Boring 3D

May 11, 2003 8:04 PM

There's a new 3D picture every day, and if you look at the archive all at once, it's like reading a slightly unnerving children's book.
posted by Hildago (20 comments total)

If I had sheep I wouldn't make them eat brussels sprouts.

Well, I think that's the most bizarre thing I've seen all day, even if nobody else does. Thanks.
posted by bright cold day at 8:57 PM on May 11, 2003

wow.
posted by crunchland at 9:03 PM on May 11, 2003

this is by far the coolest cgi I've ever seen.
posted by angry modem at 9:10 PM on May 11, 2003

hooray!
posted by Guy Smiley at 9:17 PM on May 11, 2003

er, CG.
posted by angry modem at 9:20 PM on May 11, 2003

This is like the bastard child of Gumby and Exploding Dog. Cool stuff.
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:55 PM on May 11, 2003

this guy needs to make his @#%&ing pictures bigger so I can use them for my desktop. His pictures are like a CG version of Ballard Street, only better.
posted by LimePi at 10:22 PM on May 11, 2003

Does anyone know what program(s) he uses to create his scenes? Sounds from his resumé that he is using 3D Studio Max.

Being a 2D artist myself and a lover of sculpture art, I have always wondered how 3D artists manage to mould objects with such horrific tools. Suffice to say that moulding 3D meshes in a 2D environment is difficult, especially when you want to deal with smooth, continuous shapes like the plastic blobs prevalent in Boring3D's scenes.

From the look of Boring3D's images I would have guessed he was using a dedicated spline/NURBS-based tool like Rhino or Animation: Master. Perhaps he's using Max's NURBs? Why am I thinking I'm talking to a wall here?

Technical jargon aside, wow. I have 3D envy now.
posted by gentle at 11:13 PM on May 11, 2003

Fun post!
posted by boredomjockey at 11:41 PM on May 11, 2003

Those are incredible. "It's vewy suwweal".

Might be a bit more interesting with some continuity, but still. Awesome link.
posted by Windopaene at 11:54 PM on May 11, 2003

This is like the bastard child of Gumby and Exploding Dog.

Some of it is very like Exploding Dog. Those red robots? That (relatively recent) one with the red missiles raining down on the left side of the picture? And then there's the one titled "I am stealing your ideas." We'll call it a tribute...

I love this.
posted by hippugeek at 12:11 AM on May 12, 2003

i've loved this place for a long time. :) cheers me up daily. good link!
posted by dabitch at 1:38 AM on May 12, 2003

Wow, these are amazing. I love the titles.
posted by lychee at 1:47 AM on May 12, 2003

I love how his technique has improved over the past half-year.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 2:27 AM on May 12, 2003

Primitive, soft and chewy. My inner Gumby is undulating.
posted by Opus Dark at 2:30 AM on May 12, 2003

Gentle, there is anim8or, a very good free tool with face subdivision (smoothing). Wings 3D is even simpler - but harder to grasp for the beginner. These programs are good modelers - and Anim8or also includes very sophisticated animation tools like skeleton based character animation. Rendering the models implies a whole new set of rules and tools, even for static images (specially if they are high quality like the ones in the post). POV (Persistence of Vision) is the standard solution, widespread, free and open source - but not very fast.
posted by magullo at 3:07 AM on May 12, 2003

Subdivision modelling methods are very close to sculpture. You start with a cube or some such, then extrude, pull, push, intrude, rotate, and so on until you have a head or a torso or an axe or whatnot.
posted by xyzzy at 4:25 AM on May 12, 2003

They're bananas, reverend.

Wow. This is so completely cool. Thanks for the link. :)
posted by kavasa at 8:24 AM on May 12, 2003

Magullo and xyzzy, thanks for the pointers.

A few years ago, back when cheap 3D glasses for various 3D cards started coming out, I imagined it would not be too hard to create a modeling app based on VR: If you can see the model in true 3D space, you should also be able to modify it in true 3D space.

I know nothing about VR hardware, but there must be some off-the-shelf, relatively cheap 3D glove system, similar to the gear used in motion capture, that you can use to capture the coordinates of one's fingers. And if you can do that, that's a short step from letting you manipulate virtual reality. Extruding, pulling, pushing etc. should be so much simpler if you can use your hands and your brain's natural ability to work in 3D space.

I'm sure such a system must exist, just not easily available or cheap.
posted by gentle at 11:43 AM on May 12, 2003

Nice! Think I'll celebrate with a marshmallow bear.
posted by Dick Paris at 11:59 AM on May 12, 2003