Start a new hobby
Introduction
‘How I discovered the world of 3D sci-fi art and how I hope you will get as much enjoyment as I do from this wonderful hobby’ For me, producing sci-fi digital art has been a fascinating hobby from which I have gained years of immense satisfaction. It has allowed me to be creative and express my ideas in the best way I know how. Way back in the 60’s when I was a young boy I was greatly influenced by a number of science-fiction films and TV shows. Some of the better ones that spring to mind include Gene Roddenbury’s original Star Trek, Forbidden Planet, Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey and nearly all of the Gerry Anderson and Irwin Allen TV productions. Then when Star Wars came along in the 70’s it simply blew me away.
George Lucas achieved on film what I could only dream of. Only through the occasional painting was I able to express my imagination. But around the late 90’s I bought my first PC and discovered the 3D rendering program Bryce 3D. It was actually being given away free on a magazine cover disk. When I started playing around with it I was amazed at what you could do with it, and how quick and easy it was to produce a relatively good rendition of my artistic ideas. Since then I have spent a lot of my time designing websites in an attempt to produce enough income that would allow me to focus more attention on the things I like to do best. i.e. being creative through art and film. (Video production is another one of my interests) With this website I hope to share some of the things I have learned along the way, and to stimulate an interest among those of you who share my love of science fiction and fantasy art. If you would like to learn how to create your own sci-fi designs, but you’re a complete novice and not sure where to begin, this site is aimed at you. Here you will discover various articles that will help you get up and running quickly. There’s also plenty of 3D models available for you to download and use in your designs. For Bryce users in particular there are a number of Bryce templates you can use that come complete with textured models that will allow you to be creative and play around to produce various designs. By changing the composition, experimenting with different textures and materials, changing the sky palettes and lighting, you will be able to produce hundreds of different designs from just one template. By combining and exchanging different objects from a variety of different templates the possibilities become endless. If you’re a little bit more advanced and familiar with some of the other major 3D software programs, and particularly if you are producing inspirational artwork, then we would also love to have you join us too and share the benefit of your experience. We cordially invite the more advanced designers among you to submit articles, hints and tips which we will publish in our members area where relevant. We are also planning a forum which will be a good place to share ideas and help fellow artists in their quest for knowledge and desire to improve their abilities. Ok, enough of the introduction, let’s get started! You will find the main links on this site at the bottom of each page. I suggest beginners click here and the more advanced users click here. Best wishes and happy rendering! Mike Henderson |
