What it Takes

What it takes

An all WIP hand sculpted 3D object using Blender

I wanted to write a story about my work and how I achieve it. What it takes for me to create animations and graphic arts I alone generate. In general people have no interest and how an artist goes about creating images. I don’t think it’s considered. I would image many think that I just use lazy AI. I don’t. I have in the past when we were first starting out but I found it to all look the same and it lacked soul. It’s down right. Wel

l...awful IMO. The time gained by using it didn’t equal the end result.

How I create my thumbnails and shows animations takes a lot of knowledge and experience. I use a program called Blender to sculpt the aliens and make models or just about anything I need. The program doesn’t do it for you by just imputing prompts. Not at all. You have to know exactly how to craft what you need. You won’t be able to hand sculpt a creature or human being if you can’t sculpt or draw in the first place. You have to be an artist. And with digital it’s still art and hands on.

So after I have created the models and characters I need in Blender I can either setup Blender and create sets and backgrounds as I need and animate the characters and render the scenes out. Or I can use Real Engine 5.4 to import these models and characters into and set up what ever world I need from forests to the inside of an Area 51 Hanger. I have total control over what I’m doing and can always get exactly what I need. Something you’ll never get from AI.

Then there’s the animation. There are many ways to animate. Hand animation, single frame and motion capture. Once I have built a character I have to rig it. That means I add by hand in Blender an armature which consists of a bunch of bones carefully placed within the wire frame mesh of the character. From there I can move each bone or groups of bones to create poses and animations. I also create a rig that connects to the bones allowing me to move a leg or arm and all the other bones in the hierarchy follow each other to make it easier to animate.

I also use motion capture files or you can create your own by using a camera to video your movements you want that are translated into motion capture files that can be applied to your character. Objects such as UFOs, planes, and other inorganic models are hand animated with key frames and using paths.

Many of the models and characters are I make using Blender. But I also purchase from Epic Games for Unreal Engine models from their market place. When it comes to buildings, props and even some characters there is a huge wealth to choose from that are often inexpensive and it will save you hours, even days of work. I use these to save time and have more focus to create the objects and characters that are specific to my needs that aren’t offered.

All scenes have to be carefully set up. Lighting, atmospheric conditions, time of day, night, stars, water and landscape are all part of the setup scene your characters will play out in. It’s just like going on location once you have built a forest or city, you go in there move our camera setup lighting and shoot your scenes. It feels like playing God as you create landscapes, hills and mountains. With a sweep of a digital brush you create forests, foliage and more.

The other animations I create are done using what we call Metahumans. These are photo realistic humans that using an app called “Live Link” on your iPhone that will connect your facial movements to your Metahuman in the scene. This allows you to capture the action with sound and have a walking talking character. It will move with your face as you act out your scene and speak your dialogue.

These are just some of the steps I take in order for you the viewer to watch a persons remembered experience play out. And this is the very short version of the whole story. I have been working in the 3D world of software going back to the late 80’s and back then it was harder to do than it is today. With Unreal I can set up a scene in a day and render it out in minutes instead of hours or days. But if I hadn’t started so far back I could have never made the adjustment to today's modern software so quickly. This is not something you can start doing in minutes after you acquire the software. It takes months of training and tutorials. Lots of trial and error and experiments.

In general few people can ever appreciate what we CGI visual artists go through to achieve what entertains you on the big and little screen.

Whether it’s animation or thumbnails for YouTube shows and posters it takes a good artist with experience and skill to create art unique to their individual style in the same way and painter or sculpture’s work is individual to them. Don’t believe the lie that the machine does it for you. It’s another artist’s paint brush, no more.

Yes you can use AI. But it lacks character and soul of an actual artist. And only people interested in making a quick buck will use AI rather than pay a true artist what they are worth. And this will always be apparent by the poor quality of their work no matter how large their budget was or is. I see it all the time today on on the big network and streamed TV. It just looks like what it is to me.

Some artists to save time use AI in creative ways using an image as a base and then add their own unique style and art to it. But I prefer to create it all myself.

So the next time you watch one of our shows remember if you will what it took to get it on the screen. It wasn’t magic. Well...art is sort of magic but It was hard work and the skill of an artist. And talent. Don’t get me wrong, I love the work and the act of creation. But I just thought you should know.