Creating 3d art can be a bit of a mystery at first. After all, how does someone even start to understand how to create a 3d model. How much coding is involved is a fair question whether you hate it or love it. From experience, I can conclude the following.
Creating 3d Art does not require you to learn or utilize coding if you do not want to. There are methods of creating art that does require coding and it’s usually linked to the software you use. Software like Houdini heavily relies on coding to create 3d art whereas programs like Blender does not.
In this article, I will discuss what exactly you need to know to create 3d art, how coding can be advantageous, and under what circumstances. I will also give you my recommendation of what programs to use if you want to use or not use coding in your 3d art.
What Are the Basic Skills Needed to Create 3 Art
Being confident using a computer is a must. While coding is not required creating 3d art is a very technical task. It usually requires you to use and adapt to multiple programs. There are also some fundamentals of how it works and a fair bit of terminology to learn.
Being able to problem solve and troubleshoot is a must and there is a bit of a learning curve.
3d Art is a weird mix of technical and artistic skills both of which are very easy to learn if you are determined enough. It’s not hard, it just requires patience.
What 3d Tasks Can Utilize Coding
Most programs have a coding component to them whether it’s creating scripts to help create art, working with procedural workflows, or working with physics simulations.
Almost all aspects of 3d can utilize coding. Programs such as Houdini heavily relies on coding in their approach to 3d art. This is a harder piece of software to use, but if you’re into coding it offers a very interesting synergy of art and coding.
Many programs utilize procedural methods to create art. Most of these kinds of programs utilize drop and drag directions of how a model should look. While you are not directly coding some of the principles are similar.
Does Knowing How to Code Give You an Advantage in 3d Art
This is mostly dependent on the type of task you perform. Most of what you can accomplish in 3d art can be done with or without coding. In some cases, coding helps speed tasks but it’s not essential.
Being proficient at both can be advantageous as it means you may have insight a pure artist may not. After all, having more knowledge and abilities is not a bad thing.
It comes down to the type of 3d task you are performing and your desired result.
How Can Coding Help in 3d Art
There are many aspects of 3d that can benefit from being able to code and can greatly assist in the following.
- Creating Scripts
- Procedural Modeling
- Procedural Texturing
- Motion Design
- Creating Shades
- Physics Simulations
- Rendering
- Animation
As you can see this almost covers everything aspect of 3d and the truth is it does. For example, 3d modeling can benefit from using coding when it comes to creating props for a game.
Let’s say you are required to create a set of mugs that all look different. You can create a mug using procedural methods and coding in Houdini by linking editable parameters to the mug. These parameters might include height, circumference, thickness, and size of the handle. You can then link each of the parameters to random numbers and you have a random mug generator.
Should You Learn to Code For 3d Art
Unless you are already good at coding it is not recommended. Learning 3d art has a considerable learning curve. Adding coding to this is an unnecessary complication. Become familiar with 3d art first then look into the coding part once you have a grasp of the concepts.
Coding is not essential and many artists are are very successful never using it. If you do enjoy coding utilizing both it is a very interesting mix something I personally enjoy.
3d Programs That Utilize Coding
By far the best program to utilize 3d art and coding is Houdini its whole workflow is designed with this in mind. It utilizes its own language called VEX along with a procedural workflow.
Another option particularly if you are into rendering is Unreal Engine. Yes, it is a game engine but does not need to be used exclusively for this. It is a very powerful tool that gives you direct control using coding giving you a lot of control over your scene that some render engines do not. Unreal engine is popular among environment and architect visualization artists.
3d Programs that Don’t Rely on Coding
Almost all 3d programs don’t rely on coding. Programs such as Blender, Maya, Zbrush & Substance Painter will require you to never learn a line of code to use.
If your concern is that they will be too hard to learn for this reason let me put your mind at ease. Once you learn the fundamentals there is a very good chance you may never choose to code as it’s not required.
Conclusion
Coming from a coding background when I first started 3d art I personally was surprised how little coding was involved when creating it. It requires none but instead requires a set of technical skills you might not consider.
If you have an aptitude to learn new programs and problem solve I guarantee you will love it. If you enjoy coding and are reluctant to try 3d art I urge you to try a program like Houdini. It took me years to find it and never imagined how fun it can be to code and create 3d art at the same time.