An Introduction to 3D: Recreating the World Inside Your Computer, or Not - Blender Foundations: The Essential Guide to Learning Blender 2.6 - page 1

Chapter 1
An Introduction to 3D: Recreating the World
Inside Your Computer, or Not
You may be under the impression that working in 3D is an attempt to create the real world inside of
your computer. It's a tempting and logical thought—the world itself is 3D. It consists of objects that have
a certain form, the surfaces of which have properties that make them appear a certain way, and of light
that allows us to see the whole thing. We can create form, surface, and light inside of a computer, so
wouldn't the best approach just be to make everything inside the computer as close to the way it is in the
real world and be done with it?
It turns out the answer is no—accurately simulating the world is not the best approach. That way
madness lies.
We all live in the world. We know what it looks, smells, sounds, and feels like. More importantly though,
we know what it looks like when carefully lit and shot through a lens by a skilled photographer. It is
through two-dimensional (2D) images, either still or animated, that people will experience our 3D work,
and this is the target we should be working toward. It turns out that this makes our job as a 3D artist
both easier and harder than the job of someone who is mistakenly attempting to simulate the world. It's
easier because, well, the world is stupifyingly large and deceptively complex. It's harder because there are
considerations other than concrete sensory input (i.e., “A tree is shaped like this, feels that , and acts thusly ”),
and considerations like what is and is not seen in the final image, and at what level of detail: how it all
goes together; how it demonstrates what you are trying to say; composition; art, even.
To be good at 3D creation, you will need to develop a facility for carefully observing the world around
you, extracting those elements that will best contribute to your image and leaving the rest out. You will
be creating a simulation of the real world that is specifically targeted at producing a final image—a unique
virtual mini-world of which the sole purpose for existence is to create the illusion of reality in 2D that
we experience when looking at a picture or watching a movie.