During summer, I was practicing 3D modeling with Maya 3D. I wasn’t sure which direction I’ll take with my training (environments/models for games/film/advertising/…). I had a chat with my tutor Jon, who advised using Maya, as it’s an industry standard software. I went through a long tutorial, practicing various aspects of modeling to get a grip of the most basic rules. Later on, I discovered that Blender (which I started with), Maya and Cinema 4D are in fact based on similar rules and techniques, yet they all differed. That was a valuable experience.

These are my first steps with Maya 3D:

As I started seriously thinking about my final project for Digital Media module, I had to make a choice of the software best for the purpose of it – design and advertising. I talked to Jon again and explained what my plan is for this year. After our chat, he suggested using Cinema 4D, but also asked me to do some of my own research to find out wether that’s the best choice. I found a showreel of clients who used MAXON software in their adverts/projects. Brands like Nike, Adidas, Kia, Seat, BBC, EA and many more worked with studios using C4D, which was a convincing evidence that its functions are perfect for my idea.

I also found a short interesting video titled “MAXON Studio Portrait: ManvsMachine for Nike”. ManvsMachine created great content for Nike, strongly relating to the concepts I have in my head. In this video, they explained the ideology behind it and gave an insight into the project for one of the biggest and most dynamic clients in the world.

Users who give their opinions agree that both Maya and Cinema 4D have great features, some of which are exclusive to either type of software. Nuts Computer Graphics provided an article, which summed up all important functions and types of productions that are created with both and compared them.

https://www.nutscomputergraphics.com/en/maya-vs-cinema-4d-to-orient-yourself-choosing-the-right-software/

About Maya:

“…it’s a complete software that can handle multiple 3D graphics, but it certainly has a lot more to do with the creation of characters and their animations. Maya is perhaps the most used software from movie industry that produce films and 3D effects. Just to make the idea it was used to make films such as Avatar, The Lord of the Rings and Transformers.”

About Cinema 4D:

“Its use has ample space within the television and advertising industry thanks to its specific features for motion graphics. The program is highly appreciated as it allows the production of content in a very balanced quality / ease of use. Many recommend Cinema 4D even to those who are not yet a professional but want to become, its usability is enviable compared to other programs. It is certainly the program that offers the best graphic interface, consisting of few buttons, but within the tab and menu all the tools are necessary to carry out their work.”

Cinema 4D also features an important tool for me – Mograph, used to produce real-world motion and works with CINEWARE, which is integrated with After Effects. In fact, even if I don’t make an animation in the end, but rather still images, Mograph will still support renders of objects in motion, even if they aren’t animated (moving particles/liquids/distortions…).

Simple interface helps with quick learning. As for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to learn before implementing new skills into the project – that plays a big role too.

In the previous post, I discussed designs made by one of the artists who inspire me the most – Mike Campau. I decided to message him and ask what he thinks about the concept of a Hip-Hop magazine with 3D models, simple animations and all presented on an interactive Adobe Muse website. I felt it’s important to contact a creative advertising guru and find out wether I’m on the right path with my project idea. This is his e-mail:

“Antoni

Sounds like a big project, and quite a broad range of skillsets. I don’t think the subject matter will make any difference. Whether it’s hip hop, food, or sports, as long as it’s something you are passionate about, it will show in the work.

One thing I would be concerned about is trying to cover too many skill sets at once. The problem with trying to show you can do everything, is that you won’t be really good at any one of them. The saying is very true, “Jack of all trades, master of none”. I tried to do this very early in my career as well, and one day realized that I didn’t love to do anything as much as I loved to make images (photography, photoshop, and CGI). I was doing it because I felt like I was supposed to. So I made it a point to stop doing any of the other “graphic design” type projects and strictly focused on making images. I would recommend the same here. Find the part that interests you the most (imagery, graphics, animation, web design, typography, etc.) and focus on getting even better at that… you can use the other tools as a way to present your work, but shouldn’t be the focus of the project.

If this was me doing this project, I would focus on the images, and find a style and topic that best demonstrated my feelings about hip hop. Build a series (more than 4 images) and then present them in a simple way to let the images speak for themselves. Could be in a campaign form – print, digital, and social. But the basis of the campaign would be on the images, not the vehicle in which they are displayed. For you, this might not be the best solution… but that all depends on what you want to focus on.

Hope that helps and good luck!”

I think it would be wrong not to follow his feedback. After this e-mail, I decided to narrow my focus to the images themselves and present them in a simple way so they can speak for themselves. If it turns out that I have more time left than expected, I will also work on a more advanced presentation form, but it won’t be my priority in this case.

As one of our tutors said, this year is a great chance to create something that we really enjoy, as we won’t be always able to do so in the future. My project was meant to be out of the box and help me expand my skillset at the same time. 3D modeling is something I always wanted to try, but during the past two years, learning Adobe Creative Cloud software was more important.

Before I knew what my final project idea will be, I already figured out who are the artists that will inspire me.

First of them is Mike Campau (http://mikecampau.com/), a graphic designer who worked for brands like Samsung, Nike, Under Armour, Chevrolet and many, many more. His work is mainly based on 3D models and Photoshop compositing. I discovered him during his live stream for Adobe, where he was presenting the creative process of his projects. Mike created series of images for Bai. This is an important concept for me, as it is close to what I want to present in my own work – series of images, with one set theme, but different characteristics for each of them.

At this point I also decided to relate my Media Product to something that I’m really passionate about – Hip-Hop culture. Complex, one of the biggest Hip-Hop magazines in the USA released a special digital article about my favourite artist – Travis Scott (http://www.complex.com/music/travis-scott-interview-2015-cover-story). Creative director responsible for the visual side of it, Timothy Saccenti, created 3D models and animated them. I decided to create a digital article similar to this one, featuring a few artists, who would be presented with their most recognisable attributes in a way similar to the Bai adverts.

Last core artist whose work helped me to shape up my concept is Lena Steinkühler (https://www.behance.net/gallery/53232785/STYLEFRAMES). Her experimental work presents a blend of typography and objects, formed by a liquid like substance. This type of design supports my idea of unique branding, based on imagination.