Down (2019) by Vladimir Desancic is the artwork I have chosen. I appreciate the contrast in the intense orange shades of the background as well as the pseudo-realistic foreground of city structures. It appears that the artist utilized a repetition of lines with sharper, angular structures to mimic real-life skyscrapers. In doing so, he must have used some type of looping and preset functions to create this effect of depth and spacing. Desancic’s artistic ability manifests itself in the delicate balance between the vibrance of the background and the sterility of the foreground; in addition, he utilizes a clever balance of blues and grays to further enrich his piece.
I’ve always been a little obsessed with the MIT Media Lab and how they manage to make a circle out of the venn diagram that is ‘things I like’ and ‘things you can learn.’ This article is written by a student in the process of using javascript as a CAD replacement. They start out with the statement that ‘a design is just a bunch of numbers’ which I find particularly interesting, even if I don’t always agree with it. I’ve always been more drawn to code that produces an output that I can physically sense, not just on a computer screen. Code makes a lot more sense to me when I can hear what it’s doing, or if it interfaces with microcontrollers and physical circuits. But seeing these examples of javascript directly correlating to CAD drawings, 3D prints, or similar physical outcomes inspires me to see what else is possible with this language, especially in 3 dimensions. I know how to “bit bang” 3D models to a certain extent, but automating & scripting them would certainly improve a workflow and allow for further experimentation and innovation.
Over the last 12 years of MCU movies being created, Marvel worked with many VFX studios such as Weta Digital, Framestore, and industrial light and magic. Almost every 3D Computer Graphics was used in the films. They used Maya, 3ds Max Modo, in addition to Zbrush and Mudbox for sculpting. To create textured painting works, Mari and Substance Painter. Nuke is used with after effects for compositing 3D projections.
To create Thanos, Digital Domain worked with Marvel Studios to create effects shots using Masquerade. 513 shots were created by over 340 Digital Domain artists. Masquerade is a facial capture application that is based on computer machine learning algorithms. The system was worked on for 3 to 4 months before filming to develop and test. Masquerade has the ability to capture a high resolution image of an actor’s face at a rate of 40-50 frames per second.
The actor Josh Brolin who played Thanos. For Digital Domain, it was important for Thanos’s movements to be very organic and realistic. Thus, Mocap cameras were used. The actor Josh wore a Mocap suit and helmet with cameras that had motion capture dots to capture his movements. Digital Domain’s factual capture identified the smallest details such as wrinkles and curvatures of Josh’s face. From here, the animation team could enhance features of the face like eyes, until Josh’s face was transformed into Thanos’s purple face.
This project and artwork interests me because I had no idea that so many programs and machine learning algorithms are used in movies that contain real humans to create fake characters. Rather than going through the struggle of using prosthetics or other costumes to create a villain like Thanos, they were able to create an animated character that can be then utilized throughout the film.
One 3D computer artist I find inspiring is @dedouze on Instagram. His works propose an interesting side of 3D art because his works look 2D! Actually, it can be hard to tell which works on his page are 3D models versus sketches sometimes because the visuals stay so consistent in a static image. The only time you can really differentiate the two is when he animates his 3D works. He uses blender for all his works (this is particularly inspiring to me, since I just learned how to use blender a week ago for another class. It’s like, ‘wow, this is what I can work up to?!’). I think his art also departs from the usual aesthetics we associate with 3D art — I’m thinking Pixar’s cartoony style or Hitman’s hyper realistic one. dedouze’s art is the only convincing example I’ve seen that makes me think that 2D animation can be improved with 3D. You know how sometimes a 2D show briefly switches to 3D and it’s really jarring and not visually pleasing? I feel like the studios in charge of those shows could learn from that it is possible to make smooth 2D and 3D transitions without removing the audience from the visual experience.
PK3D Studio is a CGI-based studio in Warsaw, Poland that was founded by Piotr Kosinski. His main speciality of design includes automotive and technology advertisements.
CGI is a field of 3D Computer Graphics that focus on real-life characteristics. I am truly inspired by Kosinski’s work related to automotive advertisements because I am a passionate car enthusiast. He is very good at making cars blend in any background he chooses.
You know when you see in-focused cars speeding down mountains in ads? That’s a huge majority of Kosinski’s portfolio. I really admire how he takes crip, high-quality photos of cars at different angles, and then blends that car with any beautiful landscape using CGI.
His advertising skills definitely work. Kosinski has a good eye for design, as evident through his diverse automotive portfolio. Every time I see his ads, it makes me want to buy that exact car!
Below are 3 of my favorite CGI-designed automotive ads:
The piece of work I selected is “Cellular Forms” by Andy Lomas. The piece of work depicts a simple example of morphogenesis. In the video, the form morphs and changes and goes through a series of evolutions. Each time the form undergoes a change it shakes and undulates and then almost “settles.” I picked this piece because I was intrigued by how the artist represents something quite scientific like cell morphogenesis, and makes it feel very peaceful and elegant. I was unable to find any information about the specific algorithm Lomas used but it seems like he used some kind of additive algorithm and based all of his additions on a spherical boundary surface and all of the spheres which made up the larger cell object divided by an even amount within that boundary surface. In my opinion, it seems like Lomas took into account the overall action of the cell’s division but chose to remove the human aspect of it in order to make it feel more like art.
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