Project Porsche Legend 964

3D Concept Art presents, Legend 964. A project interview with Djordje Ilic about the making of a small short of a Porsche Legend 964 . Djordje Ilic is a 3D generalist, with specialization in lighting and is from Serbia.

3D Concept Art presents a special projects interview about Legend 964.

| 3D Concept Art: How was your idea born and what was your main goal? Is that any underlying meaning why you choose a car for your project?

| Djordje Ilic: → Thank you for asking this one.

Actually, it started when I was a kid.It was my birthday and I got that red sports car-Porsche 911(964) as a present from my father. I have to mention that those were pretty tough times in Serbia and I got a sports car!…on a remote control!!!…. 🙂 Oh God, I was thrilled! I literally didn’t sleep for days. At that time there wasn’t any chance to see a car like that on our roads…so I was really impressed…. and I am still.

So, since I always wanted to own that legendary model 964, I ‘ve decided to make a short movie about one, until that happens 🙂 The movie is not dedicated just to Porsche it self, it is also devoted to my legend~my father.

| 3CA: When you initialize the foundation of your idea, describe the process to get the full concept in mind? Did you ever felt that you nailed it?

| D.I: → I’ve never had a feeling that I nailed it! I think that not any artist ever has the feeling that he nailed it. Every time I look at it from a different aspect and I always think that I should’ve changed this or that, that I could’ve done better or more …etc, but that is a good thing.

As for the idea to be honest, when I started I didn’t have any specific.I mean…I had a story in my head, but it began developing and growing during the process.

| 3CA:How much of your time went to R&D during this project?

| D.I: → Most of the time I spent on planning each step up front and on making the decisions which way is the best for the approach. I tried to solve any issues during the process straight away, without too many looking backs-except when it was really, really necessary. Before I started with the project”Legend 964” I spent a lot of time on researching.

I was looking for some good references from different angles because I wanted a model with a lot of details and that was the hardest part -because the 964 model is very old and rare so the detailed images were the main problem.

| 3CA: As you started modeling, which was your major challenges when modeling the Porsche 964?

| D.I: → The major challenge was creating that perfect smooth line which defines Porsche and makes it different from the others. Also, as I mentioned earlier modeling was extremely hard because I didn’t have a chance to see the car from the close up-so I struggled with the sense of proportion. The next challenge was interior. I wanted to make a detailed model which contains all the original parts of the Porsche 964. (with all the details on a dashboard, air conditioning, radio, steering wheel …)That was really, really hard, but a pleasure to work on.

| 3CA:  During the modeling phase, you perfectionist every part of the car to reach the level of realism needed. What do you think is important to think of first when modeling a car at this level? Which are you best advice when trying to give the car the final touch of realism?

| D.I: → Like one drawing contains a number of different moves and lines: thin, thick, short, long ..so the model must have its own character and doesn’t need to be 100% mathematically correct! There must be some asymmetry and irregularity.You need to decide on which part to spend time, what matters – and what does not… (which part will be seen in the picture, video…). The most important thing when you model something is to think what is the final purpose of that model?! For example: If your model is a product for some commercial- it must look perfect otherwise it won’t sell-but If you’re making something that needs to look natural, you have the freedom to make some unperfections so you can give it a sense of reality.

| 3CA: When working at this level, did you use any special workflow when trying to find, or create procedurals, and overall textures adequate to that level needed? Describe a little bit of the process and technique?

| D.I: → I didn’t use any special workflow. I created complex textures by combining different techniques and blending them together. Usually, I prepare some tiling textures in Photoshop and after that, I’m using them in Mari in combination with Mari procedural textures. For the dust on the brake caliper, I have used axis projection, for the mask stack I have combined ambient occlusion and handpainted details.I didn’t use any special tool like curvature for scratches, but instead I painted everything.

| 3CA: Did you use any previs to get the animation right later on and what were your techniques to get those smooth transitions in the short?

| D.I: → I had a vision in my head and a very rough story board. After that, I did a rough editing with the shots I created according to the feel. On a basis of editing, I corrected the camera, the speed of motion, animation, duration … I had over 20 different versions of editing and several different music. backgrounds.

| 3CA: During the composition, describe a little bit of your composite technique, how you were able to find the look and the overall feel?

| D.I: → Some films and commercials inspired me to create this look…Everything I finished in Nuke but I also I have used LUE GradingTool by Hagarth, aberration tool by Jason Bidwell and sometimes fxTglowy by Tor Andreassen and native Nuke lens distortion. Lens breathing effect I created by my self, which helped me a lot to get a very nice feeling of cinema lenses. More about that you can see in my tutorial: https://vimeo.com/198034029

| 3CA:  Project sometimes get bigger than expected, what were the biggest challenges and what changed your vision during the project, is that something that you would like to change now or maybe extend it?

| D.I: → The project really took longer than expected, at some point it seemed that there is no end.The main goal was to finish it and to be happy with it. When I uploaded the project on Vimeo, I was thinking about whether I would change something?! I would not change anything!-but if I had to, I would probably change everything and after all that, I would probably change everything one more time :)Still, it’s very important to know when it’s enough, otherwise, the crazy head can fall into the loop.

| 3CA:  What is your advice when it comes to making this type projects?What is your advice when it comes to making this type projects and doing those as a personal project?

| D.I: → I don’t have any particular- just be patient and stay focused and don’t start with new projects until you finish the previous one.

3D Concept Art Community thanks Djordje Ilic for this interview about Porsche Legend 964 short. Where he shares his knowledge and also for taking the time to answer the questions, answering every aspect of his making of and providing enough of material to the article. A project that was done with passion, love and determination.

What do you think of Project Legend 964?