- Our environment impacts
how we perceive the world around us.
So it's no wonder that 3D rendering
is used to help us model places, ideas, and things
that don't yet exist in the physical realm,
from architecture to healthcare and art.
Join me today as we connect with two artists
that use 3D rendering to create imaginary worlds.
And Rome could be built in two hours.
- [William] In two hours.
- Transporting us through that liminal space
between reality and the digital.
(upbeat music)
Hey Will, good to see you.
- Hello.
How's it going?
- It's going good.
How are you?
- Good, good.
- I am a fan of your work.
- Thank you.
- William Ukoh, Willyverse, naming the game.
Let's get into it.
- Sweet.
(upbeat music)
- Can you break down for me what 3D rendering is?
- For what I use it for, it's to create backgrounds.
I create different environments.
It could be architectural focused
or it could be nature focused, like creating landscapes.
It's being able to create three-dimensional objects,
environments, things, spaces in the software of your choice.
And then you're able to render it out into a picture
or a series of pictures.
Then you're able to export that to a photo format
or a video format that you can use in other mediums.
And you can pretty much create anything.
That's what's beautiful about it
is that all you're bringing is yourself and the idea.
- That's cool.
So it's like a blank canvas.
- Exactly.
- And you're painting in 3D.
- Paint, that's actually better than I said it.
(laughing)
And then, yeah, so it gives you the flexibility
as an independent artist, photographer, or filmmaker
to be able to create your own sets in the virtual world.
- I'm curious where you pull from.
- I came here from Nigeria.
In Nigeria, there was just more texture, more color.
It was just a generally more vibrant space.
It was all about how do I bring that feeling
back with me in my work?
And I've lived half of my life here
and half of my life in Nigeria.
So everything would just be the merge of both realities.
- There are elements from our reality
and then there are elements that live up here.
- Right, there's a lot of I guess introspection
in the work "First Supper".
I created the set in 3D merging real life elements
with 3D generated elements as well.
- I would love to hear a little bit more
about "First Supper".
What's the story there?
Where did that come from?
- Every year, there's a base thought or idea
that I try to explore.
I was now thinking about past birthdays,
and then I remembered one from, I think I was five.
There was a dancing competition
and I lost the dancing competition
and I felt like I should win 'cause it was my birthday.
- Yeah.
- I decided to create that feeling that I felt of
disappointment and then the thoughts of the dinner
and how people usually break those boundaries
when you're in social settings,
and it's usually through food.
And so I was like,
I need to create something around the thoughts
about social anxiety, your birthdays.
And I called it "First Supper" 'cause for some people,
it's the first time you're meeting them
in that social setting.
- It just, it sounds amazing,
but it also sounds kind of complicated.
- Yeah.
- Can you give us a step by step breakdown
on how you go about creating these stories?
- I had the idea and then I did a mock up in 3D,
a pre-visualization of the final product.
And then after, that I started having conversations
with the stylist to figure out wardrobe,
spoke to the makeup artist as well.
Anything that the character's going to interact with,
that needs to be real.
The table needed to be real
'cause they were physically going to interact.
But everything else, I could just add those in 3D.
I'm taking the measurements of the virtual camera,
and then I'm measuring that on set
so that the distance from the camera to the subject
in real life is the same as the distance
from the camera to the subject.
- Wow.
- In the virtual world.
So that way, when I put them in,
there's a very seamless merging of both worlds.
- The way that all of this seems to be coming together
is that you're taking something from a feeling
or a past or a memory,
something that's beyond time and space,
and you're putting it in this visual sort of format.
- I think that's one of the things that 3D allows you to do.
It takes off the limits
from what you can actually visualize.
Anything that's in your head, you can create.
And that was the whole reason
why I got into it in the first place,
was to just free myself in that way
to pretty much create anything that's in my head.
You're able to create a surreal world.
Yeah, I feel like I've been talking about
a lot of theoretical things.
It might just be easier if I show you
what the process is like.
There will be a photo element involved.
So how are you in front of?
- Good thing I wore my threads.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- All right, cool.
- That would be awesome.
- And we can get into it.
- Yay.
(upbeat music)
- I've marked these lines,
and these are going to help me with the perspective.
Just straight.
That's good.
- And then they were all.
- All right, just look this way a bit.
(upbeat music)
This way.
- Hello.
Does this plant have a name?
(upbeat music)
This is my child.
(laughing)
Ooh.
(chuckling)
- So let it go.
All right, cool.
That looks good.
(upbeat music)
All right.
So I've kind of highlighted the ones that I feel
would really work for what we're trying to do.
- I like that one a lot.
That's - Yeah?
- Yeah, that's a strong one.
- Because I need to select you from the background.
Now I'm going to open Blender,
and this is the 3D software that I use.
First thing I usually do is I will set up my camera
so I can just click this icon.
So with your image,
I'm just gonna bring you to the foreground
so that it's like, so now you're standing on something.
- It comes together.
It's like I'm standing on a gray rug.
(chuckling)
- And then the next thing we can do
is probably add a background to it.
We can add a cube or something.
Bring that, move that to the side.
Bring that forward.
- [Taelor] Oh my goodness.
- [William] Maybe scale it down a bit and increase it.
- And now it's a rectangle.
- So it's now a rectangle and can rotate it as well.
- What?
- Move it in the background a bit more.
- Rome could be built in two hours.
- In two hours.
And then we can add a sphere,
almost like we're creating a fun house.
Yeah, I'm curious,
what are some things that you would like to see?
Because this is your world.
- In my head, there is often plants
and agriculture and grass.
- Oh we could, we could add grass.
Ooh. - Ooh.
(chuckling)
- Just plants everywhere.
(chuckling)
Let's add more plants to the foreground,
so we that create a bit more depth.
So about now, we can start matching the lighting.
- [Taelor] Okay.
- So this is where things start to feel alive.
So in Blender they have different types of lights
as well, but we'll go with the area light
'cause it's softer and it make more sense with this.
I'm going to now change this background to red
and to add in material.
And then that way, we get to see how well things
are really blending in together.
And then this is where I now start to get really,
I guess meticulous is the word with what I'm looking at.
I'm like, does this feel real?
So I'm just going to do some finishing touches to this.
You can take a break and then I'll call you back
and show you what the final art looks like.
- Okay.
- Sounds good.
- Thank you, yeah,
I think I'm gonna gonna take a call actually.
- Sweet.
Amazing.
(upbeat music)
- Hi Hiba.
- Hi Taelor.
- I'm so amped to talk to you today.
You do so many things.
You take things from your mind
and you really make them intimate.
Tell me a little bit more about your artistic approach.
- Yeah, I've been exploring with 3D meditative approaches
using it as a way to slow down time
and pay attention to our surroundings and healing.
Right now working on 3D experience
where viewers can click through and it's interactive
and they hear a guided meditation in the background.
(gentle music)
- I understand that you have some workshops.
Can you tell me about them?
- I do workshops with art centers
and community based spaces,
making the concepts of 3D animation
as well as the tools of 3D animation accessible.
I led a few different workshops around meditative practices,
so meditating for 5 minutes
and then responding with a color or an image.
And we use Blender open-source animation tool
to live imaginatively.
And there's no right or wrong way to do it.
I think doing it is the act of learning, experimentation.
- What does it mean to make art and technology accessible?
- Technology builds upon histories of discrimination
and white supremacy.
The way that we do workshops,
we need to actually understand the history
and the way it exists today,
and disrupt it through technologies of care,
community, and center healing.
- That is really, really cool that you kind of get to
teach people collectively as a community.
You're all getting to learn something together
by going into your mind and trying to heal
and visualize and put something in a 3D space
where other people can kind of see
what's going on up here as well.
- Yeah.
And in my practice with 3D and also workshop
is creating spaces
where we can imagine the world differently.
We can imagine a more healed world,
we can imagine a more healed self.
And it can be as simple as, I want a purple world.
The color is calling to me today
and that's what I wanna step into.
And that's where the power of 3D is really all encompassing
because if we can dream it, it can happen.
- I wanna come to your workshops now.
(upbeat music)
Oh, William.
- Hey.
Welcome back.
How was your trip?
- [Taelor] My trip?
- Your trip.
- My trip slash call.
You know what?
It kind of was a trip because it was online.
It was in the virtual space.
- Are you ready?
- I think so.
- All right.
(drum roll sounding)
- This is amazing.
Oh my gosh, I love it.
And then you did the shadows and everything down here too.
- [William] Yeah, so I added the shadow
when you were on your call.
- [Taelor] Okay.
- [William] I added shadow just to make it more realistic
and ground you in the space.
- [Taelor] Oh my goodness.
- But, yeah.
You start to really trick the brain
'cause you're holding a real plant,
but then you now start to wonder if all these other plants
are real as well.
But that way, you're able to just blend the real world
and the virtual world together in a harmonious way.
- This was a great experience.
- Yeah, hope we get to do this again soon.
- I hope so too.
You're really talented.
- Also, your mind just created all these amazing things.
Yeah, so this was really fun.
- I don't wanna leave, but I gotta go.
- All right.
That's all good.
- I'll see you soon.
- See you soon.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
(upbeat music)
- That was literally a dream.
I'm so glad that I got to spend time
with both William and Hiba today.
And I am moved by how 3D rendering can connect
to digital art and the real world in so many different ways.
It's also been really inspiring to see how it can be used
as a visualization tool for your hopes, dreams,
and those special places
that live in your heart and your mind.
See everyone next time.