The computer-generated Gollum (above, seen in 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) CG Gollum is based on performances by actor Andy Serkis (below). Image: NEW LINE PRODUCTIONS
I chose Joe Letteri who is the senior visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital in New Zealand and the Oscar-winning co-creator of Gollum on screen The Hobbit. I admire films where actors interact with CG characters because the process incorporates using motion capture on the actor, that will be playing the computer generated character, and uses VFX techniques to bring the character into life. Since the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 2002, the CG looks of Gollum’s character has been constantly analyzed and applied with more technical progression on CG tools, as in the Hobbit, 2012, Gollum looks more realistic in terms of his skin texture and muscle movement. To achieve more realistic CG character that is no different to a real actor, Joe Letteri and Weta Digital focused in depth on how muscles and skeleton joints work in an actual human body. One of the techniques that they developed was a tissue simulation and subsurface-scattering technique to render Gollum’s skin texture to give more translucency.
“Computation is typically a prompt to the illusion of determinacy.”
Dana Cupkova
This topographical flow is color coded according to each line’s unique identifier in the software. This is part of a research project led by Dana Cupkove, a professor here at CMU in the School of Architecture. Making the underlying data an argument for visual exploration, Cupkova operates on the munerical structure of the image as an aesthetic device. I am inspired by how the layering of lines of varying tones work to hightlight the drawing’s analytical value, and its geographical accuracy, while making a new landscape visible.
In general, I love how her work is able to take landscape data and analyze and the way she portrays the data creates a new landscape that the viewer can experience in a different way.
Please discuss the project. What do you admire about it, and why do you admire these aspects of it?
What do you know (or what do you suppose) about the algorithms that generated and/or rendered the work?
It what ways are the creator’s artistic sensibilities manifest in the final form?
Link (if possible) to the work. To the best of your abilities, be sure to provide the creator’s name, title of the work, and year of creation.
Embed an image, sound, and/or a YouTube/Vimeo video of the project.
I decided to write about a program called the Persistence of Vision (POV) Ray Tracer, which uses millions of mathematical calculations to generate a 2-dimensional scene from a text description. This isn’t necessarily an “artwork” but rather a program that pioneered the process of transcribing 3-dimensional images to a 2-d visual artwork using a software. I’m not entirely sure how the algorithms work, but it has something to do with manipulating “solids” in a “3-D space” within the program. The images that this program produces are fascinating, because of the “perfect” nature of the pieces: it’s computer-generated, so there isn’t any human error to speak of, and the images produced often look like photographs. It’s unsettling, in a way, because they are so precise. It’s also interesting to note that because these images are completely generated through text, they require no artistic capability in the traditional sense.
The Lovers by Gilles Tran, 2001. Bonsai Life by Jeremy M. Praay, 2008.
POV-ray was first conceptualized in the late 1980’s by David K. Buck, but has since then taken on a life of its own. As the creators have kept it an open-source software, numerous users have utilized it in their individual projects. The two artists I have included in this post are Jeremy M. Praay and Gilles Tran.
PKTS_09, a sci-fi-esque artwork by Ukranian artist Eugene Golovanchuk. Golovanchuk utilizes incredibly lifelike texture, reflection, and colors to create his masterpiece.
For this week’s Looking Outwards, I looked at PKTS_09, one of the works of the Ukranian artist Eugene Golovanchuk (aka “Skeeva”). His works all involve bold, daring colors and shapes, but this one in particular caught my eye because of its flashy lighting and garish colors.
PKTS_09 is the 9th piece in a self-proclaimed “series of personal artworks executed in surreal, abstract & sci-fi 3d style.” It portrays a man in a spacesuit similar to the ones worn by Daft Punk as he stands proudly with his shimmering sequined bodysuit. The colors in PKTS_09 are marvelous, and they feature both an analogous and complementary color scheme. The purple and pink tones (analogous) create a warm yet mysterious atmosphere, and the yellow glinting of the sequins complements the purple background well (complementary). Many of Skeeva’s design choices make the whole piece cohesive and fun; the floating disco balls fill negative space well, and the fact that so many of the elements have a similar shimmer makes the canvas feel unified.
Skeeva gives a great quote that reminded me a lot of the way p5.js drawing works:
“I usually use the viewport as an empty canvas, combining different silhouettes and textures into one composition to see how objects ‘feel’ inside the scene.”
p5.js, of course, also uses a canvas to draw in shapes. I also try to utilize this mentality when creating my code and designs, as I’m always looking to compose my canvas so that different objects balance each other out inside the scene. Skeeva mentions that he primarily uses Cinema 4D for rendering and drawing, so I decided to look up the software to see how it works. Sure enough, Cinema 4D uses a coordinate system to render objects, just like p5.js! These similarities are very motivating; although p5.js obviously can’t render objects at the fidelity that Cinema 4D can, it’s exciting to see that utilizing a coordinate system to render and place objects can lead to remarkable artwork and results.
Mike Campau is a 3D Computer Graphic/Digital Artist that creates images that tell stories. In order to do this, he implements illustration, graphic design, photography, and especially focuses on combining computer-generated imagery and photography.
While Mike does impressive marketing with graphic design/CGI for recognizable brands, I find his project “I Can Do That” particularly interesting because of its unique concept and statement about the modern art world. “I Can Do That” is an interesting series where Mike discusses plagiarism through computer graphic art. While digital art opens up an infinite breadth of opportunities, the con is that many things are easily plagiarized. Since there is a formula and a “visual road map”, many people take shortcuts to create unoriginal artwork and, as a result, fail to appreciate the creative work and labor of the original artist.
He gives himself four hours maximum to replicate another artist’s style or create a similar version of another artist’s work. He chooses artists who have work that is very recognizable and most likely, often plagiarized. Although he was able to achieve great results in terms of imitation, he also gained a deep respect for the effort of the original artist. He hopes to make people reconsider replicating work that they think is easily achievable, and think as a real artist.
Mike’s version of replicated art- many of these styles are easily recognizable
Chaotic Atmospheres, also known as Istvan, is a freelance digital artist based in Switzerland. He created a series of pictures called “Math:Rules – Strange Attractors” showcasing his interpretation of math with different shapes on a white background, showing various equations, definitions, and parameters for each shape. I admired the time and effort he wanted to show a field that was so computational with art. A background as a graphic designer in Paris for fashion, his passion is to tell stories with different forms of art, especially photography. Although admitting he wasn’t a mathematician, he studied “strange attractors” for their dynamic forms and feel of chaos, which is what he wanted to portray in this project. The algorithms he used was with Cinema 4D plugins that helped him configure the shapes.
His final product was able to portray the beauty of mathematics with beautiful and crazy art forms.
ModelingCafe is a CG company in Tokyo that focuses on 3d modeling and character concept design. They aim to break the current constraints of modeling, and does work in a huge variety of representation methods or genres. The company recently introduced the world’s first computer generated fashion model “Imma” (means “now” in Japanese) who took over magazine covers in Japan.
From a live body and background, Imma’s head are being transposed onto the body, and that is how her images are created. As a hot topic in current Japan, she also has a instagram and Twitter account, where she posts photos and stories almost mimicking a real life human. Though 3d generated fashion models can bring perfection towards the human body, the gap between what is presented in the media and the everyday world would become further apart. This could also damage the modeling industry for real life models. As a designer, I think it is important for the current world to realize the possibility of designs that could people to comply to the innovative world.
Henry Vargas is a 3D illustrator based in Vancouver. He makes 3D computer models of characters from popular shows and adjusts to lighting and background to render a final, 2D print. His style is clear with a matte plastic finish on all of his models. The lighting is often soft, with sharp reflections on certain body parts of the renders to show different materials.
Reflection in eyes communicate a different texture or material
Many of his illustrations are based on characters from video games, but they are only illustrations. His work is likely created in Cinema 4D, as they aren’t created for interaction, which might be done in Unity software instead. Cinema 4D allows for precise textures and lighting, which Vargas uses to express his artistic style.
The Japanese computer graphic artist Yoichiro Kawaguchi was the first to build 3D computer generated images based on math and algorithms during the 1980s. He developed the course of image making, incorporating movements, realistic volumes, and high quality textures into his digital art. Kawaguchi calls this the “growth model,” a “self organizing, formative algorithm for computationally reproducing branches or cell divisions.” This specific artwork called Growth: Mysterious Galaxy was created in 1983, and it utilizes two essential techniques of ray tracing and metaballs. Ray tracing is an optical technique for calculating the luminance of each pixel, which defines the color to provide depth in the 3D image. I was particularly attracted to this piece due to its poppy and vivid colors and how the elements have such smooth and voluminous curves. As such, the recurring theme of his work is morphogenesis, reflecting on the principles of organic change and evolution—morphing the biological concept to create an artificial art piece. When creating his art, he has a step by step process, starting with black and white geometric shapes and then allowing computer commands to evolve them into more complex and unknown figures.
Chaotic Atmospheres creates 3D depictions of environments and landscapes. I admire that Chaotic Atmospheres creates illustrations from a wide variety of nature.
Not only are there illustrations of scenery from far away, but Chaotic Images used a flow map on a personal project to create a series of up close images. Eroded Leaves is a vegetation flow map of the Sycamore Maple Acer Trees. This series includes 3D depictions of the Japanese Maple, the Silver Maple, the Cappadocian Maple, and more.
One critique that I have is that although Chaotic Images creates an abundance of different pieces, it does not seem as if there is any specific”style” that really represents “Chaotic Images’ Art”. Because the pieces are so different and diverse (up close vs far away, animals vs scenery, realistic vs animated) there isn’t any notable part of his art that tells viewers that a certain piece is created by Chaotic Images. This makes it less likely that the name and brand Chaotic Images has created will be widely known or spread.
![[OLD FALL 2019] 15-104 • Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice](../../../../wp-content/uploads/2020/08/stop-banner.png)
