Friday, June 30, 2006

I Spy CGI

It's funny what can prove difficult to draw. Cylindrical spaceships, for example, should be pretty easy, except try making them look interest- ing... the only way to get a bit of dynamism is to use fairly strong end-on perspective, and at that point, getting them to recede convincing- ly can be a bit tricky... they're so simple, you see, there's nowhere to hide your mistakes.
Hence the use of CGI for something that looks as if you should be able to draw it with your eyes shut. It was the same with War of the Worlds... in a story packed with fiddly Victorian architecture and complicated Martian tripods, the only thing I used CGI for was lending the right weight and grandeur to the huge, featureless Martian cylinders...

5 comments:

I. N. J. Culbard said...

PAYLOAD!!! Nice.

What programme do you use?

I. N. J. Culbard said...

sorry, that should be 'what software'... what software do you use on that babbage contraption of yours?

Unknown said...

It's called Carrara 3D Basics, and you can get it for about $99 as a download from www.daz3d.com.

To be honest, I'm not sure it's that great (I'm told by people in the know that the modeller is very clunky), but I went for it because I learned 3D years ago on Ray Dream Studio, and Carrara uses the same interface. Since I had to hit the ground running (to make it worth using CG, I have to be able to model something as fast as I can draw it), that was the biggest factor for me.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

I'm a flash animator (as well as the comics) and have been mucking around with the idea of using Swift 3D which is a vector 3D package. Have downloaded the trial and have been monkeying around with it. For my money it has got to be 'hey stupid, press this button to make the thing look like real stuff' simple. It's not expensive either, so that's always a bonus.

Your Web Comic on Artbomb.net is superb. I love the fork in the road ending (and obviously went down both). Very moving and very funny in places (spit roast). It had me thinking about my English granny (I'm half Polish, which meant I had a Babcia not so long ago). My mum has the same problem with her hands, so that struck a cord also. Great work.

Unknown said...

I'm really glad you enjoyed the comic on Artbomb... it's wonderful when someone likes anything you do, but there's a particular thrill when the stuff you put a bit of yourself into strikes a chord...