Camera angles and Nomad app
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I recently did a painting just for fun of a prehistoric dragonfly carrying off a dinosaur but I wasn't really satisfied with it because it has a flat plane of view. I struggle visualizing camera angles and after many attempts to try a better angle, I gave up because I couldn't easily imagine it. I have read all of the stuff about building perspective boxes etc., but it remains a real mental block for me. I even tried making a model out of clay but it was taking a long time and without a good stand to hold everything, I was frustrated trying to get it to hold together long enough to take pictures.
A couple of days ago @Kevin-Longueil started a thread about the Nomad 3D sculpting app for iPad and he has done such great stuff (see his thread) that I decided to try it. After only two days and watching tutorials I was able to construct a crude model of a large dragonfly carrying a dinosaur which I can then pivot around in space. Here is my original painting and some of the screenshots from Nomad. The number of angles is actually infinite since, being 3D, you can rotate it any way you want.
I'm not going to re-do the painting but I wanted to thank @Kevin-Longueil for the recommendation of the Nomad app and share this with others who might have the same mental block I do.
Laurie DeMott
instagram.com/demotlj -
@demotlj This looks great!! All of the views you show look interesting too. I’m so glad you are finding it useful... I almost didn’t post the thread thinking there would be near zero interest or possibly dislike of 3d stuff so I’m glad i did - i’m just noticing that you have figured out color too! Very nice...I have not gotten that far yet. Thanks for sharing this - very cool to see
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@demotlj This is great! I am a huge fan of creating the reference you need rather than relying on working solely out of your head.
You are clearly working well with Nomad but for others I want to recommend James Gurney's Imaginative Realism as a low tech way to create similar reference models
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740785508/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4But I'm curious -- how easy is it to reposition the Nomad sculpture once created? For example can you easily shift the tail or neck to a new position?
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To do the dinosaur, I started with a simple model of a standing dinosaur, duplicated it, and dragged the tail, neck, and legs into new positions. I had to do a little re-sculpting and if I was trying to make a nice model, it would have taken a lot more time, but with this really rough model, I think the whole thing (including adding the dragonfly) only took about a couple of hours, and part of that is because I'm still learning the program. You can also add layers to the models with the changes so they are non-destructive but I've only played with that a little.
The best thing about having it on the iPad was that I did it while watching TV with family.
I will definitely check out the book.
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Wow! Thanks Laurie and Kevin ! I didn't know it only existed! It is good for trying compositions and overcome blocking points!
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@Julia It is super fun and easy.. you just start with a sphere and add the "clay"...coolest thing is that is doesn't droop like real clay so there is no limit
