Interview with Professional 3D Artist Darrien Murphy

One 3D artist I have been a huge fan of is Darrien Murphy. He’s an incredible designer.

I recently saw a piece he did called “Superheroes and Villains Trapped in the Egyptian Temple of Hathor” and I really loved it. The vibe is sick, the camera moves are great, the music is spot on, and the whole thing is just really clean and well-made.

I wanted to ask him about this video and his process so we can all learn a little about his workflow. Let’s go! But before we do, let’s watch the video, so we know what we’re discussing:

Tell us about yourself! What do you do?

My name is Darrien Murphy and I’m a freelancer. I’ve been in 3D/motion design for 20 years. My favorite and most used software is Maya in conjunction with Redshift.

3D art motion design project maya redshift inspiration

Tell me about this particular project. Was it for a client, or personal project?

A bit of both. My friend started an online toy store called Lost City Toys and she hired me to create the brand and the website. I knew she would need a promo video and this project is the outcome. I have also been rebuilding my reel and felt like I needed one more project.

What was the goal of this project?

This is a promo to launch the website www.lostcitytoys.com & hopefully bring some eyes to it.

What software/engine/plugins did you rely on for this project?

I used Maya, Redshift, After Effects, and Davinci Resolve. No plugins.

What was the most challenging part of pulling off such a great project?

This project was the first time I really dove heavily into the new Redshift Standard Material with Subsurface Scattering. I knew the marble material would be in almost every shot so I spent a lot of time on it fine-tuning. For a long time, I’ve had some sculptures in my mind that I wanted to emulate. The Bust of Octavian when he was a boy and the ivory miniatures from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna which I visited about 15 years ago. Here are some images that I used for inspiration:

What was the timeline, how long did it take you to create?

I took about 9 months including about 2.5 months of rendering. This was on top of my normal work schedule.

Did you work with a team on this, or do it all yourself?

I did work with purchased sculpts from some ZBrush modelers such as Vasiliy Poryagin, Zafar Hussain, and Dragun Studios. Other than that I did everything, hence the 9 months.

What was the most fun part of it?

The most fun part was the look development and lighting. My background is film directing so even though this is just 2 minutes I treated it like a film production.

Do you use VDBs much?

Yes, on two of my last three project I have used VDBs and I plan to in the future. The Pixel Lab VDBs are really great.

I love using VDBs because they allow me to get directly into look development. For example, on this project, after I created the volume material for the fire I didn’t even have to do a test render sequence because I already knew the sim was great. I also like the versatility and ease of use.

(Learn more about VDBs in this article)

Above fire asset is from VFX Elements Fire 3 Pack

Do you have any tips for using VDBs

The primary tip I would give for fire is finding the delicate balance between the gradient and other attributes in the material versus the (Redshift) Postfx Bloom. Getting the balance right will allow it to behave properly on screen meaning seeing detail in the flames when close and an overexposed flame from a distance with no adjustment.

(Above render is Darrien using our Fire VDBs)

Do you have any suggestions for people who want to join the industry now?

Yes, if you use 3rd party assets, use high-quality assets. Pay attention to lens sizes in your 3D scene. It’s as much a part of the creative process as anything else. Be ambitious in your projects, particularly while you’re young and have extra time. Get in the habit of being outside your comfort zone. This will accelerate your learning pace.

I’ll also share a bit of my process. I chose music early (before my shot list). I edited the music, and then I made a video edit with just solid color backgrounds and text (see video below). I tailor my shots to the music, and then when I render I have an exact frame length with 10 extra frames of heads and tales.