Why 3d illustration?

a look at the benefits - from a client perspective

3D based digital illustration provides a route to many things graphic: at one extreme it can simply offer a foundation for a image painted with a 2D style, at the other it can deliver a photo-realistic, broadcast quality, virtual world. The style can be anything you like; from whimsical to hi-tech.

 Photo-realism

Within this spectrum of opportunity, a prime application of digital 3D is in the creation of near photo-realistic images - images that typically lie somewhere between a realistic style of conventional illustration and photography itself. 'Photography where photography isn't possible' might be a good description of this use. Typical examples might be:

product and packaging visualisation
architectural and interior design visualisation
technical and cutaway illustration
conceptual illustration

Digital 3D means you can see the product before you produce it, picture the packaging before you print it and let the client view the building before you build it - all in a very realistic style. It means you can photograph where no photographer can go, look from the impossible viewpoint, and see what doesn't exist! Two typical examples might be: Producing product or packaging illustrations that can be printed in marketing and sales literature - which can then be ready before production starts - not many weeks afterwards! Architectural presentations - users and approvers can actually see what the building will look like - rather than how they imagine it will look like. Combine such an image with conventional site photography and your clients can be presented with a composite illustration of the building 'in-situ' - the ideal before and after presentation.

 The lower cost alternative (sometimes ;)

Some assignments mean photography is an expensive option - yet a photographic style is required. 3D can be the solution. Take the product cut-away as an example. The cost (and time, and difficulty) of physically producing the cut-away can be high, add it to the cost of photography and you may well end up with a very expensive solution. Why not do it digitally instead?

 The 'change order'

If your needs (or wants!) change late in the 2D illustration process you could be faced with a substantial reworking cost. The illustrator may well have to recreate the whole piece. This is another area in which 3D has an advantage over 2D. Consider viewpoint selection. In any conventionally produced 2D illustration, this is one of the very first things the artist needs to establish - and once it's fixed - that's it. With 3D the situation is more flexible. Certainly the viewpoint is often established before the scene is developed - but in the majority of cases that viewpoint is flexible - and there is no limit on the number of times it can be changed. Equalling the flexibility of viewpoint is that of surface finish. The nature of the 3D process means there is a lot flexibility in taking the existing elements of a scene - yet drastically changing the way they look. The same is also true to a large extent with the models and scene itself. One model can therefore deliver many alternative images - ideal for 'what-if' scenarios in product and packaging development, architecture and other areas.

 From 'stills' to multimedia

Today's presentations increasingly call for more than just 2d 'stills'. Here 3D modelling comes into its own. With forward planning, the same models used to generate stills can form the basis of animations and multimedia presentations - from architectural walk-throughs to fully animated digital video. Products that work, machinery that operates, architecture you can move though. Some examples of areas in which digital 3D based illustration is used:

magazine and book cover images
3d logotypes and symbols
forensic modelling and animation
training multi-media
product illustration
packaging illustration
illustration of environments too dangerous to photograph
web site design and illustration
Information graphics
video title sequences
CD rom productions
technical illustration
architectural renderings
interior design renderings
information kiosks
computer game design