cesarmontero's CGPortoflio Gallery

Red Rose

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 05:16:23 +0000

I made this image with the help of a friend named Waldemar. He made the model, I made the texturing/surfacing. It was made for an article/tutorial of a magazine named Animation Reporter from India. There is NO radiosity. I used only two area lights: one for specular, another one for diffuse. All surfacing and texturing is made with just gradients and procedurals. There is no SSS or such, just the use of gradients based on incidence angle and similar. Comments are welcomed!

Credits:

Model: Waldemar Bartowiak
Rendering: Cesar Montero

Sex And The Socket

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 02:10:37 +0000

Sinopsis:
"Sex And The Socket" is a story about a lamp that is in search for the right lightbulb. In her search, she meets 3 lightbulbs. She narrates her experience with each one of them in a sexual metaphor. At the end, she falls in love with a CFL-lightbulb.

Resume:

This was my final project at class DD03 at Digital Design Diploma at VFS. I won Best Final Project and Best Project Management there with it. Outsite school, I won Best Student Marketing Project at the MI6 Awards.

Credits:

Direction : Cesar Montero
Concept & Story : Cesar Montero
CG Elements: Cesar Montero
SOund FX: Cesar Montero
Voice Over Talent: Andee Frizzell
Voice recording: Alan Wong-Moon
Sound Mastering: Chad York
Story Editor: Jennica Harper

Special Thanks:
Sebastien De Castell
DD03 Class at VFS

Hope

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:44:14 +0000

Concept:
I have been quite busy trying to finish all my duties.
So, I decided to give myself some hours today.
I made this render to a girl that feels sad.
I hope to cheer her up with it!

Technical:
Stars, brightness/contrast tweaked in Photoshop.
Rendered in Lightwave 3D 8.5
2 lights used using FPrime with some bounces.
About 5 hours of work
(I'm slow at modelling :S)

MI6 Award

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 05:34:13 +0000

MI6 - Marketing Project - Gold Senet - The MI6 Muse-Senet Awards are the first and only annual awards competition established to honor the finest work created by the promotion, marketing and design professionals of the interactive entertainment industry. The piece that won the award is "Sex And The Socket". You can currently view it at the gallery section.

Rusty

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 17:00:17 +0000

RUSTY THE ROOSTER:

This is Rusty, a rooster. He is a very confident and intelligent Rooster. Here we see him in a picture taken on top of a new barn. He was transfered there for some weeks to teach Mike, his new apprentice, how to be "a real rooster". He sent this picture to his dear Loretta, who will wait for his return.

Rusty is a very good rooster, but he has a little issue: he dreams with being a movie star. So, as you can see, he even signs the picture he sends to Loretta! The poor Mike had to take it several times, until Rusty was able to capture his best angle in the picture.

He wrote some words on the back of the picture to Loretta. If you wish, I can show it to you before sending it to her. Don't worry, Rusty would not bother: he loves attention!

Oh, and don't tell Loretta I sneaked into the mail, I'm just the bird that carries the mail!...what, my name?Oh, I'm sure Cesar will share with you later on who am I.

TECHNICAL:
I made everything from sketch, story, design, creation, etc.
Modeled in Lightwave, rendered in fprime.
3 lights used.

CONCEPTUAL:

This is the second character from a whole story I made. The story is about a barn full of animals with dreams and hopes in life. In this story, the characters learn with the arrival of Mike, the protagonist, about the importance of dreams.

Rusty is a side character. He will be Mike's master. In this journey, Rusty will learn that to make his dreams come true, he has to believe and learn from others, and not only in himself. Only by doing so, he will make his and other's dreams come true.

Mike The Egg

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 07:22:28 +0000

The Story: Mike The Egg

Mike is a young egg that few days ago arrived to "The Fridge". Mike doesn't remembers where he comes from, but is not pleased in being at The Fridge as many other eggs are.

One night, the owner of the house arrives and opens The Fridge. Mike's friend Bob, is taken by the hand of The Owner, as he forgets to close The Fridge. Some eggs inside The Fridge know their destiny: They serve, and they are "the elite" of the healty food chain. The eggs and other food inside The Fridge are sometimes called by Soda: "The Basics". However, Mike is afraid of his destiny. He knows deep inside him, he was not meant to be eaten. He does not want to be human's food. He does not wants to be taken by The Owner.

That night, Mike talks with Lucas, the granpa egg. Mike tells Lucas about his desire to go beyond The Fridge. He is afraid, and Lucas understand the desire of the young egg. That night, the rumor spreads, and the rest of the food inside The Fridge, plans a goodbye party for Mike.

The next day, Lucas tells Mike a valuable lesson: don't let fear conquer you, do what is required to attain your freedom deep inside you, go for your dream, but never forget about your origins and family. Mike stays that day at The Fridge. At night, The Lactoids give a concert to The Glasses.

At midnight, Mike awaits for The Owner to open The Fridge. It happens then, and while The Owner was preparing his dinner, Mike jumps out of The Fridge in his search for his dream and freedom. Little does he knows what amazing epic journey awaits him...

Technical

Made and rendered in Lightwave using FPrime
1 light used, no HDRI.

Note:
This is the first part of a very long story.
If you wish to know more, take a look at "Rusty", another character of this epic story. There are more characters to come.

Diamond

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:03:54 +0000

Lightwave 3D 8.5 + FPrime 2.1 to render.
No HDRI or reflections maps used.
No plugins used for any texture
Lighting done with just 1 light.

I hope you like it!

Diamond Bracelet

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 18:44:28 +0000

This is a light and texture exercise. I used a studio setup for the lighting, consisting of 3 lights and 3 bouncers. There was no HDRI used to create this image. There are no UV maps, and textures are procedural. The diamond texture was created in a way that it would not require any plugin. It renders very fast. I used Lightwave 3D to create it, and FPrime 2.1 to render it. The bloom and sparks where added using Photoshop.

Chevrolete SSR: Black Over Black

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 00:31:18 +0000

CREDITS:
+ The model was done by Joerg Jung.
+ Later on I (Cesar Montero) applied the lighting and texture to it.
TECHNICAL:
+ Lightwave 3D 8.3 + Worley FPrime 2.1
+ 3 lights and 3 bouncers
+ Single pass render
+ NO HDRI used
+ No plugins for light or texture
CHALLENGES:
When Joerg told me if I can render his car, I was delighted by the offer! However I knew that a Chevrolet lacks the popularity of a Mercedes, BMW , Ferrari etc. This one is more of an average car, and because of that, to make it look good I required of a very good lighting and texture.
So I decided to do a difficult and elegant lighting setup. Because I wanted to do it in a single pass and no post, It took time to realize how to position the lights so that non of them would be reflected in the floor.
Furthermore I realized that in many renders with black background the floor was gray. To add difficulty to the shot I decided to use a black floor. This increased the difficulty level, since little bounced light would come from the floor. WIth this, realism is mostly then based in the quality and form of the reflections.
Later on, I added another level of difficulty by putting the car sideways. In many black-on-black renders, the car is completly by side, or in frontal shot. It took me some time to tweak the lighting to be able to portait the car in perspective
No HDRI was used, and the bouncers are the ones that "paint" with reflections the car. I really enjoyed this project.
Thanks again to Joerg Jung A.K.A. JJ for the model!

Bottle Poster

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 01:05:57 +0000

CREDITS:
The model was made by Jeremy Birn for the Lighting Challenge #4.

I made the Lighting and Texuring.
The model may be simple, but it is just to give the proper credite

CONCEPTUAL:
I started this piece having in mind some kind of product shot for glass. Later on i realized that I wanted it to look also a bit with that look of man's perfumes. The object however is very simple. Since this piece is very much about lighting, I kept the rest of the elements to the minimum.

TECHNICAL:
To do lighting without HDRI, over black floor, and black enviroment is really fun for me, but I do know it is not that easy.
I however love the look and feel it gives.

I used 3 bouncers to make it, and it was renderered in Lightwave 8.3 + FPrime 2.1
I didn't use any plugins for the glass.

Lady Lamp: Shot over black

Mon, 29 May 2006 20:17:46 +0000

This is an FPrime render I did of the same lamp.
This was done previously to the one I posted as main image here.
In this render, I wanted to show its elegance.
So I did a lighting that suited the cause.

The tehnique I used was to actually build a studio set.
I even made a camera, just in case it would appear in the reflection.
In the big version you can just see the tripod...but it was fun.
SO yeah, I used NO hdri at all here, just 2 lights.

Lady Lamp: Sex and The Socket Lamp

Fri, 05 May 2006 05:06:56 +0000

Hi there!

This lamp was animated in a short film I did not so long ago.
The name of the short is Sex and The Socket.
It is about a lamp in the search for the right lightbulb that can last forever...

If you want to see the animation, visit my site:
www.archeidos.com

LAMP DESIGN:

The form of the lamp is a combination of elements both from oil lamps and traditional bulb lamps. Oil lamps are not so tall, and this suited me perfect in order to animate it jumping. The interior has a socket. Because I inteded to show some kind of "pureness" I decided to go for a fancy metal look. Same goes for the gold base, to make it look as not as a "cheap lamp", in both literal and sexual methaphorical senses.

LIGHTING:

I decided to position this design in an ambient that would resemble the lights of chilling club where they will sell martinis, and you will have this nice bar to sit down and hear house music from an in-house DJ.

TECHNICAL:

The model was done in Lightwave. I later on exported it to Maxwell Studio. There I build the lighting setup with some lights in a black enviroment. The render took 6 hours

HIGH RES IMAGE LINK:

http://archeidos.com/images/sexandthesocket/finals/disco_lamp_full_quality.jpg

Tag Watch

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:13:21 +0000

Here is a TAG Watch I did.
The modelling was done months ago.
However, at that time I lacked of texturing/lighting skills.
So I'm posting it until today as completed.
+ I made it as a challenge to avoid the use of HDRI, there is no HDRI used on this render.
+ I used only 2 lights for main shadows/highlights (realism)
+ I used another 2 for some tiny coloring (blue/green and purple).
+ I used FPrime to render it
+ Photoshop was used for subtle contrast/curves/brightness.
No plugins used besides FPrime.
+ Since I want this render to be attractive even at high-res...
I'm posting here a closeup of detail.
Numbers and floor are image maps.
The rest are procedural textures only.
Feel free to comment on it!
>> Hi resolution image <<
>> Hi resolution image <<
>> Hi resolution image <<

Diamond Ring

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:45:25 +0000

The main purpose of this project was to create a realistic diamond.
+ I used fprime plugin to render. This means, I was not able to use any other plugin.
+ I DIDN'T use any HDRI image.
+ I used only one light at the scene.
+ All textures are procedural (no image-maps, UV).
+ Everything done in a single pass.
WIP at CGTalk is the following:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=2967242#post2967242
Hope you like it!

Colored Perfumes

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 10:48:52 +0000

I wanted to make crystal and manage color lighting with it. I used Lightwave FPrime 1.5 plugin to render it. Later on, I added a white halo in photoshop. All made in less than 24 hours. I would like to know critiques on surfacing and lighting. Would be also great to hear some ideas for another glass render project. Comments are most welcome.
>> Hi resolution image <<
>> Hi resolution image <<

Grasshopper

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 11:12:59 +0000

This is a finished render, but not a finished proyect entitled Grasshopper Metamorphosis. It was created using only Lightwave 8.2 preset surfaces and no lights, just radiosity using FPrime 1.5. Outer glow added made on photoshop. I would like to receive critiques on the style as well as the lighting. Hope you like it.
>> Hi resolution image <<
Edit 1: Noise floor correction
>> Hi resolution image <<

Coffee For One

Sat, 23 Apr 2005 01:18:30 +0000

Technical Facts:
+ Less than 24 hours work
+ 1 light used
+ FPrime 1.5 to render
+ Photoshop for smoke
+ Coffee was made WITHOUT ANY plugins or shaders
It is always good to share a good cup of coffee!!
I hope you enjoy it
>> Hi resolution image <<

Lock

Fri, 06 May 2005 03:10:17 +0000

This is an excercise for lighting I did for fun. Comments and critiques always welcomed.
Tech Specs:
Modeled in Lightwave 3D
FPrime 1.5 render
Less than 24 hours work
>> Hi resolution image <<

Eggit!

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 19:06:58 +0000

A month ago I entered school at the VFS, Digital Design Diploma (no 3d in it).
My first assignment was to do a product with the shape of an egg.
The teacher asked for a sketch, but I couldn't resist to render my idea.
I had the idea of this sharpener.
The idea of the name as well as the text is also mine.
No post on it, it is a direct render.
>> Hi resolution image <<

Gregor Mendel - Conceptual Portrait

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 01:33:08 +0000

Two weeks ago I was asked for a conceptual portrait of Gregor Mendel for a double letter size image (magazine).
Gregor Mendel was a monk that discovered the basic rules of hereditance by experimenting with pea plants. Because of this, he is to be known as the father of genetics.
A peaplant is covering the fetuses, since Gregor gave birth to these rules by making the pea plants give birth to different varieties of peas. One requirement was for the image to have vivid colors, and dramatic lighting to give it a twist of divinity.
The image is successful only if if makes you want to know more about Gregor Mendel.
>> Hi resolution image <<

Usbish

Thu, 13 Oct 2005 04:18:26 +0000

his is a class project.
The goal given at the class was to chose a competitive market and
make a product brand.
I chose the market of USB because it not only has several brands, but because I carry one all the time and I keep it hidden to not look geek. So, wouldn't it be cool to show it all the time and make the brand famous?
I decided a chocolate as the mainpart because it is both liked by children
and grownups. My brand is based around the idea of temptation, and to
make the act of backing up data a tempration (and not a boring procedure).

Kinetic Spheres

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:51:41 +0000

I wanted to practice my lighting with this image.
I used a single light source, and a bouncer.
For the render, I used FPrime 2.0.
Hope you like it!
>> Hi resolution image <<

Ear Coffee

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 06:28:03 +0000

This piece is entitled "Coffee Ear". I'm trying to illustrate the beauty of the ear of a cup of coffee.
I used 3 lights to make it, and a rich enviroment around to give the reflections I desired. The original image is for print, at 3000 px wide. Hope you like it!
>> Hi resolution image <<

Two Rings

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 01:56:15 +0000

This piece is entitled "Two Rings". I wanted to do two gold rings with a twist of divine personality. It was a great lighting exercise. Hope you like it!
Lighting Tech Specs:
+ Kitchen_probe HDRI
+ 1 light
+ 1 bouncer
>> Hi resolution image <<