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| MODELING HELP DESK |
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Types of clay to use for 3D modeling?
 Q: Anonymous asks:
Does anyone have any suggestions on what types of clay to use for pre-CG modeling? Clay reusability factors? Things to keep in mind?
A: Christopher Anthony writes:
I think that everyone creating creatures [in 3D]
should model them in clay. No if's, no buts... drawing and sculpting are the
most important part of modelling. Well, apart from the stuff that we get at school (Portaclay - just your
good old grey, fireable clay), at home I prefer to use some stuff called
Plastiline (or Plastilina?). I know very little about it - it comes in a
few colours and it's basically a sort of oily plasticine which is quite
hard, but you can put a hairdryer on it and it softens (and can even become
molten if it's hot enough, for some really cool effects). It
comes in cylinders and is very easy to form and make marks. You can easily
cast it and it *must* be cast or kept cool (eg room temperature) if it is to be kept. I don't generally
cast unless I need to paint it. It doesn't dry out and can't be fired.
Plaster is dirt cheap - your regular Plaster of Paris, and I can't remember
much about the process of casting - watch out for undercuts (and treat them
seperately. I think you can probably fudge something with a bit of melting
rubber (again, I don't know where you get it from - ask an art teacher or
art/craft shop) and a box of sorts.
I'm pretty sure you can find some substitute (I
used to just use plain old plasticine - I think they are basically the same
substances with a couple of minor differences).
A tip about sculpting - enjoy yourself. Try things out. Make marks, invent
textures, push and pull the clay around. Have fun, dammit!
Christopher Anthony, http://members.xoom.com/Billynomates/chris.html
A: David M. Breaux Jr. writes:
I am a sculptor as well a 3D animator and I use Super sculpey
for my maquette designs, when they need to be painted. I have
also done some of these for other companies for their own
character displays. Use plastacine clay if you want reusability but
be warned if you try to heat it, it releases some pretty nasty and
dangerous fumes. On the other hand I prefer Leisure clay. You can
buy it in many colors and you can melt it to a liquid state.
It is an oil based clay and in my opinion the best thing to use.
I'm making some changes to my web site and I will have a tutorial
section for CG artists on how to make a maquette if they want.
If you want to see some of my sculptures go to my web site. In
my portfolio section I have two areas, one is Visual Effects/Makeup
and the other is Sculpture both sections have samples of work done
in different clays and techniques.
I have a link on my links page for Burman Industries.
I think there web site is www.burmanfoam.com
I have ordered many of my supplies from there.
Clay might get expensive because of shipping
weight but they do sell different sizes. They also sell
an assortment of sculpting tools and other special
effects/makeup products. When I put up my maquette
tutorial I'm also going to be putting up plans on how to make
your own sculpting tools as well as where to find them. If
anyone has any questions about traditional art techniques
whether sculpting, drawing, painting, etc. let me know I'll
help any way I can. I'm hoping to be able to supply people
without traditional art training with some of the knowledge
that will be helpful and maybe even fun!
I have a traditional Fine Arts / Illustration degree so my
approach is do it on paper first, it makes life a lot easier.
And gives you more portfolio pieces.
David M. Breaux Jr., http://members.xoom.com/dbreauxjr
A: Peter Lin writes:
Sculpey and the other synthetic clay materials are fun to use, but you
have to kneed it quite a bit to make it pliable. the benefit is that it
bakes at a lower temperature and is cleaner than clay.
Red clay is a load of fun to sculp and behaves in fairly predictable
way. You can remold red clay over and over again. The downside is that
it is a course and therefore isn't really mean for small intricate
sculptures.
Porcelin is also easy to work with, but you have to be more careful with
it. Procelin is a lot finer than red clay, so you capture more details.
I would say start out with sculpey. It's a bit pricey, but you don't
have to find a kiln to fire the darn thing. Typically, you can bake
sculpey in your oven in a hour or two. For serious sculpting, clay and
porcelin is the way to go. Sculpey has very little texture, therefore
it ends up looking like plastic when it's done baking. It all depends
on your objective. If you just want to learn how to sculpt, then take a
class to learn the basic techniques. If you want to do it for fun and
don't really care about techniques, than sculpey is one option. I hope
this helps.
Peter Lin
A: Brandt Wilson writes:
One warning I might give regarding "plastilina" is that some
manufacturers use quite a bit of sulphur in the mixture. This creates a
certain level of toxicity. I used to makeup effects and used the stuff
alot, and don't seem to have suffered any ill effects, but you never
know.
There are other products out there, and I think a saw a reference to Tom
Burman's web site. One really good product is WED clay, which is water
based and very smooth, but you have to keep it moist. I think Kleen
Clay is another less toxic approach. Don't know much about Sculpey,
except that I've seen some cool stuff done with it.
Also look at:
http://www.monstermakers.com
http://www.xmission.com/~spl_efx
http://www.getspfx.com
Brandt Wilson
A: Scott A. Young writes:
For reusable purposes I have used a brand called chauvantz (or something
like that). It's what I used for the little practice piece I did in the
'misc' area of my site. This clay has been used to make full-size car
mockups (I thought that was a neat fun-fact). I had planned to use it for
casting figurines with lots of detail. It comes in a three hardnesses.
the hardest is pretty hard, so I use medium. This extra hardness makes
it good for tight work, that is if don't want too soft a clay that will
dent too easily if your tool slips. It also means it resists
fingerprinting and oversoftening from handling while working. That
doesn't mean you cant use a softer clay, you just have to be more gentle
with it. The non drying bakable clays like sculpey tend to be on the
soft side. I prefer sculpey used over an armiture for one shot deals.
My only complaint [for Chavantz] is that I have had some problems from oxidation, that may
have been due to over heating, but a good batch is pretty good stuff. For those who do casting as with the por-a-mold this is not such a problem because I have found that most clays are not as good as fresh clay once its been used in a cast. I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you want the best out of your sculpture for professional purposes, don't be too much of a miser
One of the other things about chavantz clay is that it's sulfur free. If memory serves, this is because the sulfur retained moisture. This was a bad thing for users of syn-air por-a-mold users. The compounds were sensitive to moisture , it'd foam on contact, thus ruining the mold. This may is a chicken and egg thing. I don't know if the clay was recommended for this purpose because it all ready had the compatibility or if the
clay company actually adjusted the formula to suit the mold compound.
Scott A. Young, http://www.aloha.net/~say/
A: Carole Wilson writes:
I haven't seen anybody else mention this but I remember a post on one of
the [mailing] lists from somebody who, I think, was telling about how they did it at
Will Vinton's & said they heat the clay and pour it onto armatures-- that
that works better than trying to moosh the room temp clay onto whatever
skeleton with fingers.
I've only been doing heads but I use those styrofoam craft eggs underneath
to keep the overall shape from mooshing in (and so far they haven't caught
fire baking in low heat)
Carole Wilson, http://www.mindspring.com/~vox
A: Phill Norwood writes:
For more information on sculpting with Super Sculpey check out AMAZING
FIGURE MODELER and KITBUILDERS magazine (Mature readers). They're
loaded with examples and how to's from armatures to tools and
techniques.
Phill Norwood
A: Arnie Webster writes:
I love to model with Sculpey. One of its best attributes is that you can layer the effects. I usually build arms legs, body, and skull separately. I harden these parts in the oven then add more to the surface. I use wire armature that allows me to assemble the parts. Often, I will use a final "skin" of Super Sculpey. The best part of Sculpey is that it doesn't shrink or at least it shrinks very little. This makes the layering possible. The trick is to keep the temperature low and to add and bake numerous times to build up the model.
Arnie Webster |
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