How to be more creative with hard surface?
Hi. Maybe this is a little weird asking.
Im having a hard time being creative with hard surface sci fi stuff that doesent exist.
I love hard surface moddeling and i love sci fi stuff. I can have a cool general idea of a weapon, a mini scene or a vehicle, but i cant figure out how i will have the details, joints etc look like and have it look logical.
Also im terrible at drawing so i cant get shit down on paper.
I can also find lots of cool references and try combining them but then again im having problems with joints and making them look like its fitting in.
I know many of you guys in here are awesome at sci fi stuff and was wondering if you have any pointers and tips on how to be creative on this topic?
Thanks in advance.
Kristian
Im having a hard time being creative with hard surface sci fi stuff that doesent exist.
I love hard surface moddeling and i love sci fi stuff. I can have a cool general idea of a weapon, a mini scene or a vehicle, but i cant figure out how i will have the details, joints etc look like and have it look logical.
Also im terrible at drawing so i cant get shit down on paper.
I can also find lots of cool references and try combining them but then again im having problems with joints and making them look like its fitting in.
I know many of you guys in here are awesome at sci fi stuff and was wondering if you have any pointers and tips on how to be creative on this topic?
Thanks in advance.
Kristian
Replies
It doesn't come easy. Knowing you're using boring shapes and falling back on simple constructions is half the battle. Collect reference, both of real objects (ideally, anything with your precise problems) and other art, and start to build a visual catalog of interesting ways for things to connect.
The more you study, the more you'll understand the roles of any given type of connection, and the more you'll be able to play with the style and make cool shit.
There's a GIM podcast somewhere that outlines this, saying there's little point trying to be a concept artist if you're actually wanting to be a prop artist/env artist/whatever.
Sure a little creativity is always a plus, and it might help in some cases, but some people just aren't that creative, yet perfectly capable of producing some great work.
If you really want to design your own stuff, just draw. You say you can't draw, but what you mean is, you can't make pretty pictures.
We can all draw. We can all draw shapes. Just go nuts with shapes, silhouettes, whatever
Good luck, but don't beat yourself up about having to come up with awesome concepts. Leave that to the real concept artists.
this
I think you said it best sir!
Don't see drawing as an illustration tool, but as a problem solving tool. Most if not all great hard surface modelers out there do some sort of concept before building their final model (either straight 2D, or on top of a blockout). The reason is simply because it is much, much faster that way! Separating design from execution is the key to fast, efficient work.
If you can model, you can draw. putting two verts in space = drawing a line. Everybody can do that! Even on paper. Take perspective out of the equation for now and build side views, orthos, and so on, and solve your design that way. It's actually much easier than it seems!
great idea! perspective complicates drawing when your learning. But don't forget about it, entirely!
Also we should talk more about this, stop with the 18 hour workdays and get on mumble >:/
I think it helps to "build walls" so that you limit yourself creatively and then become more focused on the important aspects of the design. I find that it helps me to think about the function of whatever I'm making and then thinking rationally about what would be needed to serve that function. This also helps me to build structurally and helps get a design that looks solid and like something that would actually function.
If your building an uber chain-gun of doom then you need to take into account how the sheer volume of ammunition can be stored and fed into the mechanism so it throw up a wall of lead effectively. If its the same thing but with pew-pew lasers then you need to have a way to create and / or store a lot of energy. Then you can get into secondary design elements like what keeps the barrel cool? Does it have multiple barrels or is it cooled with a sleeve of liquid nitrogen? When I think about these kinds things it gives me an idea of what I need to research and find reference for. Then you can worry about how to incorporate a lot of this stuff together.
Pretty much.
"Less is more", doesn't apply to hard surface high poly modeling.
I agree HP, but I think it's necessary to keep it grounded in reality and believable.
For example, think 'what would be hidden underneath this panel here?' or 'what is this little vent/indent for?'.
learn about shit, i say. Don't look around at people's art so much because at the end of the day all art draws from reality and interprets it. Learn about things in reality and you'll carve out your own interpretation rather than a second hand one. Look up a million pictures of whatever general field relates to what you wanna do, go on wiki and follow links to your hearts content, learn about any little thing that might be related which you can draw inspiration from. Learn about things because other people don't, your art will become more credible and unique.
Or, you could just model colt 1911s and damaged pillars.