Pushing points and building polygons. Why do it?

Work In Progress

Why do painters paint or writers write? Why do poets string words into verses and share their thoughts and feelings? Ever since I got into computers in the mid 1980s I have always had a fascination for creating computer art. Inspired by movies such as Tron, I endeavoured to try to imitate what I saw on the big screen and discovered a passion for Computer Generated Imagery (CGI).

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Fun fact: very few scenes in Tron actually used CGI - the few that did used up a mere two megabytes of memory.

Of course, home computers back then were woefully underpowered, so 3D graphics were beyond my grasp. The best I could hope to do was attempt to paint in Deluxe Paint with a rudimentary mouse, once I had upgraded to an Atari ST.

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Yes, this was once state of the art.

This kept me busy for a while but it wasn't until I bought an Amiga 500 that basic 3D design tools became available. Even so, it was not only complicated to use but also excruciatingly slow.

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Meanwhile, throughout the 80s and early 90s, my appetite for sci-fi movies was fed with three generous portions of Star Wars and several notable additions like The Last Starfighter, The Black Hole and some Star Trek films. If there were spaceships and aliens, I was happy.

Work In Progress

As you can tell from the 3D models in this post, Star Wars is a great love of mine and I have always wanted to be able to reproduce the brilliant vehicle designs. However it wasn't until around ten years ago that I finally had a PC with enough grunt to be able to model, texture and render. On top of that, I would have to learn to use whatever 3D software I could to realise my dreams. Over the years I have downloaded demos of all the big names. I started with 3DS Max and soon discovered how overwhelmingly complex it is. Things have become easier in more recent years, but I really struggled with it.

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ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! SO MANY MENUS!!!!!!!

Next I tried Maya. Although I got further with it, again I found it much like pulling my own teeth. The same with XSI. Of course, these are professional tools used by big studios, but they all seem geared towards techies rather than artists.

Around the same time I discovered Zbrush. Its interface was unlike anything I had previously fought against and it was very much aimed at artists. Yes, some things could be complicated to accomplish, but there was a satisfying feeling that came with opening it up, loading a sphere and then pushing and pulling its form with a Wacom pen, giving you the closest to real life sculpting (yes, I dabbled with that too in my youth).

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You could add as much detail as you wanted, with the support for millions of polygons - depending on how much memory your system had. Heck, you could even paint your model in 3D once you were finished. This allowed me to attempt to sculpt creatures and figures, anything organic. It wasn't until recently that Zbrush was updated to allow you to do hard surface modelling - the kind that is needed to recreate spaceships and the like. So my search for a modeller continued.

Enter Modo

 

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I had tried earlier versions of The Foundry's Modo but dismissed it because of a few of its quirks: it had several features that the regular modellers didn't have, and they confused me. One evening I stumbled across a Youtube video explaining these features and suddenly, it made complete sense. Last year I downloaded a trial once more and dedicated myself to learning to use it.

Model Complete, Awaiting Textures

Again, I learned most things through Youtube, but also with trial and error. Yes, there are technical aspects to the software, but it feels more artist friendly and plays nicely with other software I use. Once I felt comfortable with it I bought a subscription.

Work In Progress, Still Legless

So, why do I do it? Why do I sit for hours pushing points, sliding edges, bevelling and extruding polygons and the like? Simple really, it's a hobby and I enjoy it. I like the challenge of reproducing known ships and vehicles, getting the shapes and forms just right and adding as much detail as I can. It allows me to zone out and lose myself in the digital world, while keeping my brain active learning to actually use the full toolset.

Latest Project - Can You Tell I Love Star Wars?

I am overjoyed that I finally found a modelling program that just clicked with me and that I understand. It allows my artist brain to create and, ultimately, that's what I want to do. Would I like to do it for a living? Possibly, but then the fun might be sucked out of it.

Meanwhile, I shall continue sharing my endeavours on Steem.

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