Links

3dTotal.com | The 3d Artist’s Homepage

3dTotal was where I got started with 3d graphics and will always be one of my favorite sites on the web. Their site has a treasure chest of free 3d tutorials for all variety of skills and software, plus their texture CDs are indispensable in my toolset. Tom and his gang are really nice and I high five them whenever we meet.

Scriptspot.com | 3d Scripting Community

ScriptSpot is a healthy collection of scripts and resources for 3dsMax, though they have content for other software packages also. I’ve used them from time to time when I’m feeling that my production is getting routine and I’d like new tools without having to pay a lot of money. Check them out from time to time.

the-blueprints.com | Free, High-Resolution Blueprints Library

The-Blueprints.com is a great place to get started even if you don’t know what kind of project you want to take on. Their library of orthogonal blueprints will get you on the right track. They have high-resolution orthogonals of people, vehicles, military equipment, starships, and a whole bunch more.

My Software Pipeline

World-Machine.com | Free Heightfield Terrain Generator

World-machine is a heightfields generator that allows you to naturally create terrains. It has a full suite of tools that allow you to influence the terrain without making it seem unrealistic. It’s a fantastic complement to products like Vue d’Esprit, and has a robust, free version available also.

E-OnSoftware.com | Creators of Vue d’Esprit Terrain Rendering

While Bryce3d bounced from team to team and stagnated, E-on pushed their Vue d’Esprit software to become a world-class natural rendering platform. Today, it’s a powerful tool for rendering terrains, plant-life, and skies for direct rendering or incorporation in to a pipeline. They’re an example of a company doing things right; they offer a free version of their software, and several plug-ins and packages to keep prices down. That said, their software is generally crash-prone on Windows

Autodesk.com | Creators of 3d Studio Max

I use 3d Studio Max with a certain mixture of pride and shame. The software is truly one of the most powerful and flexible in the world. However, Autodesk has been pursuing a very aggressive pricing strategy and is dominating the market by purchasing competitors. Their development rate is not commensurate with the prices they charge for new releases, which often have painfully stupid bugs that must be hotfixed. I abstain from these upgrades until the ground covered justifies the price tag.

Portfolios of Friends

The Portfolio of Loren Broach

I’ve known Loren Broach for many years and I’ve always been impressed with his work. He tends to work on the “realistic” side and it’s likely that you’ve seen his handiwork and not known it. This portfolio’s worth a look.

The Portfolio of Nate Broach

Nate and Loren are twin brothers and it’s funny that they both ended up pursuing video game art careers. Nate’s focus has been on more “cartoon” props and environments. He recently finished up a portfolio piece with his brother that really demonstrates it.

The Portfolio of DJ Hancock

Big Toe is one of the great moderators over at the 3dTotal forums. We’ve been working together over there for some time, and I’ve enjoyed the work he posts. He participates in special events all the time, and that means he has great WIP shots, renders, and wireframes available on his site.

The Portfolio of Yaroslav Grigorash

Erigo has been posting on the 3dTotal forums for a while and his work is a visual delight. He posts plenty of poses, texture sheets, and wireframes so it’s worth a look.

The Portfolio of Tarik Ali

Tarik Ali is one of the active members of the 3dTotal forum. He’s done some great work in the fields of mechanical and architectural rendering/visualization. I’m hoping he’ll post more wireframes of his work since some of them are pretty complex.

The Portfolio of Chris Ciocotisan

Freespace is another talented and active moderator on 3dTotal. His work tends to be focused on the Starcraft universe, which I fully endorse. He’s done a lot of freelancing work and even has a tutorial or two on his site.

The Portfolio of Raul Aparicio

Raul is a low-poly maverick from Dallas, Texas, using Softimage XSI to create some lovely props and weaponry. His site is well stocked with wireframes, texture sheets, and low/high poly comparison shots, so you can expect to get a great view of the magic behind the work.

My3dTextures.com

Run by Acharya Hargreaves, My3dTextures.com hosts plenty of medium-resolution reference images and texture components. No watermarks means no hassle with Photoshopping them into your images. He’s also got a blossoming collection of video tutorials to take you in the right direction. Keep an eye on his site!

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