Is anybody interested in a written tutorial/resource?

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

TLDR: Is anybody interested in a written tutorial/resource about lighting, composition, or colour theory and its application in 3D from a Photographer/Graphic Designer PoV?

A little backstory:
I’m currently updating my teaching material for the next semester of my photography class, and I often use 3D (Blender) to explain certain concepts, camera functions, and studio lighting. This got me thinking, “Why not create a similar resource but aimed towards aspiring 3D artists?”

So here I am on the Blender Artists forum, frequently encountering individuals who struggle with lighting, camera settings, or composition.

I’m considering releasing each chapter (or sub-chapter) for free here on BA (in a PDF form), and possibly on Gumroad for a 0+ price if you’d like to support me. Writing a complete book with an easily comprehensible structure is a lengthy process, especially considering English is not my primary language. Once I have enough chapters, I plan to compile them into a book and maybe sell it on Gumroad.

The topic I’m interested in writing about is the application of photography in 3D art, covering aspects such as lighting, camera techniques, composition, and more. Additionally, I’d like to explore the application of graphic design theory, including topics like shape, colour, message, and visual language. I might also touch upon other subjects I’m already knowledgeable in and teach.

It won’t strictly be a tutorial; instead, it will focus on fundamental theory and its practical utilization for problem-solving. I’ll include some brief tutorials and examples as necessary. I firmly believe that teaching the “fast way” is ineffective without understanding the underlying theory and rationale behind it. It’s not solely about “how,” but delving into the “why” aspect as well.

Feel free to suggest any new topics you’d like me to cover as long as they relate to graphic design and photography and fall within my knowledge. I’ll make an effort to explore their application in the realm of 3D art. Please note that I can’t cover drawing since that’s one of the reasons I initially delved into photography and typography.

A small disclaimer:
While I’ve never considered myself a 3D artist, I have a genuine interest in 3D graphics and have been using Blender since version 2.49 during my college days to learn about 3D. I’ve worked on some small commercial projects involving music visualization in 3D and helped some of my friend’s thesis that needs 3D visualization. Presently, I primarily use Blender for creating lighting plans and simulations for my studio photography work and also teach basic modelling using Blender in my other class. In terms of experience, I consider myself a graphic designer first, a photographer second, and a graphic design teacher third.

Thanks for reading this lengthy post😅
Note: This project hasn’t started yet.

  • I’m interested :heavy_check_mark:
  • Nay, Nein, Nada :x:

0 voters

1 Like
2

First of all: i do like the old style of written tutorials because i can study them in my one pace and also maybe jumping wherever i like… i also remember them by far better than any video… because i have special interest hot spots i do mark myself… because i read them… ( not playing them casually waiting when the tutor comes to the point and then… forgetting the whole thing… )
…and also:

…sounds very interesting… and now the infamous but:

I don’t want to work through a complete book to “just” learn something what a photographer might see differently…

…so if there would be somekind of preview part and/or conclusion part which talks about some differences, even if referencing the next/previous photographer chapter this would be very informative i think…

So if someone can study this and then go deeper to any 3D ref (by citation ?) or photo-ref (my you) as one likes… then this would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious…

This might be a better bait ( :wink: ) than: lots of chapers about anything you want to know…

3

Thanks for your reply

That’s why i released it as an individual chapter/subchapter, they can be read/applied independently. But still, i have to create the full outline first, so that they are related to each other if you want to delve deeper. And I’m not strictly following that outline when choosing which chapter to write first.

in a physical book, we often see “go to page/chapter ## to learn more about x”, in pdf, we could use hyperlink for that purpose (but only when the full book is compiled)

Sorry, i don’t understand this part, if you mean that I’ll include any outside link or resource if necessary in that book/chapter, then yes, all of my knowledge comes from all the books or websites that I’ve read and applied all this time after all (with a proper citation of course)

Well, i’ll only include everything that is relevant to the main topic, that’s why if the reader is someone totally new to the topic, I’ll suggest they read from the first to the last chapter. If the reader is someone who already has knowledge about the topic, then they’re free to choose which chapter interests them the most, just like looking at the index page to find a keyword first when reading a book.

In short, I treat this book as a proper educational book, not just a compilation of tips and tricks. That’s why I said that this is not a tutorial per see. After all, this is an alternative version of my teaching material for the same topic but aimed towards a different audience that has different needs.

4

Ahh yes… if you just make a full outline and then publish different subchapters as it may fit… this would be nice…

yepp exactly… some links someone may follow… not only more in chapter XY… :wink:

Maybe i was overrating the what’s different between 3D and photography part a bit too much… ( or fansising this completely :sweat_smile: … ← but i guess someone has to learn this the traditional way… by oneself :sob:) you only wrote:

5

Wait, am I writing that it’s different? In fact, the process should be the same. For example, I often see (on some tutorials) that they start with 3-point lighting to teach about light placement, as for me, when I learn about lighting I started with a single light, 3-point lighting is sometimes used to teach about a different type of light (key, fill, rim).

Ahaha, what I mean by aimed towards aspiring 3D artists is, I have to take into consideration the advantage and limitations of the 3D program, for example, it’s easier (and cleaner when rendering) to use 2 light sources rather than 1 light + 1 reflector as long as the light ratio is preserved or use a negative light rather than a black flag if possible.

6

Ahhh… you see… i’m learning already some difference in the way the one or the other party approaches some tasks… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

1 Like
7

From what I suspect there are not many photography-oriented tutorials for Blender.

So far whatever I have learnt for photography, it was based on actual photography tutorials. Though any photography SLANG I come across (eg: ISO, shutter speed, lens) are irrelevant to me. Usually I try to eyeball the results without having an actual clue of some strong theory.

On the other hand, some other people who make Blender tutorials, go no more no less, go for the eyeballing technique as well. Is not that they go for reading the histograms and the palette as such, they just show how to make the image look good.

I think that in general terms you are in a strong position here, where you try bridge the gap between the areas of 3D Rendering and Photography closer together. Simply placing 3 point light and hitting F12 does not cut it, the sooner people learn that you have helpful things to say the better it will be for you as well in order to establish a foothold on this subject and also for people as well to learn exactly what is important.

In terms of having a written PDF or anything else, I am not sure exactly. I could say that many writers (of various subjects, such as programmers, or productivity experts) started from blogging the topics online (eg: wordpress etc), and gradually they could improve and expand upon their content. Once they were ready to roll they could offer a standard PDF in written form. Perhaps you can think of something similar, or anything else. :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

Exactly what i feel when i learn 3D, fortunately, i have an easier time when it comes to lighting and camera setting because i already have an experience in it.

And because my background is in graphic design, just creating something that looks good is not enough, it also has to be able to convey a message/story (it’s a PITA sometimes, i know😂).

Call me “old school” or something, but I prefer reading a physical book (or ebook if it not available to purchase in my country) rather than watching a video or reading a blog. Especially when it comes to a theoretical book. And writing in a PDF form gives me the freedom to the page layout so that the content is easier to read/understand.

And I choose to release in a chapter-to-chapter base is because I’m not writing all of the content in a linear fashion (although i already have the full outline to keep me on track).

Thanks for your feedback! I’ll try to dig more into this.

1 Like