The First Time I've Been Published - Feb 1, 2009
first piece of artwork was published for the world to see while I was in school working toward my Associate degree. Two of my instructors were putting together a book targeted at newcomers to 3d modeling and (now Autodesk's) 3ds max in particular, aptly titles, Exploring 3D Modeling with 3ds Max 7.
One of our projects consisted of creating a model based on some kind of photo reference. I wanted to do something fantastical but still adhering to the project guidelines. After some Internet searching, I found some photos taken around ancient South American ruins, which sparked my interest. Here's the photo on which I based my model.
Using this image, with comparison to some others, I drew up a variation of this sculpture and added a basic body, turing it into a full statue including a pedestal. Once modeled, I had to make some textures to give it an old, weathered look. Next I chose a jungle photo to use as a background which meant setting up lights and cameras in 3ds max to match the lighting and point of view within the photo.
Dozens of test renders and tweaks later, finally satisfied with the overall look and feel of the statue, I rendered the final image. All that was left to do was bring it into Photoshop and composite it into the image. This wasn't easy at the time because I was not as knowledgeable of Photoshop compared to today, but I managed to get it looking pretty decent. [it was printed poster-sized and hung in the school hallway for 4 more years after I graduated.
The school is now closing its doors due to low enrollment numbers, but I was able to get my hands on the huge printout of my piece, which now graces the hallway of my apartment (see below)] Even to this day, though it's not perfect, the statue design could be improved and 3ds max is 3+ version past that time, I am still happy with this piece overall and am proud it was added to their book, on display for hundreds of students to see and it now greets my guests as they enter my home.
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- The first time I've been published!
My first piece of artwork was published for the world to see while I was in school working toward my Associate degree.