Daniel Kreimer

Photoshop contains some excellent vector tools and features. But when it comes to creating artwork, experienced digital artists, illustrators, and designers rarely limit themselves to a single software application. It is no secret that when it comes to drawing with vectors, there is no better choice than Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator has been the industry-standard vector art tool for as long as I can remember.

I have never been an advocate of using the latest version of graphic applications just because they're new. At the end of it all, you want to learn how to get the most out of each program, to help you realize your vision as an artist. Although I was using the most recent versions of each program at the time of writing, what I use to do is not necessarily version specific.

I have always had a problem with the way that one's level of skill or capability as a digital artist has been limited to one of only three words. Obviously there are more than three variations in experience or mastery from user to user. However, these words are so ingrained in the collective subconscious that I find I must, at some point, address this topic by using them so people know what the hell I'm talking about.

Illustrator is Photoshop's soul mate: they have played well together for many, many years, and they are constantly getting better at it. Most designers and illustrators use both applications daily. I decided that it was my duty to devote a substantial amount of space to doing extremely diverse and cool things by combining them. Hopefully I have introduced one or two ideas that you have never thought of before.

My discovery of Photoshop came after I worked as a graphic designer and art director for a few years. Back then, in the pre-desktop publishing days, we learned to put things together from different sources. Photostats, illustrations, and typesetting all got pasted onto boards to create press-ready artwork. I think that the idea of putting stuff together is something that has always stuck with me, regardless of what it is exactly that I'm using or where it came from.

Spend quality time on lighting, as good lighting can bring the most boring of models and textures to life, or it can kill the most vibrant of designs. Again, render often here. During the lighting phase, you may find that the mood lighting you use is dulling the colors of the textures, so be sure to adjust the textures. Now, if the project calls for a still, a final render is in order. If the project is an animation, make sure that the storyboard is well worked and understood.

I have seen many friends spend so much time creating perfect models that they never get around to texturing or animating the model, and end up with a portfolio full of models but no finished projects. Will the backside of the model ever be seen? Will the model or camera be moving when it is in the shot? How well lit is it? What kind of modeling can I do with textures? Ask yourself all of these questions before you start modeling. There is really no reason to create model parts if they are not go

Now with all those definitions laid out in a linear fashion, I am going to tell you how the 3D creation process is anything but linear. We find a quasi-linear nature of the 3D process. The first step to a 3D project is to plan, plan, plan. I know, everyone wants to jump in and get started right away, which is an important thing to do when just beginning in 3D, but sooner or later, you will want to actually create an entire project. In my experience, every hour spent developing effective plans fo

You can change a golf ball to a tennis ball then to a baseball or a basketball and finally to an earth ball or even to the actual earth. No matter how exquisite your models or textures are however, without light the 3D project is as visually appealing as radio. And even with light, if it's not done effectively, the viewer is left with a flat and uninteresting vision. Virtual 3D light, like everything else in digital space, is virtual.

Before we go any further, let's take a moment to make sure that we are speaking the same language. 3D, like any other field, is full of jargon and terms that need to be defined before we can move on to the concepts behind 3D. Most of us have built some sort of real-time model—you know, those plastic airplanes or cars, or models of ecosystems for that junior-high science class. Either way, the point of models is not to really recreate the target object, but rather to create a representation of it