WEIRD SCIENCE

Spend just a short amount of time in the online 3D art community and you are bound to stumble across the world of generative or procedural animation. This particular corner of the community embraces abstract imagery and often applies coded, randomised or handmade animation to it, creating eye-catching pieces that convey a theme, sell a product, demonstrate technological capabilities, or simply look cool. Many of the techniques used to create such imagery exist at the crossroads between art and computer science.

Just what is it about this mind-boggling imagery that proves so compelling to 3D artists and so oddly mesmerising to the viewer? 3D World has gathered a host of experts in the field to answer that question, as well as discussing the style’s practical use in VFX and how the budding artist can create their own complex and appealing visualisations.

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?

Mark Hodgkins, global head of FX at Framestore, has been embracing the stranger side of 3D art in high-end VFX throughout his 20-year career. “We’re hardwired to find natural structures pleasing and fractals or computer generative art often mimics forms or patterns found in nature,” he says, discussing the appeal of such complex visualisations. “Fractals and generative animation allow us to create something very abstract and highly detailed that would be difficult to produce by hand,” he continues. “The nature of the tools means it can still have a natural feeling, and the points of similarity and difference create something that people haven’t seen before, that gets them thinking.”

Generative design is a huge component of processes such as product design, engineering and architecture, where computers are used to find the most optimal design, shape and structure within provided parameters. “It is often used to create custom structures for everyday objects such