Joseph Zhang – Looking Outwards – 05

This week, I looked at 3D graphic artist Michael Kim and his project “Transit.” At first glance, the image looks like an ordinary photo, until you realize the rendering and texturing process that went behind building up this reality. Kim began the process by collecting references from his rides in NYC subway trains. From there, he began clay modeling the interior structure of the subway train, in Autodesk Fusion and Cinema 4D. After contacting him, he said the modeling process took 5 days, 4 hours a day.

From there he hand drew all the graphics he wanted on paper and used them as a graphite textures on the surfaces.

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Much of his process was dedicated to UV mapping, which is projecting 2D visuals onto a 3d surface. If you look closely at the details, Kim created every individual surface imperfection, which includes, fingerprints, smudges, dust particles, and wear on curvatures.

Besides Cinema 4D and Autodesk Fusion, Kim also used programs such as Substance Painter, Marvelous Painter, and Adobe Photoshop.

I think what really compelled me to this piece was the process and procedure that Michael underwent. From a surface level glance, the final product is incredible but, ultimately it was talking to him and understanding the process he went through that really attracted me to “Transit”. His artistic sensitivity is very evidently seen in his attention to detail, and the subtle references, such as the “Mailkook Express”, his logo, and just all the texturing.