Hello and welcome to the first experiment!
As mentioned in the previous newsletter, I’ve been practicing all kinds of creative hobbies for many years, and I have an even longer list of things I’ve always wanted to try. But my main dilemma has always been between focusing on 2D or 3D. I love doing both. And when I get tired of one, I’ll swap it out for the other.
And for years, I’ve remained a relative beginner at both. Yes, I have a few fancy drawings and paintings. Yes, I also spent an entire year doing 3D courses run by professional 3D artists. None of it matters really.
It’s time to start fresh. Time to experiment.
The experiment
For the first experiment, I decided to put 3D modelling to the test.
First of all, if you aren’t familiar with 3D, it is basically (3D artists, do not bite my head off for the simplification) the art of CGI. Computer graphics, used in games, films, animation, and dozens of other places. It has many different disciplines, including, but not limited to modelling, texturing, sculpting, VFX, etc.
I have some familiarity with the subject, as mentioned above. Any further development, however, have fallen off the track in the past. But this time, rather than signing up for an extensive course I’d likely give up on well before I’m halfway through with nothing to show for it, I decided to start simple. Here is my experiment pledge:
I’ll be building a small asset or scene, fully rendered, every week for the next six weeks.
It’s vague enough to give me flexibility based on how I feel about the task after the first few attempts, but it also forces me to produce something complete every week. I’ll have something to show for it, and maybe seeing results will feel better than going through long courses, building a single scene for weeks or months.
The parameters
Once again, here are the conditions for this experiment:
Build an asset or a scene in 3D that I model.
The scene should be low poly and simple.
I can use small pre-built props to decorate the scene, as long as the hero prop is mine
Use Blender only (Blender is a free 3D software. I have stronger experience with Maya at this point, which is a very expensive industry standard modelling software. But hey, I can’t afford that licence, so Blender it is.)
Use very simple texturing (so I don’t go down the material creation rabbit hole—an entire subject in itself)
Create a complete, presentable render of the scene that I can share.
Use a free, easy to follow tutorials for each.
The whole thing, in a sense, feels like starting from scratch. But it isn’t. Because even though I’ll be building the simplest things, it will help me learn to use Blender faster and more efficiently. I will (hopefully) become more proficient with the keyboard shortcuts and won’t be stuck on building the simplest model for hours.
What I’m hoping to get out of this is to become comfortable with modelling simple things.
Past projects
Here are a few example models and scenes I built in the past. None of them were only a week long, though, and I used Maya more frequently than Blender.
I’m definitely stepping back from this level of complexity, as they took 6-8 weeks each.
Alchemy desk based on a school-provided concept art
A dancing robot. Yes, it’s a full animation that will hopefully never be seen.
What to expect next?
As I’m wrapping up this experiment, I’ll share my experience and learnings in the next newsletter.
Let’s chat!
Have you ever tried your hand at 3D?
Thank you for being here. See you again next week!
Love,
Ivy 💛