We have all been there.  Trying to figure out what you want to create next.  The seemingly unlimited number of directions that you can proceed can be very intimidating and smothering to productivity.  We have talked before about where to look for inspiration after finishing a project and even the best ways to choose and complete your next project.  Now we will talk about how good structure and organization are two ways in which a 3D artist can increase their productivity.

 

Structure

 

Structure, or guidelines, for an artist are much like the structural columns and beams of a building.  The structure predetermines certain aspects of the building.  For instance, column and beam height will determine the floor to floor height of a building.  For a 3D artist, the structure is usually presented to them in a project briefing.  For example, “we need a male warrior character that lives and hunts in the woods.”  Using the keyword “structural columns” of male, warrior, hunts, and woods a concept artist can come up with so many different versions of that character.

- A feral boy with a large leaf loin cloth, and weapons forged from branches, a hat made from more leaves and mushrooms for camouflage, or perhaps a shield made of fallen nut shells and wrapped in a thorn covered vine.  The boy wears a single locket around his neck as the only thing from the “developed” world he barely remembers.

- A grown man in hunting gear wearing the skin of a bear with deer antlers on the head carrying a cross bow and daggers, and a hunting rifle.

- Or maybe you create a lot of small leaf warriors who protect the forest, like Blue Sky did for their new film EPIC.

In a production environment there is someone who provides the artists with the direction and structure needed, and then it is up to the artists to fill in all the details, and to create the character.  Now the difficult part is when you are working on your own work, where does that structure come from?

For 3D artists sometimes the largest source of structure and inspiration is simply existing content.  Books, short stories, epic poems, music, are all content from which a concept artist can draw inspiration and structure.  For example, recreating iconic characters like those from the Wizard of Oz, but changing the theme, like sci fi Wizard of OZ, or steam punk, or whatever you want.  Another popular method for providing structure or a guideline for ones self is to use an idea generator, similar to that of Steambot’s speed painting idea generator.

Sometimes you can force some structure onto yourself through the joining of competitions in forums, like Gnomon’s monthly 2D and 3D challenges and the many other challenges that occur on forums.  The benefit of a competition is that it has a brief that is given with it.

I have talked a lot about how structure can help to generate ideas and get projects started and moving faster, however structure is equally important for a projects successful completion.  No matter what side of the 3D and VFX industry you work in, having some form of structure helps get projects done on time, and to a higher quality.