3d Modeling: A Creative or Technical Skill?

#1

Okay, I had a debate about what is creative and what is not in terms of 3d modeling with somebody just the other day and it got me thinking.

Before I go any further, I looked up the word “creative” on Merriam-Webster Online and it is defined as:
1 : marked by the ability or power to create : given to creating <the creative impulse>
2 : having the quality of something created rather than imitated : IMAGINATIVE <the
creative arts>

I am a 3d modeler and I was thinking since when you work in a professional environment you are going to be handed a concept art and you model off that concept art, so basically you use that concept art to produce your 3d model. Is this creativity?? I came to the conclusion that 3d modeling doesn’t take much creativity and it focuses more on technical skills. I mean some of you might say, “but you have to be creative in terms of your topology and when and where you should insert those polys or nurbs.” I guess that could be creative problem solving, but it still categorizes itself more under technical skills. Another argument could be that you are the one that are actually creating the 3d model from scratch. This is a good argument but take for instance a person that created a car concept and blueprints and then the people that put that car together. Who is more creative? The person that created the car from their own imagination of course, because the people that put the car to together is using some else’s creativity and putting their technical skills to work to produce that car. This is an analogy for 3d modeling because it involves the same principles, unless you are the one that designed the character and modeled it. When you look at the second definition from the Webster Dictionary it really gets me thinking “are we just imitating or are we creating when we are using some else’s concept art, hence, someone else’s creative imagination?” Right now I still think that 3d modeling is more technical than creative, and if it is creative what are the creative aspects behind it? Also, what about texturing?? Is texturing creative, even though you are still using concept art with color? I guess if the concept art is black and white and you created your own color scheme and designs than that can be called creativity, wouldn’t it?? These are just some of the many questions one could ponder all day.

So now I am going to hand it over to you guys out there. I want to know what the 3d community thinks about what is creative and what are just merely technical skills. Can’t wait to hear from everybody. Thanks.

#2

Let’s see now. Would you call traditional painters copycats or creative? They are after all just recreating that which they see. It may be a dream or a still life or something they imagine. But it still excisted prior to the painting. In the same manner I don’t think 3d artists are just imitating. I think a lot of personal style ends up in the model and texture. A concept is just an idea after all. It takes a true artist to bring that idea to life. Just my 2c. :wink:

#3

Challenger, I believe you have two topics going here: being a creative person and trying to be creative under the constraints of “production” work. Well actually three - and is 3d modeling actually creative.

There is a compromise when you are hired to do a piece as oppose to just making it for yourself, because you are almost always dealing with someone elses concept, no matter what your position is on the pipeline. Creativity can be diminished to various degrees, sometimes to the point that you are only doing grunt work :banghead: not just in 3d, but any artistic field.

Looking at modeling from a purely artistic point of veiw, I have to say I see it as yes, highly creative. There are decisions made in the modeling process such as where to increase polys or how much detail to add to a surface that require craft. The issue of imitation (the second part of the definition) is moot in my opinion, because most art copies life to some extent, a person’s style and design decisions are what make the piece “creative”.

As to modeling being “technical” any art has it’s technique…from - digital painting to modeling with clay - there are tools and steps that are followed to reach a sucessful end.

So I vote yes, modeling is a creative technique :thumbsup:

#4

Based on the first definition, I think the answer is yes to all. I think it’s creative because you would have created something that didn’t exist before.

“Someone else’s creative imagination” can often mean imitating something that already exists in real life. Does that make it not creative? Photography does exactly that. Not only does it not imitate, it duplicates. Is it less creative?

I think the question you are really asking is about individual creative freedom versus team work, and the degree of what is made up and what isn’t. What would you consider creative? Is film making or game development a creative work? I think they are. Would you say that the director is more creative than anyone else involved in making the film? I don’t think so. You could have a team of creative people working towards the same goal. Is this form less creative than a lone artist who paints or sculpts? I don’t think so.

A concept artist (based on your description) probably works his/her ideas based on another person’s idea (examples: director/producer/art director). You will then model based on the concept drawings handed to you. Texture artists then create textures based the models handed to them. This may sound like a hierarchy of who’s more creative, but in fact, the final model cannot exist without any one element. I think those that are called technical artists (contradictory to its label) in those environment are also creative. Same goes for programmers.

I will tell you what isn’t creative. Those who are at the receiving end of your final model, the viewer. I am not talking about texture artists or even people who approve your model, they actually are part of the creative team. I’m talking about the audience/viewers, or the users the final product (if it’s a product).

#5

I think the two terms a tightly wowen together.
If you dont possess the technical skills you are not able to express your ideas. And that is not specific to 3d. Thats the same with a traditional artist. They can have the finest and wierdest ideas that could really invite you into their realm of imagination but if they cant express and develop it through the media in which they work you cant call them artists.
Artists needs a media in which they can grow and examine their ideas. And its their technical capabilities over that media that decides how much in control of their idea they are.
I think the creativity is then making the right decision in the process through a project.
And here the technical abilities helps you being able to actually realize those decisions.

#6

Well, here’s my $0.02. I think modelling can be creative, but there are times when it’s a technical exercise or technical execution. For example, I consider a precise model of a 1965 Mustang to be a technical exercise. You’re not really bringing a new idea into the world, you’re exerting your skill to make a 3D representation of something that already exists.

However, if you were to create some sort of car or vehicle that has never been seen before, that doesn’t already exist, I consider that to be creative. Your car design is new and unique.

Modelling is sculpting. You can sculpt anything you want. You can go the route of Henry Moore and deconstruct the figure in a series of expressive models, if you like.

However, a lot of the time, production calls for precise models of things that already exist. The buildings of New York have been modelled many times for various movies. The process you employ or the skills you utilize can be creative, but the model isn’t anything new. There are shades of gray, of course; The movie Madagascar and the movie Day After Tomorrow both contain digital representations of New York City. However, both take vastly different stylistic approaches. I consider this to be creative too. So it’s a gray, hair splitting area.

#7

i do i agree with your arguement but i also think that you need those two description to faithfully become a modeller you must be creatively skillfull :slight_smile: …

#8

Creativity isn’t just in banging out a concept, it’s the process you use to achieve a goal. You need technical skill to do almost ANYTHING, but you have to have creativity to make it or the process you used to make it unique.

#9

Any skill is firstly technical and, when mastered, turns into a creative outlet.

#10

3d modeling, Emmm…:hmm: ,It’s a mix of creativity and technical. But,I think,in 3d modeling process,we have to be more creative(:lightbulb) than technical.

#11

I think 3D modeling has more in common with sculpture. Nobody argues that sculptors aren’t creative. In sculpture, you start out with some ideas and a concept drawing. Thats where the creative process is in gear. Then you have to mold or chisel or bake or whatever, but thats the technical process. There are times when you say, hey pouring this liquid into a mold is not creative at this point in time. But you need to look at the big picture. The basic creative process is thought, concept, technical execution, refinement, finished product. So how is 3D modeling any different? I would have to argue that modeling that mustang is still creative as long as you’re not designing it from blueprints as you would in autocad, then thats just punching in numerical data which requires no choices to be made by you the artist.

#12

That, I don’t agree with at all, just because you do SOMETHING doesn’t mean that it’s “creaitivity”.

#13

quoted for agreement

#14

Well yes, doing something is not necessarily creative, but anything can be done creatively. For example, frying an egg is a technical skill. Not exactly a creative outlet. However, if you fry the same egg while experimenting with adding additional content, that’s being creative with a technical skill.
It’s the same with modelling. Modelling a car is a technical skill, but you combine the use of splines, patches, box modelling etc. in your own fashion. That’s being creative with your technical skillset. Not many people model exactly the same way unless they’re following a tutorial.
Even maths is creative. Given a problem there are many technical ways to solve something, but it’s a creative process to use those skills to your best advantage.

#15

frying an egg ISNT a technical skill u see … everyone can fry an egg given the tools
NOT everyone can model a 3d something given the tools…

thats maybe the point here dude…

#16

Yes, everyone can fry an egg, but not everyone can do it well. Everyone can model something in 3d and not do it well. Skill is usually required in even the simplest tasks.
But that is not the point I was making. Skill is skill, bad or good. Creativity is using skills in a unique or varied way. Drawing is a skill we are born with. We hone that skill over a lifetime, but what we do with the pencil is the creative process.

I guess all i’m saying is anything can be done creatively. Not everything should or will be, but it can be. Modelling on a whole is a technical skill, but it is used creatively more often than not.

#17

sorry mate i dont agree

not everyone can make a 3d model…

i couldnt when i first started 3d … its impossible to be creative in CG arts field which is what we ae referring to afterall without a skill level to carry out that creativity…

i think…:shrug:

#18

Just because you’re doing something doesn’t mean you’re creative. You can use the tools creativly but in the end what you’re doing is not being creative. it’s two different things.

A carpenter can be creative with a chainsaw and rebuild it to a furnice, but in the end… making a chair from a blueprint handed down to you is not what I define as “being cretive”. That’s craftmanship.

#19

So does that mean that mona lisa isnt a creative painting because the artist painted it from looking at a person?

What about a sculpture from ancient greece who used a human reference was he not creative because he sculpted from something?

Modeling is the same thing. Unless ur reference is very precise and perfect like car refs I would say some degree of creativity always goes into it.

But if we are talking ideas then thats another ballgame.

Personally I was always very good with ideas and only recently did I decide to add to my skillset with 3d modeling etc.

For me its a way to visualise my ideas. Its a way to sculpt and create worlds and characters and things from my imagination.

Even concept artists are often drawing from a different kind of references. They use the ideas and descriptions of the gamedesigners to visualize their characters.

So does it mean they arent creative either?

I think every layer of creation that takes place from thought to finalized game is noteworthy.
Ideas, concepts, scripts, modeling, texturing etc etc.

#20

Creativity is using skills in a unique or varied way.

There are several definitions… to simply create something is also to be creative. That’s why it’s called creative.

making a chair from a blueprint handed down to you is not what I define as “being cretive”.

Yes, creating a chair is being creative :>