3D Rendered Backgrounds in Art

[deathmetalclown.livejournal.com]

If this has been posted before I am sorry [this is my first entry]. I have seen a few people who use 3D software [like Sketch Up] to render backgrounds and I was wondering where other opinions stood on this. I had plans to do comics and instead of redrawing the same scene multiple times I could build the room with a turn around ability and later paint over my model for backgrounds. Keep in mind I am talking of a ground-up model with no pre-existing parts. Would this be ethical?
This is for personal projects only [I do not do commissions]. Would it still "count" as my work since I built the model or is it "cheating"?

Comments

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

It's not cheating at all. You're still doing the work. I know of a few people who use 3D rendering for their painting and they do so because it's faster. It's no more "cheating" than digitally painting a picture (as opposed to traditionally painting) would be.

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

It's absolutely ethical. Kory Bing of Skin Deep does her backgrounds that way.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Absolutely ethical. You did the work, and will be doing the final rendering.

[slinkslowdown.livejournal.com]

100% fine, you're doing all of the work.

[tylociraptor.livejournal.com]

Whether for commission or personal art it is ABSOLUTELY fine. You're not copying over a picture, you're painting over a model YOU made to be representative.

[armaina.livejournal.com]

If you're building all your parts, there's no problem at all! I'm tryyying to learn blender for comic backgrounds as well, so you're not alone! You could even do it as commissions, heck, maaanny professionals use a CGI base and paint over it, it's not an uncommon procedure, it's just another tool.

Also just general statement but. There is no 'cheating' in art, only honesty or dishonesty.

[deathmetalclown.livejournal.com]

I was advised to try Sketch Up [Because I heard Blender can be very ornery] because it is more user friendly and easier. They also have a free model warehouse if you want to practice and lots of add ons [some aren't free though]. You can also export you model into a 2D from a 3D so you can open in Photoshop/Paint Tool Sai/etc.

Just a tip if you'd like to test it out and see what works for you. [Some of the larger models can eat some RAM though]

[mpd-84.livejournal.com]

I have both sketch up and blender. So far I've found sketch up to be easier to just jump right into. However I;ve noticed that it doesn't always add up measurements correctly. Blender has a massive (online) manual that I'm still trying to work my way through X| so I can't really comment on how well it works yet.
Sculptris is also free to use and can be a fun program. It's a bit like digital clay.
I use 3d programs to make base models and backgrounds myself. So long as you don't use someone else's stuff without permission, you should be fine.
If you still have any reservations you can always make a note in your comment section that you used it for a base.

[deathmetalclown.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. I think I will try one program at a time to find what works for me.

Blender totally confused me the first time I tried it [then again I was not aware of the manual existing] so I may give ti a second chance down the road.

And I had thought of that too. [Putting I used a 3D model base for background in Artist comments, etc]

[deathmetalclown.livejournal.com]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I feel a lot better going into this now that I know nothing I am planning on doing is wrong.

[dinobutt.livejournal.com]

3D modeling is art too! It's not only completely ethical, but a great idea. I've made a lot of use of it myself, as have many professional artists I know, furry and otherwise.

[kestral-kitsune.livejournal.com]

a lot of the professionals do it, i know a lot of dc comic artists will use it to help with their backgrounds which helps save time.

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

You're using an art program to your advantage and creating everything from scratch, while it won't teach you perspective, it definitely isn't unethical in any way.

I've done this myself for personal work when I just couldn't figure out a room or how big a character should be in a scene.

[deathmetalclown.livejournal.com]

What I think I will do is do a perspective sketch in my sketchbook and I think figure out all the distances there before building the base. That way I don't sacrifice learning perspective while also making digital backgrounds. [ I never tend to have equal skill in both traditional and digital so I try to do a little of both each day so one doesn't lag behind.] .

One day I hope to get to Adam Adamowicz level of background designing because he was my biggest inspiration.

[wolf-goat.livejournal.com]

Go for it! It's your work, use whatever tools make it enjoyable for you and look good to you. Who cares whether other people think it's not "as good" as doing it XYZ other way (see traditional vs digital arguments till the end of time). Your commissioners are only going to care about the final product and there is absolutely nothing unethical about doing it.

[lunasilvertail.livejournal.com]

It's a tool just like anything else that makes drawings that much easier to compile. It's sort of like the great reference debate. It's widely used in the professional world, but for whatever reason a lot of younger and/or traditionalist artists get upset about it.

[varethane.livejournal.com]

It's fine! Just as tracing over or eyeballing from photographs you took yourself is also fine; so long as you own the rights to the tools you're directly using to enhance your illustrations, you can do whatever you want with them (though if you collage them in directly without doing something to make them match the rest of the illustration people may notice).