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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Unimaginable Creative Boost: 3D Art Made Easy

I love to draw. Ever since I was a little kid with a pack of crayons…I just couldn't get enough. Whether it was sketching space battles on looseleaf paper in 5th grade, complete with laser blast sound effects (I'm so sorry, Mrs. Sugars!) or doing pen and ink work for my high school's yearbook cover...I was hooked on art.

Creating is just too much fun, eh? Well, somewhere in the 90's, I found a program called Bryce 3D. It's a realistic landscape program that I've been using ever since to craft the settings of my books. And seriously, the limits are that of your imagination. It is ALL doable.

For a while, Bryce 3D disappeared. You couldn't find it anymore. Then Daz Studios came along, bought it up and made it better than ever. And more than that, Daz is practically giving it away. I've put an ad for Daz Studios in my sidebar. If you have any desire to draw with 3D art, you need to check out the Daz site. I use Bryce 3D, Daz Studio, and Carerra Pro (just learning this one). And I have to tell you, anyone can use these programs to make impressive art. Bryce is easy. Daz is not too hard. Carerra...mmm, not sure yet. But the results are staggeringly cool.

Check it out. Oh, I should mention for my younger blog visitors, get your parents' permission first. Sometimes, esp. with human modeling programs, the artwork can end up being revealing, so just know that ahead of time.

Happy drawing!

PS: The image you see above is a first render of a scene from my new book: Curse of the Spider King.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, I wish we had that!!
I love to draw, too.

Unknown said...

That picture is so cool, Mr. Batson! Maybe I'll check out the program. Sounds like a blast.

Cloe said...

the pic is very nice.
I love to draw, but I am not every good.

Anonymous said...

That's so cool! I like to draw, too, but I'm not very good, either.

Galadriel said...

Are there any coupons for this? I exist on a limited budget...

ElizabethMarieKauffman said...

I actually got Bryce 6.1 not all that long ago. It is SO much fun!!! You can do practically anything on it!

~ElizabethOfMena~

ElizabethMarieKauffman said...

P.S. Cool picture by the way! Great job!! :)

everlastingscribe said...

Very cool, m'lord. I know lots of writers who sketch, or play instruments, or dance, or sing. Seems to me like the desire to tell stories can flow from a central area into surrounding pockets of expression. And that really is a cool and very affordable program, which make it encouraging for beginners. :)

As to anyone who loves to draw here but doesn't feel like they're very good. . if you love it, really really love it, just keep drawing, sketching, painting, and you'll be better. My brother works for a rather well known gaming company and he says that while modeling and wire framing are skills you can learn rather quickly, an artistic eye is developed with repetition, repetition, repetition. He sketches all day long, keeps a little Mead (TM) note book with him and doodles and sketches whenever he can to keep his skills up.

Anonymous said...

I recently used Google to search for a download-able Bryce 3D program and was able to find a site that let me download it for free. That was really neat, but I still haven't learned how to properly operate it.
~brennan

Anonymous said...

Hi, Mr. Batson! First of all, I loved and devoured The Door Within Trilogy!! That is one of my favorite trilogys eva'!! Aiden is awesome!!!


I can't wait to read 'The Curse of the Spider King'!! *Looks up into space and Smiles* LOL!!


-Ryan

cson said...

Hey Mr. Batson, I was just browsing around Amazon, and I saw a Curse of the Spider King audiobook available for pre-order! So cool!

And by the way, Isle of Fire is #6 on the July CBA YA best-seller chart.

Keep up the great work (and the 3D artwork is awesome)!

cson

Camden said...

That's cool. While I would consider myself decent with art, I've tried a few 3D programs, and most have been pretty difficult. I might have to check this one out!

Camden

Great artwork; I can't wait for the book!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr. Batson! You are on the very top of my favorite authors list, and I absolutely cannot wait until October for the new book to come out! Any possibility that it can come out in a few weeks? lol. That 3D art thing looks really cool. Might have to try it. Oh yeah, any possibility that you're writing a third book for Cat and Anne? Just wondering..... I really enjoyed the first two books.

Thanks!!

WayneThomasBatson said...

Hi, Earwen: Like I said, Bryce 3D is very affordable...in fact, every so often, they offer it for free.

Brianna: Thank you for the compliment. You can check out more Bryce Art by clicking "Desktop Pictures" on my sidebar. And it really is fun once you get the basic controls down. Stuff I could never do freehand becomes possible at last.

Hi, Cloe and Abby: You love to draw. That's all you need. With Bryce 3D there are so many presets that you can just have fun arranging scenes and applying textures.

Hi, Galadriel: Not sure about coupons, but I know they offer a student discount.

Hi, Elizabeth: That's cool that you got Bryce. You have any pics to share?

Hi, Scribe: Awesome advice. I might second that for writing. A little bit every day is so much better than a lot here, a lot there. Your craft will improve with practice.

Hey, Brennan, that's cool. Use Google to find Bryce 3D Tutorials. There are many video version that show you how to do. You might even find some on YouTube. Not sure.

Hi, Ryan, thanks! If you're looking forward to Curse of the Spider King, you're really going to like my next series of posts. ;-)

Cson, thanks for sharing the news about the BSL. I hadn't seen that yet! Praise God!

Hey, Camden: I know what you mean. I just purchased Cararra 7 Pro b/c I've seen just STUNNING art from that program. BUT WOW, the learning curve is steep. However, it will be worth it.

Hi, Anon: I left more than a few strings dangling in Isle of Fire, so I might do a 3rd book someday. However, I have a ton of other book projects to do in the meantime.

podoshle said...

omg a new book!!!!! *excited* i cant wait to read it!!

Emma Cox said...

I love drawing as well, writing is my true passion but I think drawing comes in close second. I'm working on my own book, Shadow of Blackfire Mountain. I'm reading the Isle of Swords right now and I can't put it down.
www.eowynsrecords.blogspot.com
if you had time I would like it if you checked out my blog:)

Austin Berge said...

Wow this is really cool, I found another site that offers 3d art, It's called Roblox, a very fun game, you can see other peoples art, make your own art, adventure your self created realm, even use weapons! All at http://www.roblox.com/

Anonymous said...

i looked at the sofware and i dont know if its just me but i can get it to work i was trying to make a simple background but i couldnt figure it out

Nathan R. Petrie said...

Random post yet again...have I hit it yet?