A blog/journal about my life and the stuff I like. Popular subjects include music, guitars, gear, books, movies, video games, technology, humor.
Further iterations, this time with heavily modified columns and the addition of hanging lamps. The lamps especially need some more detail work. As before, this is heavily inspired by the brilliant artistry of Roberto Castro, concept artist (for Rings of Power in this case).
Work continues on the creation of 3D assets and environments. Middle Earth remains the focus, with most of the time spent in Rivendell. The goal is to develop modular assets and environments that lend themselves to re-use as virtual film sets for planned deep-dive videos et al., from Fantasy & Science Fiction in all their various forms. I aspire to make "functioning" locations with credible mise en scène that can withstand close scrutiny by the camera.
This current WIP is an attempt to develop architecture evocative of Tolkien's Elvendom. Rivendell will serve as the template with similar locations like Eregion, Lindon, and perhaps other Fantasy milieus for future works. The Gothic Vault/Portico/Door design was directly inspired by the brilliant work of Roberto F. Castro as part of concept art for "The Rings of Power" streaming series.
#middleearth #Tolkien #blender #3dart #3Denvironments #fantasy #fantasyarchitecture #rivendell #elvenarchitecture #RingsOfPower
This should be a short one (famous last words). I’ve had to reflect on the amount of time it’s taken me to progress in my first big 3D project, the Moria environment for my Doors of Durin Legends Unboxed video. I was trying to remember when I started and coincidentally, the order from Weta actually shipped a year ago yesterday. That means the idea for the unboxing video is about that old now.
I’ve certainly made some progress in the last year, but there have been many starts and stops and several times I’ve rebooted the entire project. Which leads me to the post title. Often, I’ll set out to model a certain element, like the Doors themselves, and I’ll get a result that’s “satisfactory”, at least based on my current skillset at the time. I’ll then move on to the next logical step or two, and after I complete those I’ll likely have improved my overall skillset slightly, enough to look back a few steps and think “Not bad, but it could be better.”
It’s accurate to say that this project in many ways has been an education in 3D…from modeling to environment design to materials and textures, visual fx, fluid simulations, sculpture, and the list goes on. I’ve been slowly building on my foundational skills, and probably more importantly, my eye and ability to discern what’s mediocre, what’s okay, and what’s sublime. I’ve made many things in the first category, some in the middle, and as yet, none in the latter.
Learning to make the distinction and force myself to acknowledge that something is not bad, but could be better has become my approach to pushing my skillset further and hopefully achieving the results I see in my mind’s eye. The main downside is that it’s increasing the project size and time (noob hours?) and taking much longer to complete. And, I’m still in a place where nothing feels completely finished and will likely be revisited and improved or redone before I’m satisfied. What was meant to be a relatively short unboxing video with a bit of extra lore thrown in has evolved to become an education in itself.