3D Digital Art Intermediate

This is not a classical art class. We will not spend much time on the types of things that a school art class would provide. If you do not have some art training, this may be a disadvantage. Composition, color theory, style, and perspective will not be extensively covered. We will utilize these in our class however, the focus of the class will be training on the tools used to create 3D art. We will provide specialized training based upon student requests.

Intermediate (4 one hour classes)

Learning Objectives:

• How to create and modify a model

• How to create a complex scene

• How to create a simple animation

• How to create textures and paint on objects

• How to manage lights, reflections and water

• How use booleans

• How to modify mountains and trees

• Using the camera

Each of the four classes will cover the same areas but with more detail and practice using the programs.

What modeling programs to use

• Free modeling programs

  • TrueSpace

  • Blender

  • Daz Studio

  • Sketchup

  • Wings 3D

  • Anim8tor

• Not free modeling programs

  • Maya, 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, Rhino3D $800-$10,000

  • Poser $200-$500

• Creating a drinking glass using booleans (TrueSpace and Vue)

• Creating a vase using spline rotation (TrueSpace)

• Creating a simple house (Vue)

• Vertex editing (TrueSpace)

How to create a complex scene

• Just add lots of stuff

  • Adding polygons adds scene complexity

    • A simple cylinder can be a few polygons or thousands

    • Imported models can be polygon rich

      • How to reduce polygon density on imports

  • Trees, plants, and clouds

    • Individual instances can add up quickly

      • Use billboards for distant instances (a single polygon)

    • Clouds are nice however, they can add lots of polygons and light reflections/refractions

• Volumetric atmosphere

How to create a simple animation

• Creating a flying logo

  • Individual characters, textured and lighting set

  • Choose the ending frame, set key frame

  • Using the time line for individual object animations, setting key frames

  • Animation hierarchy

  • Putting it all together

• Animating the atmosphere, sun, and clouds, landscapes

How to create textures and paint on objects

• Using a 2D paint program to create seamless textures

• Using a 2D paint program to modify a photo for use as a texture

• Using TrueSpace to paint individual polygons

• Using TrueSpace to paint the face of an object

• Materials editors, layers, eco systems

Lights, reflections, water and other considerations

• Light beams and lens flares

• Spot lights and point lights

• Ray Tracing for realistic reflections

• Creating depth in water

• Metals and glasses

• Fabrics and sub surface scattering

• Lights in volumetric worlds

Booleans, mountains, trees and buildings

• Booleans can be used to build most anything

• Using booleans to make a cave in a mountain

• Trees and leaves

• Plants and vegetation

• Using a cube to make a building with a texture

• Creating a city scape using cubes and booleans

• Grouping objects and manipulating groups

• Procedural mountains

Using the camera

• The camera is your friend

• Depth of Field and Point of View

• Horizons and atmospheres

• Focus and aperture

• Animating the camera