Are we 'anchored' to our desks?
polycounter lvl 12
I just had a meetup with some friends. Some of them are in digital media/web design/graphic design fields. One of the topics that came up was mobile working experience: 'co-working', nomad-style, coffee-shop-hopping, hackathon, live-collab, etc. At some point an argument was made that guys like 3d artist, animators, video artist, don't really have this kind of options. That we are dependent on our second/third monitors and huge powerful desktop towers to do what we do. That we are anchored to our desks and machines. This got me thinking:
Are we? Is this really the case? Do any of you do the things mentioned above? If you don't, do you wish to be digital nomads? Are you sick of the view from your desks?
If you do, details please. Gear/specs? Workflow? Do you wake up one morning and decide to do, say, some light UV unwrapping on your laptop over at Starbucks? Are you more or less productive that way?
Or is this all just silly?
tl;dr Is it possible for 3D artists to be digital nomads?
Are we? Is this really the case? Do any of you do the things mentioned above? If you don't, do you wish to be digital nomads? Are you sick of the view from your desks?
If you do, details please. Gear/specs? Workflow? Do you wake up one morning and decide to do, say, some light UV unwrapping on your laptop over at Starbucks? Are you more or less productive that way?
Or is this all just silly?
tl;dr Is it possible for 3D artists to be digital nomads?
Replies
TX2500 from HP can probably handle light Max or MAya usage, I have an old TC4400 with a crappy intel 945 video chipset, but it works.
And this is why we need to make our offices look like this:
or this
So I don't get this entire 'Digital Nomads' kinda ideology, and frankly, it's abit insulting to both artist and Nomads alike, with indication of lack of talent in the prior and hard-lifestyle in the latter.
Last I checked, digital artists weren't tech-tubed chimps who lived in harsh conditions and rationed food and water from day to day.
I've seen many big-name companies which had studios that looked like this, minus the eye-ravaging colors, or hipster brown noise, usually more in the reds, blues and blacks, white hues.
Lets not forget a couple of color filters on these images does wonders in setting the mood.
Ya, Ive thought about this in the past too. There are definitely days in the summer wher eI want to grab a laptop and go work outside. Honestly, If I had a decent enough laptop, I probably would, too. But, I lack it. I dont think we're tethered to our desks. You CAN do modelling and stuff on your laptop, if you have a good enough one. But, you will be slower, or your workflow will change a bit because of the lack of a second monitor. It really depends on how badly you want to go outside.
It was like trying to work in university. If you worked in the labs there, every few hours you got moved out of that room because there was a lecture. It made me super unproductive because I was always wondering when I needed to move again. In the end I just worked at home. Got a ton more work done, also there was no need for the half an hour walk into uni, although that might just be me being lazy :P
Please do tell us more about your hardware/setup.
I care little for coffee shop collabs and uv mapping in parks but I do actually feel anchored to my desk. I'd love to have more freeform posture and ability to move around in my own appartment.
Are you sure your not projecting? I didn't get that from the original posters write up.
I have done coffee shops with max and zbrush. Small tablet and my lil Alienware M11x R3. Mostly it gets me out of the house instead of spending so much time alone in front of the monitor.
Though the hangouts have been great though when I am at home.
I might add I am no where near a hipster. See, hipsters actually socialize.
256 levels of pressure
and its plenty powerful enough (model by neox)
how good is maya on it? i couldn't get max to run smooth enough to work with, tho 3dcoat is good an zbrush is great
It's not exactly fun, battery life is a problem (working in max/PS is basicly like gaming), and altough dual monitors is more of a luxury that isn't necessary, it is annoying working on a 15inch screen with no external keyboard.
For texturing/sculpting/and so on you could just get the small bamboo tablet.
It's enough that I can move around in my own home (I don't really like being locked up in my room).
But working outside of the house is still a major pain (in case there isn't a power outlet, and or very little space for a mouse), I can't work properly in classrooms (usually I just end up doing other things), so I don't see myself doing some modelling in the park/starbucks, it's just to annoying and cumbersome.
working on a laptop isn't as good as a desktop, so i'll usually start something at a coffee shop and then finish it at home on my desktop. i'll sometimes run into friends, or strangers will ask me what i'm doing which is cool. a waiter at the coffee shop was obviously stoned and zbrush blew his fucking mind.
But if it's just light work you're after then you don't need to invest much cash. Plan you work accordingly, do stuff that doesn't require specialized gear. e.g. modelling, UVing. Then you don't need to lug around the wacom either.
Then again I don't really get the appeal of working on 3D in a Starbucks. It doesn't sound very appealing. I truly pity people who have to work like that. With a few exceptions most cafes are just miserable work places lacking desk space and ergonomics. If you're truly unlucky it's noisy too and the internet isn't free.
Or skip the "digital nomad" stuff and save some money to build yourself a nice work area at home, unless your home sucks more than a coffee shop, but I hope not
also sometimes you don't want public to see your stuff for some reason.
when I was a student ,I didn't have PC so my only computer was my laptop, its more fun and reasonable to work outside.
back then most of my data still stored on one laptop ( which is not a good idea)
due to noise problem , lots of student also work at night/overnight to avoid noises, I did that when I was in college, but now I can't risk to change my sleeping habit.
for now I still do traditional art ( sketching) outside though, almost every weekend, @coffeeshop
So, I just spent the rest of today setting up my laptop. It is a Thinkpad x230T. I got it with the i7, 8 gigs of ram, and the SSD because I was worried that brush lag would be an issue. It is not an issue. What is a problem is that the sensor near the edge of the screen is kind of fucked, and even after heroic efforts, it is not perfect.
That said, I think it is better than using my 12WX on my 3 year old desktop for painting. For starters, the screen is not complete shit.
I have not made a ton of assets using it yet, but it seems solid. I don't expect too much trouble.
But yeah I do feel like I need my desktop to get work done efficiently, perhaps I just need to buy a better laptop?
Thanks, I really like look of lennovo laptops, very sturdy and no BS design. How is pressure sensitivity/accuracy (except fucked up edges)? Is it in any way comparable to wacom tablets or is it too clumsy and rough?
when i work i want to hear what comes out of my speakers/headphones, and nothing else.
also a reliable fast internet connection is a must have.
and all the interaction with all the people you work with is kinda hard when everyone is in different places...
so no working on the go for me.
I can't tell the difference in pressure sensitivity compared to my 12WX. In practice, I think I eliminated some problems I had with my desktop system WRT random stroke issues, so painting on the laptop I think is now a slightly better experience -- keep in mind my Cintiq and desktop are a bit on the old side, and my Cintiq's screen has gone very dark and desaturated.
what I really miss are the case buttons and slide strip on the cintiq.
Heck, my old laptop - running merely an Intel GMA 9000 series (which couldn't even run C&C Generals decently on the lowest settings) was capable of creating this sculpt in sculptris.
I imagine that the other convertible notebooks/slates/tablets would blow mine out of the water.
BTW, the reason I use mine is I'm at school and work over 8 hours a day and have no workstation I can sculpt or draw on. I have Admin rights on all machines on campus but would be overstepping some boundries if I installed my software on them.
With my notebook I can go to a nice quiet area and lose myself in sculpting or sketching. It beats listening to what seems to be situations lifted straight from"The IT Crowd".
HAHA. hahahhhahaha.
I'm pretty happy in my cave xD And when I get out, it's to take a break anyway! I don't lug my art around with me.
Not projecting as much as hating the "Hiptster Deity" attitude and how something amazing was just found (not the OP mind you, but their discussion coming from their friends), I mean people have been doing this for a long time...?
I get it, working on something in a Coffee-Shop once or twice a week, or brainstorming is perfectly fine, however, from the original discussion it seems like people want to spread out or HUB in different places and not actually settle down, which just like music or movies running in the background, can break your focus on what you're doing. It's not good, it's doesn't add anything special, and unless you're in a place where it's safe, clean, and lack screaming people, don't do it!
Also, carrying around a Laptop is not Nomading, since you're going with a large baggage full of fuck-all, and looking places to plug stuff in and maybe order the occasional sandwich.
Regarding the value of laptops, you can get a on-par laptop to an equivelent Desktop for around 1.5K, considering most peeps will pay 1K to get a high end laptop (maybe 800 or less if you build it manually) paying an extra 500 isn't too shabby, the only thing to consider will be weight.
Naturally, I have seen good enough laptops going for sub 800, minus a good graphics cards, but if you're not gaming, then you don't care for that one part.
I think this sums it up pretty well for me, take time away to make time later on.
Nice! Any ideas of you can hookup a 'glove pad' to it, and you hand? You know, one of those weird numpad looking things that attach to one of your hands with a few buttons on it?
you don't need that, just configure your own dock with your own butrons/hotkeys
That's one reason I still prefer the sketch and scan approach where applicable.
http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-for-22-dollars.html
I don't know how anyone can work in coffee shops and other places with people, I can't deal with the noise.
A wonderful invention called headphones