Everybody's going 3D!!!
The democratization of 3D has officially begun!
Think back to the first time you opened a 3D application.
Don’t think about the software itself…think about how the software made you feel.
Not great, right?
If you were anything like me, you just felt overwhelmed and completely flabbergasted by all the menus and the buttons and the tools. Whether it was Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, Clo, 3DS Max, or whatever… they’re all the same. The UI of 3D software is DENSE.
Don’t get me wrong. I get it. These tools can do a TON of stuff from animation to modeling to rigging to fx. So of course the UI is complex and that’s just the way it is.
But what about someone that is just starting? Someone that doesn’t need every single capability but needs a nice, simple software to get up to speed with 3D basics. What is there available for them?
Up until relatively recently, there wasn’t much. There were pretty much just the big dogs of 3D and that was it. If you wanted to do anything in the 3D space, you needed to untangle and decode this super-complex software.
This is the part of the infomercial when someone would pipe in and say…
“He knew there had to be a better way!”
That’s when I was introduced to Forger. I was on a long Metro North train ride from the Blue Sky Studio office in the forests of Connecticut back to Manhattan when I looked over at a co-worker seemingly modeling something on his iPad.
“What’s that?” I said, quite intelligently.
He told me it was an app called Forger and I could download it for $9 and that was it. I was blown away. I know this app wasn’t perfect but it was a simple UI at an affordable price and didn’t require a supercomputer to operate. This was that lower bar of entry I was looking for! This was cool!!
In the years that passed, I have seen the number of offerings for simple 3D grow and grow.
First, there was Keyshot and Adobe Dimension (and later Substance 3D Stager.) These were super simple lighting and rendering applications designed mostly for product shots. Again, these weren’t as robust as the big dog software, but they had a ton of drag-and-drop functionality and an overall design that felt modern and non-obstructive for new users.
But in the past year or two, this simplification of 3D has exploded!
There has been the release of super fun web-based 3D tools like Spline, Vectary, and Womp3D. Again, simple but also approachable enough for anyone. And since you interact through a web browser, they are completely device agnostic. You can be on a Mac, Linux, or any device you like. And of course, they are free which is a big bonus.
There’s also been a wave of software that is traditionally 2D entering the 3D game. You can now create a model, add textures, and render with a raytracer all inside of Adobe Illustrator. Let me repeat that…you can create and render a 3D model all inside Adobe Illustrator. Check out this full tutorial if you are interested.
Even compositing software packages are getting into the action. After Effects has announced the capability to import 3D models into your scenes and Nuke 14.0 is going all in with their recent announcement of a new USD-based 3D system.
The old guard of 3D software is also moving to this more democratized version of 3D creation. The creators of the popular 3D modeling program Rhino has just announced iRhino 3D for iPad.
Add all of this up and what do you get?
How about a quickly evolving 3D world where we no longer need these super-complex 3D applications to create a simple object or scene? A simplification of workflows so the barrier of entry to the 3D world is now low enough that almost anyone interested can join in. A lovely balance between simple software to get started beside the super powerful, pro-level tools to create mindblowing images for an entire film.
Sounds pretty ideal to me.
3D News of the Week
A roundup of interesting 3D-related news you may have missed this week.
Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse Trailer Released! - youtube.com
Artists Protesting AI Creation on ArtStation - 3dvf.com
Nike brings RTFKT's sneaker NFTs to life with 'cryptokicks iRL' series - designboom.com
Samsung Launching Mixed-Reality Headset in 2023 - mixednews.com
Insydium’s NeXus coming to Blender, Maya and 3ds Max - cgchannel.com
Guillermo del Toro: AI Art is "an Insult to Life Itself" - 80.lv
3D Artist of the Week
One of the true challenges of creating computer-generated environments is nailing the scale. Detail size, lighting, atmospheric effects, depth of field, and receding black points must be harmoniously blended for that final image to sing.
Annibale Siconolfi is a master at this. The images Annibale generates are incredible examples of capturing a vast scene and should be a go-to for any artist hoping to make some majesty.
3D Tutorials
3D Job Spreadsheet
Link to Google Doc With A TON of Jobs in Animation (not operated by me)
Michael Tanzillo has been a Senior Artist on animated films at Blue Sky Studios/Disney with credits including three Ice Age movies, two Rios, Peanuts, Ferdinand, Spies in Disguise, and Epic. Currently, Michael is a Head of Technical Artists with the Substance 3D team at Adobe.
In addition to his work as an artist, Michael is the Co-Author of the book Lighting for Animation: The Visual Art of Storytelling and the Co-Founder of The Academy of Animated Art, an online school that has helped hundreds of artists around the world begin careers in Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Imaging.
www.michaeltanzillo.com
Free 3D Tutorials on the Michael Tanzillo YouTube Channel
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