Multimedia
Blogs
Forum
Affordable HD
Whitepapers
Newsletters
Events
Advertisers
Blogcast
MillimeterMark In
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Getting Over 3D Hurdles
By Dan Ochiva
While high-end 3D apps take years to learn well, companies such as Maxon tout ease of use and helpful websites. Bernie Solo, a Maxon Cinema 4D user, relied on the Maxon's cineversity.com site when developing this Ford commercial.
Is 3D difficult or impossible to teach and learn, as one past Siggraph panel had it? While the panel specifically addressed 3D animation, the growing use of 3D for animation and graphics in games, TV, the Web, and feature films points to the next frontier of computer-based skills.
While there have been great improvements in hardware over the years, most current 3D apps are still daunting — with complex interfaces containing a hodgepodge of ideas from drafting, particle and Newtonian physics, geometry, and puppet animation. Software developers continue to address those difficulties. Smith Micro Graphics Poser and Daz 3D Daz Studio, two of the most popular apps, focus on making what many people seem to want to do when they work in 3D simple — create and manipulate human figures. Whether or not the characters are later imported into high-end 3D projects that use Autodesk Maya or Softimage|XSI, these apps have generated worldwide followings. Users congregate around websites to share tips as well as buy, sell, and trade characters, clothes, and other items. Many of the models turn up in everything from science documentaries to feature films.
Daz Studio, which recently was updated to version 2.1, is available via Daz 3D's razor-blade strategy: The Mac, PC, and Linux software is free, but models will cost you from a few dollars on up to $100. Many of the constantly changing roster of characters on the site (www.daz3d.com) seem to have stepped out of a fantasy game site or animé — no doubt reflecting the interests of their creators, mostly Daz users themselves.
The latest version adds features that make it easier for newbies to start and never look back. The Auto Magnetize feature, for example, automatically fits clothes on models and allows them to flow with their movements. Another useful applet that is available as a free download integrates output tightly with Adobe Photoshop, so characters and objects tweaked in Daz Studio update immediately in Photoshop.
“In the early days of 3D, the software was cost-prohibitive. Meanwhile, users didn't know where to start unless they had a lot of training,” says Dan Farr, CEO of Daz 3D. In the latest version of Daz Studio, beginners will find it's even easier to get results, Farr says, via a quick-start guide — which loads and populates a scene so that a user has a successful experience right away.
“With 3D, if things seem too difficult or overwhelming, [a potential user] will just move on,” Farr says.
If you want to do more complex 3D for motion graphics as well as full-blown character animation, Maxon Cinema 4D Studio enjoys a reputation as one of the easier 3D apps to learn (see p. 35 for a review of Cinema 4D R10.5). It's capable too — users can quickly render out project files to add finishing touches in Adobe After Effects or Photoshop; Apple Motion; Autodesk Combustion; or Eyeon Software Fusion. New users are also attracted by a training site (www.cineversity.com) and the initial lower entry cost; the apps modular à la carte design allows you to purchase additional capabilities as needed.
“A friend suggested I try Cinema 4D, saying it was stable and artist friendly,” says Bernie Solo, artist/owner of Solo Studio Works. Solo relies on the software to create artwork such as the initial launch images of the new Ford Taurus in fall of 2006. When he ran into a few snags working with the global illumination capabilities needed to deliver the promised photoreal look, tutorials on the Cineversity site got him up to speed.
“When faced with a problem during one tight deadline, I even tried calling late on a Sunday night,” Solo says. “I was surprised, but I was able to talk with Dr. Sassi himself [Maxon's product evangelist and trainer]. I've never seen that sort of response from other software vendors.”
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
