This is my submission for the CG Boost City in the Sky Challenge!
I made it using Blender 3.2 and Photoshop
I have only participated in a few of their older challenges, but the prompts were always inspiring and exciting to work on so it’s great to see they’re finally back with a new and improved challenge format.
This challenge pitted me up against my old nemesis: CLOUDS
I have struggled with clouds for years, and this project prompted me to have another go at it. It took me almost three weeks of tinkering, but eventually I got pretty close to my goal. What you see in this render is one shader in a very big box creating an entire 3D volumetric cloudscape with easy controls to sculpt it as needed, and it all renders very efficiently. I call this shader UBER FLOOF
Yes, this was originally a joke name but I like it so I’m keeping it~
This render shows a very early version of Uber Floof with little tuning. I’ll make a dedicated topic under the WIP tag soon to document my progress on the cloud shader as I improve and test it in more showcase scenes like this, and then I’ll make a tutorial on it once I’m happy with how it performs. I plan to add support for more cloud types and improve the shader’s ability to render realistic cloudscapes, which it is already capable of with the right setup but I want to make it more powerful.
After all the time it took to get the clouds rendering I barely had time for the city itself, so I decided to create a small kitbash set of pseudo abstract fantasy sci-fi buildings. Even though it was a product of desperation, I love how the architecture turned out!
“Air BnB”, what an incredibly clever and hilarious title. The architecture is fun, looks smooth and has the style of both an futuristic/alien race and an ancient society, you say your nemesis was clouds however these clouds look EXTREMELY well done! Almost like they were water painted on by a professional, the little details add a wonderful touch making everything feel very much so real and the way everything is lit up with that beautiful blue glow is incredible! a truly Mind blowing job.
Thank you! I’m hoping to get it made in another week or two, but it’s a fairly complex shader and still under development so figuring everything out and then figuring out how to condense and explain it will take some time.
Thank you so much! The final image is entirely rendered volumetrics, but painting is part of how they’re controlled
I’m no professional though; I was in such a rush to get this done this was only like 2nd cloudscape I made with this method at the time and I had to roll with it. That just means I can do better once I’ve learned the ins and outs of my own tool!
Thank you! To make this I had to combine some rarely used techniques with others I invented myself and have never seen in anyone else’s work before, so I’m very excited to share how it all works once it’s ready!
Thank you! If i ever get around to it I might polish up these assets, make some more variants, and release them as a small kitbash pack for anyone interested in trying the style
Here is the “Behind the Scenes” article of this magical artwork!
Do check this article written by the artist himself. It describes the process of making the artwork step by step with an insight on the cloud maker, Uber Floof, made by the artist.
