An Old Friend with New Tools

From 2020 to 2022 I learned a lot about Blender. It's a 3D modeling and rendering program, and I fell in love with its capabilities. You can create art with it, and I found myself creating a lot of art that I really loved.

A lot of what I enjoyed about photography translated really well into the 3D world. I was able to work with the lighting and the composition, create artistic scenes, and overall just create art and be an art director. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed using Blender.

It's very complex. These 3D programs are super complex, way more than Photoshop. There's a learning curve, there's a lot to learn, and there's an unlimited amount of variation and options you can explore.

And I was doing everything manually, on a laptop, which meant I was limited in my resources too, because working in 3D asks a lot of a computer.

Like everything, there's an efficient way to do things and an inefficient way to do things, and sometimes we don't know the efficient way. In a lot of my scenes I would try to create a realistic ground by scattering a bunch of rocks and things like that. Doing that took a crazy amount of energy and time and computer resources. But I just didn't know a better way.

That all changes today, when I start to use Claude to operate Blender for me. Now I'm able to work and iterate at a completely different pace than I ever have, with much more intelligence behind it. I'm using the same program I've used for years, a new updated version of it, but now I can do things the smartest and most efficient way possible and take advantage of all of these new tools.

This is a whole new world for me. I get to create imagery using the most efficient processes possible, which means more realistic images in less time. And because the AI is learning as we go, everything I've learned gets repeated and refined, so it only gets more efficient over time.

Honestly, I've never been much of a fan of AI-generated images. They have their purpose, but in terms of calling it art: I typed something in, the computer made this, and now it's my art? To me, I never saw that as valuable. I never saw that as real art, and I never really viewed it as the property of the creator. The person typing the prompt didn't make the art. The computer made the art. Anyone can type something in and get something spat back out.

What I'm doing with AI running my 3D program is somewhere in between. I am dictating every little step and deciding the composition and the lighting. I'm creating the image from scratch in a 3D modeling program like Blender. But instead of me clicking the mouse every single time, I'm using AI to drive the program for me, and that results in a much more efficient workflow.

The thing is, I know how to use Blender. I know this program. But the complexity of it is more than an individual can really master unless it's your full-time dedication. Not to mention all the updates. Things I was really familiar with and knew how to do well a couple of years ago are irrelevant now, because whole systems have changed and it's not even the same program.

Being able to do this opens up an entire new world of art and creativity. It lets me revisit an art form I haven't practiced in years with a renewed sense of empowerment.

Right now I'm still in the testing phase and still learning. But step by step, things are getting better.