Time Created: February 2009
I’m feeling solidly uninspired today.
So here, have a chair.
I made it in a 3D program. I don’t recall which one. It’s been far too long since I made it. But it was one that let me flatten out areas and apply outlines.
There’s actually a bunch of filters for 3D programs that let you make their output look more 2D. That might seem odd, given how much marketers push the power of 3D, but there is power in two dimensionality.
Mainly that such images are much clearer. 3D images often lose a bit of that clarity just because the image isn’t focused on how the viewer is seeing it. We still look at most images as 2D images, whether printed on paper or showing on a computer monitor. Even 3D movies are actually 2D images. They just use two images and polarized glasses to trick your brain into seeing it as 3D.
Heck, even what your actual eyes are seeing is 2D. The reason that trick 3D movies use works is because it’s what your own eyes and brain do. Each eye sees one flat image. Since the two eyes are separated, their images are slightly different, and the brain composites them together to figure out depth. It’s a really nifty mental trick if you think about it.
So making images that look good when flat actually really helps make them look good when not flat as well.
