Editorial
Welcome to a rather foolish April issue … Just kidding! No fools here! In fact, there’s nothing but yet one more great line up of artists in this month’s 3DCreative, with contributions from Sven Juhlin, Thomas Mahler, Joseph Harford, Sean Langford and Rafael Ghencev to name just a few.

So where to start? Well, we have 2 great interviews for you, the first of which is with Sven Juhlin, whose characters are enough to knock your socks off! Currently working freelance from Stockholm, Sweden, 3DCreative got to know Sven a little better this month, finding out why he made the move from working at EA Dice to go solo (p.7). Our second artist interview (as one is, quite frankly, never enough) is with Thomas Mahler – another character artist who we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few months. This is not your average interview: it is 11 pages of awesome character designs and some of the most fantastically in-depth answers we’ve ever featured. One not to be missed (p.15).

Our tutorials this month take us into the world of texturing in 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, LightWave and modo, as our 5 artists walk you through the texturing phase. Not only is this an unmissable chapter as it’s the penultimate in the series, but also because we’re giving away 51 free textures to all 3DCreative readers this month, too! And not just 51 plain old textures – oh no! We’re giving you 51 fully tileable high-resolution textures, each with accompanying bump, specular, and in some instances normal maps, from our Total Textures collections. Aren’t we lovely? Even those of you who aren’t following the gothic church interior series can flick to p.81, where the 5-software series starts, and grab yourself some free textures. Go get ‘em! Our other tutorials are for ZBrush and feature the return of Rafael Ghencev who shows us how to sculpt a werewolf, complete with tips on hair generation in 3ds Max as well as sculpting it in ZBrush for those who prefer it that way (p.47). This is Rafael Ghencev’s last tutorial for us in this series; Rafael Grassetti will be bringing us the final chapter next month, when he creates Frankenstein’s monster (I’ve seen it – and it is gooood!). Our other tutorials for this issue are by Joseph Harford and Sean Langford who have both interpreted and speedily sculpted the subject, ‘Fantasy – Elf’. Check out p.37 to see these very different sculpts and learn some tips and tricks from their tutorials. Look out for the free movies that Sean has also provided to accompany his tutorial.

Finally, we have 2 very different making of articles this month, by Daniel Radulescu and Vaibhav Shah. Daniel gives us an insight into the creation of a modern interior (p.57), and Vaibhav takes us through the production of ‘Say Cheese!!’ – a solitary fish surviving in a flooded bathroom (p.63). Our galleries include greatness from the likes of Michal Kwolek and Sean Langford, with a bonus contribution from artist and illustrator, Cam de Leon (p.27).

Enjoy the latest from your friendly 3DCreative (April) fools! Ed.