3D Art & Animation
This gallery features my first attempts at 3D art and animation. These scenes were created using Cararra 8 3D Modeling Software. I have always been interested in animation and with my retirement I decided to pursue this area of digital art creation.
To the right are a few renderings of my first attempts at portraying Jesus on the cross. I made no effort to create a full scene -- that will come later. My focus was on learning to use the software to create a realistic model. I used a basic human figure, added the mustache, long hair and beard, adjusted the facial expressions, and then created a simple cross for effect. Although that sounds simple enough, the learning curve was pretty steep and took me several days of work to produce these simple results. But I'm encouraged and plan to continue to develop my talents in this area. I've created a short animation of Jesus on the cross which you can view on YouTube.
To see larger views of the renders of Jesus on the cross, click on the links below:
Larger view of Jesus on Cross 1.
Larger view of Jesus on Cross 2.
Larger view of Jesus on Cross 3.
As an artist I can see several benefits from gaining a proficiency in 3D modeling and rendering. First of all, it's just fun! But I also want to focus my traditional pastel and oil painting on religious themes. However, it is difficult to find appropriate reference materials for the scenes I envision doing. Many artists hire models to pose and rent costumes but that's not feasible for me. So I decided I could create many of the reference scenes I need for painting by using 3D modeling software. I've been impressed with the quality of these programs. In fact, it would be possible to create professional 3D animated movies using this software. Computers have certainly come a long way in the last few years.
I have also been impressed with the realism that can be achieved in faces, figures and nature. The figures labeled "Katie" and "Victoria" show how 3D modeling can create highly realistic and natural faces. Landscapes can be created and rendered that would rival the most detailed photography. I have created a number of landscape scenes with two of my latest pictured to the right. You can view larger images of the figures and landscapes by clicking the links below:
Larger view of Lakeside. I have been inspired by the amazing work of an artist known as Howie Farkes who has produced several 3D landscape collections. I have purchased his 3D nature objects such as trees, grass and rocks in order to use them in creating my own scenes. But if you want to see what a master 3D artist can do, check out these two scenes, created entirely with 3D objects. (That's right -- believe it or not, these are not photographs!).To see larger views of the renders, click on the links below:
The Carrara 8 software is quite advanced and includes a physics engine that makes highly complicated 3D animation quite easy. I produced a quick (actually it took several hours) 5 second animation of a bowling ball striking a set of pins. All I had to do was create the bowling ball (just a black sphere) and the pins (made one original and then nine copies), set the physics parameters (object density, collision detection, velocity of ball, reflective surfaces, etc.) and then let the computer generate the 120 animated frames. Notice the reflections on the various surfaces and the life-like way the ball knocks over the pins. Recorded sound adds to the realism. Here is a Link to see the actual animation on YouTube.
