I found myself inspired on the most unlikely of subjects today. I grew up in the Motor City, so cars by default are a fact of life. I can't say I love cars, but I probably know more about them than your average girl, solely by association to my beloved Motor City. You can't go long around here before meeting someone who works, has worked or has family working for one of the "Big Three." I, myself, am employed making 3D Generated images of cars...with the software knowledge and creativity that I have, I expected to graduate and end up along side those at Pixar or Dreamworks animating fuzzy little critters bound across the screen. Instead, I "fake" but very convincing what is called "renders" of cars on a daily basis. Our images end up on the car company's website and even the most trained eye would have a hard time telling what's a photograph and what's CG.
I have to say, that even though I may not be the biggest fan of cars...and I am certainly far from Gear Head status, I can appreciate older cars. What is it about them, you might ask? So many things are in the details, there's a boldness to them. From the tail fins to the elaborate hood ornaments...and my personal favorite...ones with white wall tires...just so many great little details are put into those old autos. And if you take a look around now a days...there's this feeling that we've gone awry somewhere with car design.
So...that being said....I got a typical forward from my GM employed father...for a "Original Car Brochures" website. So I show a colleague of mine and he sends me to this artist's site: Art Fitzpatrick
Upon viewing...I had a sort of artistic epiphany. Here I am, waiting for my computer to output a "render" of this car. My business card says "3D Artist" and I have to admit...the "artist" part of the job seems like a stretch 99% of the time. Especially when you see the work of such a talented fellow as Art Fitzpatrick.
So I guess the idea that occurred to me is, Cars- just as Music- have gone Analog to Digital. Not simply in the way that they are advertised. Where back in Art Fitzpatrick's day, cars were painted...to the present where cars are calculated in computer just like visual effects in movies...you'd swear they are real by the looks of them. But in faking this reality, we lose something. I'm not just talking integrity of artistic skills...but something beyond that. What is lost is comparable to the clean sound of digital versus the static buzz of the needle passing over a vinyl record. Don't get me wrong. I still very much appreciate the digital realm and all it has done for the world. If it weren't for that, shoot, I couldn't be rambling about this right now. I just found it interesting. The difference. And I'm predicting, a shift...a renaissance of sorts, back to the roots of design and creation. Just as it's nostalgic to walk into a record store, it will one day be nostalgic to live as we do now.
So I guess the idea that occurred to me is, Cars- just as Music- have gone Analog to Digital. Not simply in the way that they are advertised. Where back in Art Fitzpatrick's day, cars were painted...to the present where cars are calculated in computer just like visual effects in movies...you'd swear they are real by the looks of them. But in faking this reality, we lose something. I'm not just talking integrity of artistic skills...but something beyond that. What is lost is comparable to the clean sound of digital versus the static buzz of the needle passing over a vinyl record. Don't get me wrong. I still very much appreciate the digital realm and all it has done for the world. If it weren't for that, shoot, I couldn't be rambling about this right now. I just found it interesting. The difference. And I'm predicting, a shift...a renaissance of sorts, back to the roots of design and creation. Just as it's nostalgic to walk into a record store, it will one day be nostalgic to live as we do now.
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