Ever wondered how those breathtaking cyberpunk scenes in Blender come to life? Max Hay, a master of digital environments, pulls back the curtain in his insightful video, “How I Made This Cyberpunk Render in Blender | Scene Breakdown.”
In his recent video, Max Hay meticulously breaks down his process, revealing the secrets behind creating a dense, atmospheric, and visually striking dystopian cityscape. Let’s dive into the core elements: building geometry, camera angle, and lighting.
The Foundation: Building Geometry
At the heart of any compelling cyberpunk scene is its sprawling architecture. Max demonstrates how he builds his dense urban environments starting with surprisingly simple shapes.
- Simple Beginnings: The base geometry often begins with a few basic building shapes – think extruded cubes – which are then duplicated and varied to create a tube-like structure of buildings looking upwards. This method quickly establishes a sense of scale and density.
- Asset Integration: Don’t reinvent the wheel! Max incorporates buildings from previous projects and even utilizes free downloadable assets, streamlining the creation process.
- Detailing & Texturing: Basic buildings are detailed by manipulating shapes, applying textures like concrete, and setting up simple glass materials for windows. For more complex elements like building racks, stretched cubes with rust textures do the trick.
The Eye of the City: Camera Angle
The camera isn’t just a viewer; it’s a storyteller. Max’s approach to camera work is crucial for capturing the essence of the cyberpunk genre.
- Extreme Wide Angle: A wide focal length of 19mm is key. This allows for a vast amount of the scene to be captured from a low, upward perspective, creating an overwhelming sense of towering structures.
- Low Perspective: The camera is placed near the ground, looking up, which is essential for fitting the entire environment into the frame given the wide lens.
- Intentional Tilt: A subtle tilt off the horizon enhances the chaotic, overwhelming feel characteristic of cyberpunk. This works particularly well in scenes without a clear horizon line.
Illuminating the Future: Lighting & Composition
In a world dominated by neon and holograms, lighting is less about sunbeams and more about glow.
- Emissive Dominance: The primary light sources are the numerous neon signs and holograms themselves. Actual light sources are minimal and contribute little to the overall illumination.
- Creating Advertisements: Images applied to emission channels, sometimes mixed with procedural textures, bring vibrant ads and signs to life on various planes.
- Balancing Brilliance: Max emphasizes the critical need to balance intense lighting with “dead space” – less detailed or darker areas. This prevents the image from becoming overly bright or washed out, allowing the brilliant parts to truly pop.
- Compositional Mastery: Leading lines and visual flow are vital to guide the viewer’s eye. A visual hierarchy ensures focal points, like a prominent glowing can advertisement, stand out through brightness, saturation, and strategic placement within compositional grids (e.g., rule of thirds).
To truly appreciate the techniques, watch Max Hay’s full breakdown here:
How I Made This Cyberpunk Render in Blender | Scene Breakdown by Max Hay
Max Hay’s breakdown offers invaluable insights into creating stunning cyberpunk renders in Blender. By focusing on smart geometry creation, strategic camera angles, and masterful emissive lighting combined with thoughtful composition, artists can craft their own immersive digital worlds. Happy rendering!
Source:
How I Made This Cyberpunk Render in Blender | Scene Breakdown by Max Hay
