Custom 3D: From Corporations to The PC

It wasn’t that long ago that the concept of creating custom 3D renderings from your home PC would have been a laughable notion. In the days when artists and fans alike were stunned while watching James Cameron’s liquid CGI creations in The Abyss, it would have seemed nearly unthinkable that realistic computer animation and still drawings could have been done by any artist with the knowhow and software to do so in their own home. Today, of course, computers are much more powerful and it has opened up a new world for artists.

William Fetter is often credited with the first forays into computer animation and the eventual 3D modeling trend that followed. Fetter, as it was, wasn’t an artist working for Disney or someone trying to design the latest and greatest television advertisements. He was a guy working for Boeing in the 60s, and his purpose was to create computer animations that would help the company visualize their projects before getting to work. During this time, he created what is considered the first real landmark in 3D modeling, his rendering of a human body. It came to be known as “The Boeing Man” and it is the closest thing the 3D computer graphics world has to an Adam. This was the genesis of a new age.

Throughout the next three decades, computer animation continued to grow as animators and artists realized the ever increasing number of applications for which it could be used and computer power grew exponentially more powerful. Landmark public special effects like those seen in Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, and the creation of films like those put out by Pixar told the world that we were entering a new era of artistic endeavor. And while major corporations and film studios pushed CGI to the next level, somewhat less powerful software began to become available to the average artist on a budget.

Today, the processing power Pixar used to create the original Toy Story can be purchased and used by a starving artist for use on his PC. With the doors opening that wide, we are in a special era where custom 3D of extraordinarily high quality need no longer cost 100 million dollars to make. With time, dedication, and a heap of talent, anyone can make renderings that would turn heads. With advertising, Hollywood, and independent artists pushing the technology forward, one can only imagine what we’ll be looking at in another decade.