Gnomon releases complete guide to CityEngine in VFX

The Gnomon Workshop has released CityEngine in VFX: Shot Based Approach To High Quality Procedural Film Sets, a complete guide to Esri’s 3D city-generation software recorded by CityEngine expert Matthias Buehler.

A complete guide to generating procedural digital film sets
In the seven-hour video, Buehler discusses how to translate concept art efficiently into procedurally generated digital film sets, revealing how to set up modelling procedures for a shot-based workflow.

The tutorial begins by introducing CityEngine and Next Limit’s Maxwell Render renderer, then explores two near-futuristic Dubai-esque sets in CityEngine, explaining how to create the second set from scratch.

Using a scripted render pipeline that allows for rapid design iterations, Buehler ports all of the geometry to Maya to render the scene in Maxwell Render, using the automatically referenced final shaders.

Finally, Buehler walks viewers through a custom PhotoShop action, used to retouch each render to final quality.

About the artist
Mathias Buehler was part of the CityEngine development team for almost five years, including a stint as tech support lead, and has hosted has hosted numerous workshops and training events for the software.

Trained in both architecture and entertainment design, he is currently head of 3D technology at architecture and visualisation firm Garsdale Design.

Pricing and availability
CityEngine in VFX: Shot Based Approach To High Quality Procedural Film Sets is available as a digital download from The Gnomon Workshop’s online store, price $69.

Buy CityEngine in VFX from The Gnomon Workshop’s online store

Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.