Humility and Growth in 3D Design
How a Humbling Experience in 3D Apparel Design Reshaped My Approach
See you at Siggraph!?!?!
A quick note before we begin…I will be at Siggraph in Denver this week and will be hosting a Birds of a Feather meetup! If you are available Tuesday morning, swing on by and say hello!!!
Tuesday, 30 July 2024
8:00am - 9:00am MDT
Location
Room 705
When I first transitioned to a role at Adobe, I was acutely aware of the gaps in my knowledge—new software, unfamiliar workflows, and all new job titles from different industries.
But I wasn’t concerned. Because I clung to the confidence that, no matter what, I could always create beautiful images. And if I could make things look good (and not annoy my coworkers too much), everything else would take care of itself. So far, that had been my career's secret recipe, and I was sticking with it.
This strategy was wrong. I assumed every 3D workflow's ultimate goal was producing the most visually striking images above anything else.
I quickly learned that wasn’t the case.
3D Apparel Workflows
One of my early consulting jobs with the Substance 3D team was working with a clothing company. They had creating 3D assets for a couple years using CLO. CLO is a 3D garment visualization software that helps apparel designers by enabling realistic digital clothing creation and simulation. Along with Browzwear’s VStitch application, it is one of the most popular 3D garment creation tools in the world.
It allows designers to create and edit sewing patterns, visualize garments in real-time, and perform virtual fittings on customizable avatars. This software reduces the need for physical prototypes, cutting down on time and costs, while improving design accuracy and fostering creativity. CLO also supports collaboration and sustainable practices by minimizing material waste and allowing for eco-friendly design exploration.
But do you know what it doesn’t do…create beautiful renders. There was no ray tracing and subsurface scattering or any of the advanced visual elements I was familiar with. It was kind of like a CAD design or Google Sketchup for clothes.
I saw that and immediately thought…there is my window. My time to shine. I would take these basic images and show them what a “real” 3D workflow could accomplish! I could demonstrate how a 3D application like Substance could make those images pop!
So I used the images they had shared to create a similar garment in Substance 3D. I made a flannel pattern and added some stitching, wrinkles, and minor color inconsistencies. It looked great! I was super proud of it and eager to show off my creation.
The Humbling Realization
While my render did get the ooooohs and ahhhhs when I first showed it, the apparel team asked a question I was not ready for. I got…
“That looks cool, but what size shirt is that?”
“Um…I didn’t have a specific shirt size in mind. I was just matching yours for reference.”
“So then, how do you know that patterned material would appear at that scale on that garment?”
“Well…I just eyeballed it based on your images.”
“Ok…eyeballing it isn’t really what we do. We need to know the precise size of a pattern on a specific sized garment, otherwise this is just a pretty picture that does us no good.”
(awkward silence before my boss jumped in and saved me)
That’s when it hit me. It’s not that they didn’t know how to make the image better. It’s that it didn’t matter. These aren’t externally facing images used in marketing, these are designed to aid the internal design process.
Because what I was too narrowminded to really dive into that workflow to understand that. Becuase if I had, I would have understood that CLO’s main output was not an image…but a tech pack.
A tech pack created in CLO is a detailed document that contains all the necessary information for manufacturing a garment. While it includes 3D renderings of the design, it also entails sewing patterns, measurements, fabric types, colorways, and construction details. The tech pack ensures that the manufacturer understands every aspect of the design, from the choice of materials to the exact specifications of each component.
In manufacturing, the tech pack serves as a blueprint that guides the production process. It helps maintain consistency, quality, and accuracy in the final garment, ensuring that the product matches the designer's vision. Manufacturers use the tech pack to source materials, cut patterns, and assemble the garment, reducing the likelihood of errors and miscommunication.
And not only that, Substance had features that could have really helped with their process but I had failed in that moment to demonstrate the workflows that would have actually helped them.
Embracing Humility and Learning
Since then, I've adopted a more humble approach. I ask lots of questions and contantly seek to better understand the specific needs and outputs of the industries I work with. I recognize that different sectors prioritize different aspects of 3D work. What seems like a minor detail in one industry could be a dealbreaker in another. File sizes may be an annoyance in product visualization but can absolutely cripple a VR project.
I lean on my 20+ years of experience but I keep mind open to all the possibilities before I begin delivering an answer.
Conclusion
As the world of 3D artistry expands into diverse fields, it's essential to shed preconceived notions and approach each new opportunity with curiosity and humility. By asking questions and genuinely listening, you'll avoid the pitfalls of overconfidence and gain valuable insights that enhance your adaptability and effectiveness in any industry.
Stay humble, keep learning, and embrace the diverse possibilities of 3D artistry.
The 3D Artist Community Updates!
This week, we hosted a live Zoom AMA with Iain Finch, the Senior Manager of 3D & 2D Digital Visualization and Product Creation at Patagonia!
Iain is a brilliant, kind, and wonderful human being, and we can't wait to discuss his transition to 3D apparel workflows. If you want to watch the recording and join the conversation with other industry professionals, sign up for The 3D Artist Community today!
3D News of the Week
World of Warcraft developers form wall-to-wall union at Blizzard Entertainment - Game Developer
RapidPipeline: A Tool to Simplify 3D Data Prep is Now in Free Beta - 80.lv
RUNWAY Web3: Re-Inventing the Runway — New Chapter of Immersive Experiences by RUNWAY Magazine - Newswire
Why Fashion Is Rushing to Create 3D Captures of Its Products - Business of Fashion
Adobe rolls out Generate Image in Photoshop 25.11 - CG Channel
3D Merch is here!
3D Tutorials
3D Job Spreadsheet
Link to Google Doc With A TON of Jobs in Animation (not operated by me)
Hello! Michael Tanzillo here. I am the Head of Technical Artists with the Substance 3D Growth team at Adobe. Previously, I was 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.
In addition to his work as an artist, I am 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. I also created The 3D Artist Community on Skool and this newsletter.
www.michaeltanzillo.com
Free 3D Tutorials on the Michael Tanzillo YouTube Channel
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The most important part of this article is: "I've adopted a more humble approach. I ask lots of questions and contantly seek to better understand the specific needs and outputs of the industries I work with. I recognize that different sectors prioritize different aspects of 3D work. What seems like a minor detail in one industry could be a dealbreaker in another."
Of course, I've never made that mistake... lie, lie lie. There are big differences between using streaming video in one industry versus another, levels of software quality, making tools... differences between technically savvy in-house users versus polished products for the outside world. It takes *years* of learning experiences to truly understand that!
Insightful post! Would love to see more of them like this 🙏