Before and After. What you see while working in Blender, vs the final render
We are on our way towards a massive paradigm shift. Everything we have been taught is changing and the path forward is being written as we speak.
The vestiges of previous generations no longer hold true and we are all forced to change, to grow.
No one knows what’s on the other side of the void, but here we are at its doorstep.
It’s time to build the reality that we want to exist. Hold on to your vision, now is the time when dreams become reality.
How its made
In this section I will discuss how this image is made and what I learned in the process.
This image is made and rendered in Blender with post-production in Photoshop. Creating an image completely in a digital environments posts its own set of challenges.
For one, everything that you make in 3D takes time and computer resources to render, so the incentive is to only make what will actually appear in the final frame.
It can be tempting to create an entire "world" in 3D, but if something isn't seen by the camera in the final render, it is a bit of a waste of resources. For this process I have found that it is helpful to decide on the composition of the image as early as possible and lock the 3D camera location, that way the image gets built from a single point of view and nothing extraneous gets built.
This process is very different from my background in traditional photography where the environment exists and it is up to the photographer to interpret it. In this case, the camera stays still and the entire environment is built to suit the composition.
Here, just like many visual art forms, composition, color, subject material and light play an important role in creating an image. Because everything is created in the digital space, you have infinite control and can see the impact of your artistic decisions. This proves to be a great tool for creating art in general, as you are editing while creating. It is the back and forth process of creation and reflection that lends itself to rapid learning.
Goals
My goal with creating 3D art is to challenge myself with each new image and try something I have never done before.
In this image, the sky is generated entirely from "Volumes" in Blender. Volumes are essentially particles suspended in air - like a cloud in real life. They interact with light and shadow much in the way clouds do in real life.
This image contains many different layers of volumes to achieve a varied environment with depth and interest. The far background is one solid volume, and then many layers with procedural visibility are added as we move into the foreground. These volumes are defined both with textures and meshes with displacement converted into volumes.
I know it sounds pretty technical, but the goal is to create realistic clouds, fog, sky and atmosphere.
Final Thoughts
Working with 3D allows you to create literally anything you can think of. The possibilities are endless. This can be a bit daunting, but it helps to have a clear idea of what the final image will look like before starting.
I suppose this is true with life in general, it is much easier to get somewhere if you know where you want to go. Otherwise you spend your time wondering with no goal in mind and no sense of completion when you get there.
Progression through art is much like progression through life. We can't help but expose who we are through the art that we make. And maybe that is the reason we are drawn to create - it is a process of self-discovery and sometimes even therapy.
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