Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
This is the final stage of designing the painting and one in which all the
finishing touches are added. I also do a final color correction; add some haze,
smoke, and glare; and apply some film grain to “finish off” the image.
Conclusion
SketchUp was a valuable tool in creating an interesting, dynamic painting. It
allowed me to be a lot freer and more adventurous than when using conven-
tional tools, as I knew the underlying structure of the painting to be 100%
sound. There is nothing more frustrating than realizing (after finishing a paint-
ing) that the underlying composition had ruined it from the very beginning.
Here, I knew that I was painting from a good foundation, and could spend
more time concentrating on color, texture, and atmosphere rather than worry-
ing about perspective lines and vanishing points.
I do not know of any other 3D application that would have enabled me to
create my scene as quickly or efficiently, although a lot of that is down to my
own skills and personal preference. I am sure a user highly skilled in another
package could have done something very similar, since I did not really use any
features of SketchUp that cannot be replicated in other applications. However,
using Maya for something like this would have been a frustrating case of over-
kill, and SketchUp is definitely the right choice for me.
I have been developing this workflow over a number of years, and it is always
evolving and changing based on different project requirements, availability of
new tools, and my own moods. But the fundamental technique of starting a
2D painting as a rough 3D sketch model is one technique I do not see myself
abandoning any time soon.
Resources
Software
Corel Painter X: $399
Note : This is the price for Painter 11, which replaced painter XAdobe
Photoshop CS4.
SketchUp Plug-Ins
SketchUp “film and stage” plug-in; available at http://sketchup.google
.com/download/previousplugins.html
Ballista model from Google 3D warehouse by Erez
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