Cant Stop Analyzing..

Alphavader

Hey Folks,

A little offtopic thing that bothers me, a couple time..
I Dont know why, but i cant stop analyzing - everything..

Walking arround the street, woundering how many Tris the buildings would have.. looking at the Propositions/Colors/"Decals"..

Sometimes i catch myself calling some walls - "nice texture"

Living in Heidelberg, Germany, the houses here a very old and often so ornated, so it makes sense.. but sometimes it stressed me

Environment, People, Lights.. and sadly movies..
Before i really get into making games, i enjoined watching movies..
But know its also a whole CG analysing thing..

There some tips to toggle this off ? Or its just something to live with it ?

I know thats somehow good for beeing an Artist. Just wanted to know, if someone of you are somehow treated by the same issues..

slipsius

ha, I dissect EVERYTHING. Especially motion. Watching how people move (im an animator). But even when I see old buildings, I look at how awesome the wall texture could be. sometimes I even snap a picture, if its good lighting.

McGreed

Yeah, it happens a lot when you have been doing 3D for a while, working hard. It's kinda cool but also freaking annoying sometimes, because you don't SEE things.

nick2730

yea i have this happen alot too

Mark Dygert

1st world problem... =P
But seriously it can be annoying, but normally not a big thing and just a sign that you need to take a break.

If you stand in the cereal isle for 4 hours deciding what kind of flavored starch you want, then you could have a problem. I call it "Paralysis by Analysis" my wife suffers from it every now and again. She will get paralyzed by nutrition labels and its pretty simple to snap her out of it by drawing attention to it, but if you can't snap out of it, then you might need some help.

If you can't stop dissecting the world around you, that's pretty normal for most artists especially new ones who discover they can recreate the world around them with polygons. They normally grow out of it, only to have it come back and haunt them periodically. Which is usually a good sign to take a break lol

If you actually see polygons and verts, texture seams and what not then you need help.

If you switch common every day words for industry jargon then you just need to put the wacom pen down and walk away for a bit, go interact with real people, reconnect with the real world. Besides you would be amazed at what this does for creativity and inspiration.

BradMyers82

When I was trying to get my first studio gig, I was working crazy hours on my portfolio and I became really obsessed with 3d art. Was to the point that when I occasionally went to do other things I couldn't relax or have a good time because my mind was always on my work. I even dreamed I was working on stuff, and felt like I got poor sleep because in my mind I was up all night working even though I was actually sleeping. lol

What broke this for me was when I got a studio job and left my work at work. I still try to do personal art on the side a little here and there, but for the most part my mind is occupied by other interests I have now. Simply put, if the only thing you really care about is 3d art, I think this will only continue for you. You need other interests to live a somewhat normal healthy lifestyle. Or you could just continue to obsess and continue improving that much faster.

Kot_Leopold

I had experienced the same thing. I'm not trying to analyze things myself, it's almost automatic. For example, when I hit the gym and start working out, there's usually some gym equipment in front of me - I can't help but begin thinking how I would build the object with polygons and triangles or where would floating geo be on the object. The curse of being a 3d artist haha

Alphavader

Arr thanks, so iam not alone
No iam not seeing Verts and Textures (not yet, haha), sometimes i figure out how
the "mesh" would look like.. Where i can do it with imageplanes and
where it has to be modeled out..
Yeah, so maybe an artist curse.. or i just need a little break.

Mark Dygert

Brad brings up a really good point.

The separation of work and home probably helps people compartmentalize the two things once they land a job. When you're working on getting in, the two places blend together and it's easy to get one sided about things. Your job is working on your portfolio and you're typically working on it in the same space that is meant to separate you from work.

When you're getting up and going to work everyday sitting in front of another machine in another part of town its a lot easier to leave it behind. When it's sitting in the other room asking you why you aren't working on it... it gets a bit creepy and weird...

But honestly what you have is better than having slacker-ittis where you waste your time surfing for porn and playing games all day while never working on what you should. Remember to balance things as much as you can, but keep working, that attitude is valuable but it can also burn you out. Once you get a job like Brad said things will be easier to balance work and a life outside of work.

Orangeknight

Well personally I just sometimes see a cool wall and think oh how could I do that myself. I also look at stuff like metal and see the edge wear. I really dont think this is a bad thing and can also help you analyze the world and see how you can do it in a game. Just my opinion.

Selaznog

Drove by an excavator yesterday with an awesome texture job on it. Gonna go back tomorrow and take a ton of pics of it. Seriously, from an artistic standpoint there was a perfect amount of grunge.

Will Faucher

For the longest time, I would see the world in wireframe. I would stop at a red light, and imagine what the wireframe would look like on everything. I think it happens to all of us.

Torch

I watch people's faces when they talk and think the lip sync is really bad...

Justin Meisse

I can't stop the funk

okkun

It'll pass in a few years.

CordellC

If it begins to interfere with your life somehow I might seek help for a disorder, but otherwise it's really quite useful. Observing real shapes, lighting, textures, or movement will make your work that much better.

I'm certain everyone gets it, so it's nothing to be worried about. Just as a musician will begin to listen for natural melodies and songs in nature, so will an artist look for real-life examples for his work.

McGreed

I actually noticed a lot of flaws in the real world, which you normally would try to fix when doing 3D, sometimes something looks pinched, or things doesn't fit together and you thinking "shit, that's crappy put together, and here I always try to do it perfectly".

Alphavader

@ Mark, you're right man, might be the folio work
Funny with the lips sync Torch

Didn't start the thread to show a good or bad attitude , just wondering
how you guys get along with the work/private separation - Maybe its just a passion thing..
What do you do with movies ?

Nemlet17

Sadly I have to say it's really hard to enjoy movies now. Whenever I see something (especially Sci-fi or Fantasy) I always think how I would approach the model, textures, etc, etc. Sometimes it really drags a film down for me because A. I either notice thing that are wrong or B. I'm so focused on "how should I do this" I'm not paying attention to the film.

Selaznog

Dem ngons


Sometimes I walk home and get frustrated at the lack of poly cleanup.

Visceral

Ill tell you this, good luck trying to enjoy a pixar moovie trying not to look for any errors and praising the hair simulations....sigh

MainManiac

this is the same shit that ruined shrek for me

pior

It's a good thing to do ... if you end up actually applying it to your art and trying things out for real.
If not that's kinda pointless really!

Brygelsmack

I do this all the time. I kinda like it, good for inspiration.

vreza

me too. I look at shinny floor tiles and analyze how much specularity and glossiness does a material need to mimic it. wet tarmac, lamp shades, painted wood, rusted railing, u name it. I learn a lot from it.

JamesWild

My brother played Fallout 3 recently and I was there to spoil the story witness his choices, and it struck me just how many bad specular maps there are in that game. Century old marble that's shinier than real marble, roads like linoleum.

However, it never once spoiled the fun of the game, nor was it really that distracting after noticing it the first time.



What I DO have difficulty with, is art:

I'm hoping Vermeer will share some of the materials he used here.

vreza

^ holy sh!t. is that a brass kettle hung at the back? and a ceramic one on the table? wow.