3D
From SusoSight
I have more than a casual interest in 3D. Although only recently I have started to develop my 3D modeling and artistic abilities, my experience with 3D rendering goes all the way back to seeing the original Tron at the drive in when I was 6. Anyone who was interested in 3D during that time was witness to the growth of something new. From the 1970s on you could watch as cutting edge computer graphics in all mediums went from line art, to rasterized graphics, to the first scanline and raytraced images, image and reflection mapping, motion capture and everything in between. It has all been an exciting time to be alive. Those who didn't pay attention just missed the birth of digital art.
When my father bought me a copy of Turbo Silver 3 for the Amiga in December, 1990 and upgraded to Imagine a month later, I started to see how this imagery was made and learned some of the basics of 3D modeling and raytracing. Back then it was really all about how much patience you had for such things though. Scenes that take only minutes to model and render in 2011 would take hours and days back then. Rendering a simple sphere on a checkerboard could take an hour. So it was a matter patience, which at 14, I was more interested in games and doing things quickly.
This however didn't stop me from viewing the many images that the pioneers of the amateur and professional 3D community was creating throughout the 90s using a variety of programs. I feel that I gained an appreciation for what effort goes into a scene from this era. In the 2000s I found it easier and quicker to accomplish what I wanted, so what did I start back up with? POV-Ray of course and the joy of modeling using a text editor. One thing about modeling with a text editor is that you have to pay more attention to what your scene will be before you start building it. You need to construct it in your mind first, make a few notes, then try to execute it.
I had tried Blender off and on since the 90s, when I started using Linux, but in 2003 when Blender called for people to donate money to open source it, I donated $50 to the cause, knowing that eventually I would dedicate time to learning it. In 2009, I found that I had some time to dedicate to learning Blender, started reading tutorials, books, etc. and making imagery.
External links
- The Third & Seventh - A truly amazing demonstration of what can be done with 3d computer modeling, rending and compositing.