Introduction

Trench Warfare

Trench warfare is kind of gruesome topic for an introduction, especially an introduction for a book about 3D software. So what am I talking about? I definitely don’t want to compare being a 3D artist to something as horrible and frightening as war, to say in the least. Maybe it’s the fact that I just finished watching HBO’s Band of Brothers series for the first time or that I’ve been playing Call of Duty on Xbox LIVE that’s got my mind entrenched in epic battle sequences and an awe-inspiring respect for the comradery of brothers in arms.

There’s a particular episode in Band of Brothers about the Battle of Bastogne that really resonates in my mind. In this episode, the heroic men of Easy Company are in the dead of winter, pinned down in their foxholes with hardly any supplies, doing what they need to do to not only survive but to complete a mission. Being a 3D artist, working up against a tough deadline, can sometimes feel like I am in the dead of winter, pinned down in the trenches, low on supplies, with a huge deadline exploding all around me like mortar fire. I am doing everything I can to hold the line, but shrapnel is exploding all around me. It’s at this point where I, too, need to dig in and do what I need to do to complete the mission, to finish the project on deadline.

Before you start thinking that I’m off my meds and decide to close this book, let’s explore this analogy a bit further. Let’s say that you being a 3D artist—either working contractually or for a company—is like a soldier. A project is your commanding officer, and it might require you to take the hill or secure the forward line. The gear in your pack is your computer, software, and other equipment like a camera. Your battlefield training is your 3D skill set and experience. Now, there will be times in the heat of “battle,” finishing on deadline, where it might feel that you are fighting impossible odds and against a formidable foe, but much like Easy Company in the Battle of Bastogne, you need to dig in deep. You need to pull out of your pack the tools needed for the specific task and rely on your battlefield training to provide you with the skill or technique that works best for the given situation. Your gun might jam, which is a sudden software crash, but your battlefield training will kick in and you’ll complete the mission. It might get messy and may not be the perfect solution, but you’ll get the job done.

How Is This Book Different?

If you’re like me, you’re probably at the bookstore standing in the computer graphics aisle, sifting through books, and trying to fill in some of your knowledge gaps. I’m glad you found this book and are reading this section. I think that if you continue reading, you’ll find that this book takes a unique look at developing your skills as a 3D artist. I’ve read dozens—and I mean dozens—of books on 3D over the years, and I know from experience how hard it can be when you’re trying to teach yourself. I also know how frustrating it can be when you purchase a book, excited about increasing your skill set, only to find that the book stops short right at that critical moment when the light bulb is about to go off in your brain, and you are left with even more questions than when you started reading.

I’m not saying that this will be the only modo or 3D book you’ll ever need. In your career as a 3D artist, or even as a hobbyist, you’ll find out that your path to becoming a great 3D artist will be the culmination of gathering various bits of knowledge and experience. I don’t work on the West Coast at a prominent visual effects studio, and I’m not creating high-profile imagery for a big-time marketing firm. Not to say that I don’t have a great job; but to make the point that I’m just the everyday 3D artist, in the trenches, doing what I know to get the job done, in the best way I know how. You see, I’m like you. I want to be the best I can be. I love working in 3D and I’m very enthusiastic about my job.

This book is about being a 3D artist, and more specifically a 3D artist working from “the trenches” on real-world projects. In this book, you won’t find step-by-step tutorials, or what I like to call “3D-by-number.” What’s the point of me showing you exactly what buttons to press to model X when your project needs you to model Y? Believe me, I’ve read my fair share of tutorials and books, and while 3D-by-number has its place for the first-time user, it’s not what you need when working in the field.

This book is about experience, principles, and techniques, and that’s what I’m going to share with you: my understanding and enthusiasm for 3D that I’ve gained over the years through reading, experimenting, and working in the field. I don’t want this book to read like an instruction manual, so I’m going to explain the concepts of working in modo from my perspective, which is that of an artist. I sometimes make the joke at work that I’m severely right-brain handicapped. The fact is that working as a 3D artist is going to get technical, and in the following chapters, I’m going to share with you how I, the right-brained guy, manage to overcome the technical issues that arise on each project.

This book discusses the topics that I couldn’t find in any other book, the areas that I have spent many hours researching online in the forums and experimenting with. These topics include learning how to create game assets beyond just modeling a character, and using modo with other applications like Maya and Mudbox, to establish a linear workflow in modo. As a connoisseur of books on 3D, this book was written to be the guide I was always looking for but could never find.

What I Do

For the past six years, I’ve been working as a 3D artist/multimedia developer in the communications department for UPS in Louisville, Kentucky. Technically, I work for UPS Airlines, which means most of what I do pertains to flight and aircraft maintenance training. My day-to-day 3D projects might have me modeling aircraft, animating the effects of jet blast, or even creating animated characters of an aircraft package container. The other half of my job is creating multimedia presentations using Flash to create computer-based training modules or CBTs. I use 3D to help create rich, interactive media through Flash and Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio.

Working at UPS has taught me a lot about creating images in a corporate environment. Some people might tell you that working for a corporate entity will zap you of your creativity. Well, I guess that could be true, but I don’t see it that way. In fact, the way I look at it, creativity is what you make of it. I may not be working on the most exciting projects such as this summer’s blockbuster film, but I do get a chance to make each project unique in the way that I choose. In other words, my projects will be as creative as I want them to be. The subject matter may not be the most entertaining, but that’s half the challenge.

I started out wanting to be a professional photographer. In fact, I studied commercial photography in college. I took different internships with various studios and also freelanced while working as a staff photographer for my local parks department. I was on my way to becoming a photographer while building a small client base and honing my skills. This, of course, was before the digital revolution rocked the photography industry.

As digital photography began to mature and equipment was becoming cheaper, clients began bringing their work in-house, and jobs were becoming scarce. It was at this point that I started to rethink my career options. Without boring you too much by blabbing on and on about my career path, the short of it is that I had to reconsider my strong objection to using computers to create images. Yeah, I was a purist, which meant I wouldn’t think of manipulating an image on the computer. To me, everything had to be done in camera and on film. I still had a love for creating images, so I decided to work with moving images and got yet another internship at a local video production company. It was at this internship that I first saw a 3D program—LightWave 3D 5.0. It blew my mind! I mean, this was it, and this was what I wanted to do. 3D had it all. It was like having my own photography studio in a box; it was simply amazing. From there, I got hired at the video production company I had been interning with and spent every spare moment learning LightWave and becoming a 3D artist. This brings me to my point, which is adaption. Adapting to your environment is a vital skill to have in your pack. I hated computers, but to continue on and grow as an artist, not to mention make money to survive, I had to embrace my mortal enemy—the computer. After all, I had to eat.

Hello, I ama Mac, and I’m a PC

I always get into a platform war with the Mac guys in the graphics department at work. “Mac is for elitists, Vista sucks” is the kind of banter we yell over our cube walls. It’s all in good fun. Actually, I use both Mac and PC. This book was written on a MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB ram and NVIDIA 9600 GT 512 MB. At work, I use a MacPro Quad Core Xeon. I used BootCamp to install a Vista 64 partition so that I can run Visual C# Express and XNA Game Studio for certain training projects and Eyeon Fusion, which is not available on Mac, for my compositing work. The great news is that in my experience, I have found modo to run equally well on both PC and Mac platforms. I find that using an Intel Mac gives me the best of both worlds in one box.

Bonus Resources

This book has a companion Web site where you can find useful resources, such as specific scene files for some of the projects discussed. You will also find video walk-throughs as well as bonus videos that will further illustrate the topics covered. These videos will expand on the topics discussed in each chapter by providing a different perspective than can be covered on the printed page. The site can be found at http://wesmcdermott.com. The username for the login is rwmodo, and the password is optimus.

Well, that’s it for the introduction. It’s now time to flip the page and head into basic training, where we’ll take a look at some fundamental concepts of 3D that you’ll need to use throughout various tours of duty while working through the everyday challenges that arise in the field of 3D. So grab your gear, soldier, strap on your boots, and follow me into the trenches! We’ve got a mission to complete.