0 ART vs. CAD (Media industry packages vs. CAD applications)

Hello World. Most of you might be wondering where I am. Let me be faithful to you and let you know that I'm terribly busy at school. But its interesting. I'm learning a lot of things.

Last year around this time, I was in the process of learning a 3d modelling tool called Autodesk 3D Studio Max in order to create a 3D world that would be shown on a screen which would eventually be synchronised with a 50,000$ motion simulator at our VR labs. Ofcourse it was only a volunteer experience, but its nice that I got familiar with packages the game industry uses - 3dS, Alias Maya (Alias merged with AutoDesk some months back I heard), and Zbrush.

At this time of the year, I am learning engineering CAD softwares - mainly solidworks and Pro/E. I hope to learn a little bit of them at the same time so that I can know how the same things are done in each of the two applications. I enjoy modelling.

What are the differences between t.v and motion graphics modelling applications and engineering applications? Well, there are a lot of similarities. There is a certain thing such as 'workflow' in all. You start with basic entities and make then more detailed and complicated through the tools each program has. Things like extrusion and revolved cuts are present in both fields (trust me, they make life so much simpler).

However, there is something basic we work with in 3ds Max and other like softwares called Polygons. If you ever played a computer game, you'll know that 3d entities are made up of millions of points, vertices and eventually what it all comes down to is polygons. So in these packages, you're sitting down manipulating polygons to make shapes, sizes, characters, guns, vehicles, cars. The more polygons you have, the more detailed the model will be. Its more like art. Even though everything is done virtually and you don't actually physically touch the model, the way you model itself relates to the actual craftsmanship of the artist. And every computer game or animation film has to optimise its polygon count and detail if considerable rendering time is not to be lost. Rendering is basically making images out of 3d to present it on a 2d platform. Atleast thats what I think it is.

Engineering CAD applications are so much more easier to work with. The way things are made on computer is mostly how things are done in industry - extrusion, sweeping, lathing etc. Welcome to the world of dimensions and mathematical relations, constraints and what not. There's so much intelligence built into the system that so much of your work is simplified for you. Ofcourse, there is such a thing as processing time related to the detail on the model, but none of this is associated with polygons or vertices and such and such. Thats art. (Ofcourse I'm not implying there is no art and creativity in engineering. There is. But the way things are done is different)

This is solid modelling. You create parts, each part has a 'feature' and finally you assemble all the parts to make a working model. Eventually, you'll have to work with the manufacturing division to see how that assembly will be done, but you get the point don't you.

I get it too.

I hope to learn more of solid modelling in the art and engineering side and I also hope to get out some models and animations soon. I like this! You should try it too!

Here are some 3d models from last year, just to give you an idea how much I learnt (modelling, texturing, adding light what not).