Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1495092
However, in the past twenty-five years, a new means of storyboarding and conceptualizing movies has emerged. Digitally created three- dimensional imagery known as digital 3D. Unlike traditional illustration where the artist strokes the paper surface with a soft stylus, the digital artist sculpts or assembles a mesh of digital polygons; eventually to be textured, colored and lit. The final result can be indistinguishable from reality. This article features four ADG artists who work primarily in digital 3D. -Matt Cunningham delves in all sorts of projects. His approach to each project is unique for each undertaking. -Joe Comeau seamlessly combines polygon-based assets with 2D imagery and sketch illustration to create original-looking 3D physical spaces. -Igor Knezevic has one of the most versatile tool kits. He does everything from printing over 3D images to using AI to pre-model digital 3D worlds. -Gare Cline focuses on hyper-realism using it as a tool to explore how a concept might come about. Why digital 3D? It makes the difficult process of making movies easier and manageable. This new technology has a number of advantages over the traditional means of conceptualizing or pre- visualizing. For instance, its flexibility allows for quick and comprehensive changes. If a certain lens does not work for a matching shot, it's very easy to change it out. Its exactness allows for precise rendering of color, texture, shape and lens. It's one thing to imagine how a color might look on screen and another to see how it really does look. Compatibility with the language of cinema allows one to see the depth of field, the continuity of cutting and the blocking of the actors. Alfred Hitchcock once said that a picture is over when you start putting it on film. In other words, B. & C. THESE TWO IMAGES SHOW HOW DIRECT AND INDIRECT LIGHTING CAN AFFECT THE TONAL VALUE OF PAINT COLORS. THE DIFFERENCE IS ESPECIALLY EVIDENT WHEN USING SUNLIGHT. D. IF DRAWN TRADITIONALLY, REFLECTIONS MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED. HERE SEVERAL DIFFERENT HDRI PHOTOGRAPHIC DOMES WERE TRIED, MANIPULATING THE IMAGE AND ROTATING THE DOME UNTIL I GOT THE REFLECTION THAT I THOUGHT WORKED BEST. TO MAKE THE DECISION OF ADDING A REFLECTION IN THE GLASS DURING PRODUCTION COULD BE PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE. ILLUSTRATIONS BY GARE CLINE B C D