Max Hay unveils a treasure trove for Blender users: a free pack of buildings, perfect for populating your 3D scenes. Plus, discover a cyber environments course and a custom Blender theme to elevate your creative workflow.
Ever wanted to build a stunning cyberpunk cityscape in Blender? Max Hay, a true Blender wizard, recently unveiled his techniques in “Making a Cyberpunk City in Blender,” offering a masterclass for 3D artists, Blender fans, and creative professionals. This isn’t just a guide; it’s a blueprint for bringing your digital metropolises to vibrant life.
For 3D artists constantly seeking resources to enrich their scenes, Max generously shares a free pack of building assets, designed to breathe life into your 3D environments. But that’s not all – Max also provides insights into a comprehensive cyber environments course and a personalized Blender theme, offering a holistic approach to enhancing your creative projects.
Video via Max Hay
Beyond the Grid: Cyberpunk City Secrets for Blender Artists
Max’s process begins with a “cyberpunk hacker theme” and simple “basic level modeling”—cubes, loop cuts, bevels, and extrusions. The magic quickly moves to materials: a “concrete texture on the outside” and a “hybrid metal glass material on the inside” that allows light to pass while reflecting. A key insight for windows involves an “emissive shader on the inside” combined with a building window texture, creating a “really natural looking building window texture” that shines through low-alpha window material and looks great from afar.
Efficiency is paramount in city building. Max populates his scenes using buildings from his “free buildings pack” and free foreground assets like lights, concrete pillars, chairs, and debris from Polyhaven.
One of the most innovative tricks for realism is using a “big giant image plane of a city” for reflections. By turning off its camera visibility but keeping ray visibility on, the flat image isn’t seen directly but “reflects in the building windows and the water a little bit,” creating “really, really natural building window reflections” that add “so much warmth and life” to the city.
For neon signs, Max employs a clever UV trick: an image plane with a stock photo ad running into the emission. By lining up the four vertices of the plane in the UV editor, even crooked ads can “stretch perfectly” to fit a sign’s outline, achieving a perfect head-on perspective. This allows extracting dozens of unique advertisements from a single image.
To enhance atmosphere, Max creates an “emissive gradient” using a cube with a principled volume, where a gradient texture runs into the “emission strength”. Rotating this cube upwards creates a glow “coming from the bottom of the city fading out as it goes upwards,” making the city feel “much more full and alive”. A “super bright spotlight” often shines straight up through this volume. For a fun, personal touch, Max even integrates his “own past renders” as “Easter eggs” or artwork on buildings.
Max Hay’s workflow offers invaluable lessons in building compelling cyberpunk cityscapes. By combining fundamental modeling, smart asset use, ingenious reflection techniques, and atmospheric touches, he shows how to craft worlds that are not only visually stunning but also brimming with life.
Free Buildings Pack: A Gift for 3D Artists
Max Hay’s free building pack is a game-changer for artists needing to quickly populate architectural scenes or create detailed cityscapes. The pack, available on their website, maxhayart.com, offers a variety of building models ready to be dropped into your Blender projects. This is a fantastic resource for saving valuable time and effort in the modeling process, allowing you to focus on other crucial aspects of your scene, such as lighting, composition, and storytelling.
Cyber Environments Course: Level Up Your Skills
For those looking to delve deeper into creating immersive and detailed cyber environments, Max Hay also highlights their Cyber Environments Course. This course, accessible via maxhayart.com, is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to craft compelling futuristic worlds. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist, the course offers valuable techniques and insights to elevate your environment design capabilities.
Customize Your Workflow with a Unique Blender Theme
Beyond assets and courses, Max Hay understands the importance of a personalized workflow. That’s why they’re also sharing the Blender theme used in the video, complete with extras. This theme, available for download via Google Drive (Google Drive Link), allows you to customize the look and feel of Blender to suit your preferences, potentially boosting your productivity and making your creative process more enjoyable.
A Complete Package for Creative Professionals
Max Hay’s commitment to providing valuable resources for the 3D community shines through in this latest offering. From free building assets to in-depth courses and customizable Blender themes, there’s something for everyone looking to enhance their 3D art skills and create stunning visuals. Be sure to check out the video and the provided links to take full advantage of these fantastic resources.