The hum of an energy field. The delicate movement of a tail fin as beams of light blast forth from a spacecraft. The rhythmic crush of color cutting motion into your mind, and the equally breath-taking depth of the darkest material reflecting every detail with perfection. There’s a lot that could be said about the work of Simon Williamson and more that can be captured by looking upon it. He has mastered the immobilizing feel of complexity that captures the imagination. He uses KeyShot to make his models come to life and we talked to him more about his inspirations, his process and how KeyShot has helped.
Simon Williamson
Software di modellazione utilizzato:
Rhino/SolidWorks
Originario dell'Inghilterra, Simon si è sempre dedicato al campo del design industriale. Si è laureato al Politecnico di Newcastle (ora Northumbria University) e ha conseguito un Master in Design presso il Royal College of Art. Prima di insegnare a tempo pieno, il suo campo d'azione professionale comprendeva la progettazione e la produzione di una propria linea di prodotti di consumo da tavolo; lo sviluppo di concetti di giocattoli fino alla fase di prototipo (compresi i principali marchi di action-figure come GI Joe e Star Wars); nonché invenzioni di giocattoli. "All'interno di questo vasto ambito, ho sempre mantenuto un alto livello di dettaglio, qualunque fosse il progetto, e mi sono divertito molto a realizzare fisicamente le cose, cosa che credo dia ai designer un vantaggio interno e una profondità o consapevolezza dei molti livelli che definiscono il regno sfaccettato del design del prodotto.
Mentre lavorava con frog design, in California, il mantra di Hartmut Esslinger era chiaro: "Le idee sono le note, ma la modellistica è l'orchestra".. Avendo sempre optato per questa filosofia, ho utilizzato modelli elaborati per testare le idee e questo mi ha dato una maggiore comprensione di ogni fase della progettazione. Tra i molti designer e artisti che ammiro, quello che mi ispira più di tutti, sia a livello professionale che personale, è Syd Mead; come immaginatore, il suo stile e il suo marchio di futurismo sono unici e rendono più elegante anche l'oggetto più banale. Ora, in qualità di professore associato presso il Dipartimento di Industrial Design del Wentworth Institute of Technology di Boston (WIT.edu), I teach studio classes, 3D visualization and intermediate CAD. As a Professor, each day inspires me; working with students who are excited to learn and search out new opportunities is very rewarding and makes it all worthwhile!”
"Flusso di modellazione parallela e rendering"
Simon utilizza principalmente Rhino per la modellazione 3D e talvolta SolidWorks, ma nel corso degli anni è stato influenzato dall'esperienza in altri software, come l'animazione con Maya e la scultura con FormZ. Il suo processo corrisponde allo sviluppo iterativo, completato dall'aggiunta di semplicità per compensare ed evidenziare la forma e i dettagli drammatici incorporati nei suoi progetti. "Lavoro con un processo piuttosto rapido che chiamo "Flusso di modellazione e rendering parallelo".cioè lavoro ad uno stadio specifico di un modello CAD e poi lo renderizzo (con molti views) to get a better sense of the forms, proportions and details, much like building a highly detailed prototype. (I really like to get inside it all.) Then, I wind up with a progressive series of CAD models and corresponding images. It’s a complex world that I like to build from a simple start: “Start simple and add more and more simplicity”, ending up with a fair and satisfying degree of complexity. The combination of Rhino and KeyShot allows me to suggest a clean, colorful, energetic, pristine new world where nothing is old and beaten up. And, KeyShot really helps to keep it clean and fresh.”
Puro processo creativo
Simon came across KeyShot when searching for a rendering package to compliment the Industrial Design CAD progression at Wentworth. “It involved testing and trying many different packages. Ultimately, I was sold on the speed of the set up, the real-time render window, the stability, as well as the reliability and intricacy of the results. With KeyShot, you can begin on an elementary level and progress rapidly, resulting with very sophisticated effects. Also, it takes an awful lot of model complexity to bog down KeyShot, (whereas other programs get overwhelmed with less detail, much more easily); it holds up so well it’s downright phenomenal. And, since we needed a package that would help the students create fabulous images of their designs, and not get them frustrated or stifled by (getting in the way of) the complexity of the interface, KeyShot more than fit the bill and has proven to be a real winner!
The class I teach is CAD and there was no time for self learning the rendering component. KeyShot was perfectly suited to the (job) class: painless to pick up; simple to set up; and a wonderful aid to creating beautiful, visual output with extraordinary results. As with any design professionals, the students needed to focus on the process of designing products rather than obsess over the workings of a rendering tool. In other words, the program needed to support the agenda and not get in the way of their creative process. KeyShot does just that, and, so much more.”
Along with that, he has found KeyShot to be a tremendous value in terms of saving time setting up the image, due to the simplicity of the procedural workflows. “Personally, after dragging the model into the live preview frame and applying some standard materials and textures, and deciding on the environment, most of the work is already done. Passing this on to the students becomes very straight forward. The next stage of getting them excited about the possibilities of a quality render is a natural outcome. It’s the “Pow” factor. Exploiting all that KeyShot has to offer, it’s then time to go deeper with the final adjustments, like material and environment creation and editing, camera settings and lens effects. We have a massive, 24 CPU Mac – and I love to test the possibilities, set up very complex images, pump up the pixels, set the max time to multiple days and let it go. Then, when I come back after a long weekend, it’s like magic, the “Pow!””
With Simon being a Professor, we couldn’t help but ask if he had any advice for Industrial designers or tips on using KeyShot. “It’s difficult to keep it to just one piece of advice. Here’s what I tell my students: Keep practicing – (seems obvious), and look at all the fabulous images out there for inspiration! Focus on composition; imagine that everything you are modeling and rendering really exists; and envisage that you are physically setting up an actual photograph. Use the material templates to save time when correcting or making adjustments to a model before you re-import and rely heavily on the render queue feature. Give each image plenty of times to render: don’t undercook! And, set up multiple renders the very last thing at night; then, go to bed, and wake up to witness the magic!”
Per saperne di più, è possibile consultare il portfolio Behance del Wentworth Institute of Technology Department of Industrial Design program all'indirizzo WIT.edu. Potete trovare altri lavori di Simon sul suo portfolio Behance.
