3D novice-advice

[sfisher42]

Hello all,

Just want to thank everyone in advance for any insight/advice you may be able to give me. I use PS for academic purposes but do not have much experience with the 3D side of things. I am doing some academic work for an upcoming article and am hoping to do a 3D rendering of a microscopic scaffold. I have attached a 2D example of what I am shooting for as well as a another that looks like it was made using PS or a comparable program.

Does anyone have any advice for resources that I could check out to get me started in constructing something like this. Thanks again for any help, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tom Mann]

Unless you are an artist, and you truly want to go in an artistic rather than a scientific direction, instead of PS, I think you would be much better served by looking at scientific / mathematical software with strong 3d graphing capabilities. For example, do a Google Images search on "Mathematica 3d". You will see all manner of images from very simple (eg, doughnuts, Klein bottles, etc.) to extraordinarily complicated 3d fractal structures.

Even with PS (or 3d programs like Maya), and all of their 3d tools, you really need to be an artist, and, in the final analysis, all you will produce is what is in your own mind.

In contrast, wiith Mathematica, while you do need to be fluent in fairly advanced mathematics, but with that (and a reasonable amount of work), you should be able to to relate the structures generated to the underlying physical processes of adsorption, adhesion, erosion, geometric morphing, etc. A search of the scientific literature should turn up lots of examples of this approach, for example, the formation and growth of incredibly complicated ice crystals by sublimation from saturated vapor, growth and movement of rafts of adsorbed atoms on atomically clean surfaces, etc.

Just my $0.02,

Tom M

PS - If you really want to take the mathematical modeling approach, you can even write the simulation of thse scafold structure in one language (eg, C++, Matlab, etc.), and just use Mathematica to do superb graphics.