
– Next I added the tree render from 3DS Max and added some tweaks and enhancements.
– Flame elements were added to add to the sense of energy in the scene.

It was definitely a fun project and I look forward to collaborating with AK again! –J