Yes indeed, next week my Y2 National Diploma students start their 3D animation unit.
I have been thinking back to how I originally got into 3D. While I tend to think back to my first design job, I can actually trace my 3D experience back to my youth. Some of you will remember the Sinclair Spectrum, fewer of you will have actually used one. But if any of you have actually heard of and used an obscure 3D modelling and rendering program called VU-3D (by Psion software) please leave a comment.
You can try it online here - click>
It really was basic. You started by drawing a profile on the X and Y axis and then you altered the size and position of the profile as you moved it along the Z axis. Don't forget, in all this talk of drawing, there is no mouse, no curves either - these are straight lines between the vertices.
A typical creation of mine would be a drinking glass or something like it. While you are doing this you can't see the model appearing, this is either all guess or gut work, or you have planned it in advance on squared paper. Once the geometry has been produced the next step is to render, and for this it had 3 modes, wireframe (showing every line and vertex), hidden line (removing lines that are abscured by other shapes, and shading (for which you can set the position of the light source in a basic way).
It is truly primitive, but genuinely my first experience of 3D modelling and rendering, way back in the day.
After that I progressed to the 3D Construction kit. Although much better and faster on my friend's Amiga, while I was limited to 8-bit slowness, this did not stop me learning a thing or two about 3D cartesian co-ordinates and working with primitives.
Try it online here - click >
Since then I have used 3D in various guises. Initially a fan of Cinema 4D 4 and then 6, I converted to Carrara Studio because of its intuitive interface and power-to-£ ratio.
But next time someone asks me how long I have been using 3D, I can honestly say a little under 20 years.
Friday, 9 October 2009
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