Tony Cipriano’s Sculpting Terms.

[speedgraflex]

A few quick vocabulary words to help define and clarify the difference between these terms.

1. DIGITAL SCULPTING

Digital Sculpture is… Sculpture. Period. It is exactly the same process and techniques that I used when I was working as a ‘traditional’ materials sculptor. The only difference is the tools. You begin with nothing, and carve and add/subtract, build up and model a lump (sphere) of ‘digital’ clay (pixels). You can work on a separate tablet attached to your monitor using a stylus. Some more expensive tablets allow you to sculpt directly onto the tablet which also serves as a screen. In any case, every skill, technique, and sculpting experience and ability is required to bring a piece to life—the software and computer are zero help to you when it comes to creating your model. You can begin with a ‘base mesh’ (a pre-made avatar / armature type figure or head) and sculpt on top of that, but the details/pose must be sculpted to turn it into a specific character. I find it easier to begin from scratch and model what you want instead of trying to fit your character into a pre-made box. Just me. I sometimes use base meshes to save time.

2. TRADITIONAL SCULPTING

Exactly as it sounds. Sculpting done in old school materials such as clay, wax, stone, wood etc. using hand tools like rakes and loops. Clay work is usually made over wire armature and requires a mold taken to produce a permanent copy in plaster or resin. Up until about 15 years back, many toy and collectible companies were still employing traditional work in their workflow. Most of that work is done digitally now, due to expediency and ease of revisions and ease of file transfer and ease of reproduction. Traditional sculpting is alive and well in some areas such as fine art and portrait sculpture.

3. SCAN (photogrammetry)

This is an amazing technology where a small hand-held device can be brought 360 degrees around an object, taking dozens of images of every angle, nook and cranny. The resulting file generated is usually a perfect reproduction of the object. Less expensive scanners will generate a messier file, but the better scanners can generate increasingly incredible reproductions. Even picking up tiny hairs and skin pores. These type scans can be very useful and helpful as models for digital sculpting. Sadly , these scans can also be used to steal others’ work and others’ intellectual property. On a happier note, the technology also represents a way to take an old, crumbling clay sculpture and bring it into a digital software to rescue it and finish/clean it up

4. AI GENERATED 3D FILE

A controversial, relatively new tech which allows a user to take an image, input it into the software, and the computer generates a 3D file that resembles the image. No sculpture skill required. No anatomy or composition or technique knowledge required. No image is required sometimes— the user can simply type in a prompt (a ‘prompt’ being a series of descriptive words or a paragraph describing what the user requires). Sometimes, a useable file is generated in seconds. Most times, the generated file looks ok from one or two angles, but if it is generated from one image, the computer can mess up the back side of the figure. Or misinterpret limbs or fingers, etc. It can be hit or miss. In the hands of an actual sculptor, this type of file can be taken into a sculpture software and ‘cleaned up’ into a useable model. On its own, these files can rarely be called finished. Many times the anatomy and overall end product is very amateurish. But… the tech improves each day as the AI steals more and more of the data out there.

4. 3D PRINTING

First, I want to emphasize that the term, ‘3D printing’ has absolutely nothing—repeating nothing—to do with artificial intelligence. Two separate animals. 3D printing means exactly what it says: it’s printing. It’s exactly like printing on paper, only it prints dimensional objects. Without a file, a 3D printer is a huge, expensive paper weight. Now you can print an AI generated file. This is what people get mixed up/angry about. Many people on .STL sites sell awful files generated by stolen images. They take a photo from the internet, load it into a file generator, capture a low res, crappy version and sell it for dirt cheap. I’ve had this happen to me a few times and it’s caused me to nearly abandon showing my work completely. It’s happening like crazy and artists are being ripped off left and right.

3D printing has been a huge boon to digital sculpting and to me personally. You can print an .OBJ or .STL file of your work at ANY SCALE! No more messy mold making. There are several types of materials to print in, but for the industries I work in, the two main materials are RESIN & PLA (filament).

5. FDM MACHINES

Less expensive, more popular, cleaner and probably much easier to use for the beginner and hobbyist. These are the machines that you see people making small items to sell on Etsy or EBay. These are the machines that make the helmets, and weapons that cosplay people wear to fan conventions. The machines come in all sizes and it’s not uncommon to see many huge, lifesized prints made on PLA machines.

6. RESIN

These are my babies. I use them exclusively. Messy, toxic chemicals , require room to work, require ventilation, and thousands of latex gloves and paper towels! The quality is absolutely gorgeous. These machines pick up all the details in your digital work and leave behind no traces of build lines like the filiment printers do.

Thanks! Tony

Tony is a traditional and digital sculptor best known for his incredible work with Walt Disney Animation, Sideshow Collectibles, Universal Studios, and many more.

[speedgraflex]

I thought since I’m taking his class, I’d share these terms with you. Words are obviously his. At least this will serve as a reference for those who might be interested. Cheers,

Bruce

[Stikpusher]

I am becoming familiar with 3D printing. The other stuff is enlightening. Thanks Bruce!

[speedgraflex]

You are very welcome. Carlos! I know you’re delving into 3D printing work and I will follow along with you! I’m including a sample of Tony’s work as a sculptor. This is Tony’s version of Mike Ploog’s “Wolfman.” Ploog is well-known as the character designer for Ralph Bakshi’s “Lord of the Rings.” When Ploog was working for Marvel, he drew “Werewolf By Night.”



Artwork by Ploog:

[LyleW]

Great info. I (think) copied the thread to the Tipa area.

[speedgraflex]

Yes, you did. But also to photography as well and sorry Lyle I accidentally deleted them...