www.artist-reference.com

The CG Channel is an online magazine that pays homage to the industry that made watching animated movies cool – Visual Effects and Computer Graphics. A part of the Gnomon group of industries, the website itself is also updated everyday which means that it provides visitors with everything that is happening in the world of special effects as it comes.

Like the Gnomon Workshop, CG Channel’s purpose is to “inspire” artists and designers that will ultimately have a hand in taking the world of graphics design to the next level. Their claim to fame owes to the fact that they have access to some of Hollywood’s “best artists and studios for unique, insightful content.”

As far as the layout of the website is concerned, I was a bit disappointed to find that all the homepage included was stuff they had for sale. I kind of expected the homepage to have text that at the very least gave me an idea of what the website is all about without me having to click every single tab to find out. I mean I know that it isn’t exactly a B2C website, but that doesn’t mean that they do not mention anything about themselves from the start. In fact, their About page had all this and a bag of chips so I was surprised that it wasn’t the first thing I saw when I visited the website.

Other than that, cgchannel.com is a fairly well made website. It includes a standard search bar at the top of the page if you get lost. Besides that their tabs include topics such as Features, Galleries, Community, Training, Competitions and info about their online store. What the Training tab offers speaks for itself. It includes training videos that you can purchase and also has their prices on display. The videos are tutorials from professional graphics designers and artists so that explains the hefty price tags. I was glad to see that the website also offered free online tutorials. They might not be as extensive as the ones that are actually up for sale, however, watching them would still be useful if you want to get an idea about the quality of their tutorials and whether buying their other videos would actually be worth it. Chalk one up for authenticity!

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Summary

+    Free online video tutorials give good examples of their work and also help in determining whether the quality of their training sessions is really something worth spending your money over.  Plus a lot of interesting information from the field of CG graphics.

-     No information about the website on the home page.

Popularity: 14% [?]

As we have been focused on Gnomon group’s websites, here we come with another one equally interesting and inspiring as the other discussed – sketchtheatre.com. As their profile says, the aim of Sketch Theatre is to expose “young” minds to opportunities that might be a great stepping stone for them when it comes to a career in digital art design. In other words, it is a place for young talents that aspire to make a career in the special effects industry in the future. Basically Sketch Theatre is a place for amateur artists to display their own works whether their art is based on comic book design, animation, films, entertainment design (like creatures, sets and props) and even music.

Let´s move to the description of what sketchtheatre.com include. The home page of Sketchbook Theatre has a standard search bar at the top as well as videos in which different artists display their own works. The best part about these videos of this website is the fact that artists actually give a sort of play by play of how they created their sketches. These “demonstrations” are also followed up by background music of the artist’s own choose. Also, the website includes instructional videos that feature sketching demonstrations from professionals in the field of character design, illustration, comics and more. Come to think of it, I did find one similarity between the gnomonworkshop.com and this one. Both sites have a forums page where artists can discuss topics related to their interests as well as competitions. However, that’s where the similarity ends.

The “Interviews” section includes, well, interviews with some of Sketch Theatre’s most talented artists, and not just any artists. The website interviews the artists who have had the pleasure of working in big budget box office hits. For example, one of the featured interviews includes that of Aaron Sims, a special effects artist that has worked on “some of the most popular, defining movies of the 1990’s” like Gremlins 2, Mighty Joe Young, Men in Black, Batman Forever and Nutty Professor too.

Besides that, sketchtheatre.com offers the latest news about industry and artists who made their mark in their respected fields. As a digital art enthusiast, I would like to keep myself updated on what is new in the world of visual effects so such information was a definite plus for me. The “Store” section also caught my attention – with sketch pieces and T-shirts on offer. Some of them went for about 29 USD. However, there were also specialized ones, like the Cameron Davis limited edition sketch T-shirts, that go for a whopping 45 USD per a piece. One thing is for sure – the quality of the sketch designs on these items means that you are getting your money’s worth.

Another thing I found interesting was a competition in which amateur sketch artists could pit their skills against each other. Winners could get their hands on exclusive Gnomon DVDs (tutorials) as well as other products offered by the gnomonworkshop.com.  Items such as these would definitely come in handy for an aspiring 3D artist so the competition is also a definite plus.

However, to tell you the truth, the News and Interviews section did not seem very different from each other, as both are featuring works of different artists via videos. I was also annoyed that I had to go to the actual website of the artist whose video demonstration I wanted to watch in the News section. As for the navigation aspect, there is nothing much to maneuver through since the site doesn’t have that much to offer, but this might have more to do with the site’s elementary theme than anything else. Overall, this site is a great place for budding artists to see what other aspirants that are gunning for a place in the 3D industry are doing.

Summary

+ This website provides a great place for budding artists to showcase their sketching talents via video demonstrations.

- One has to go to other links if  wanted to view the profiles of famous artists in the News section which is annoying.

Popularity: 22% [?]

3D graphics design has truly taken the world of animation to the next (lets hope not ultimate) level. Thegnomonworkshop.com in particular, has gotten this concept down to a tee. Since 2000 this website has provided the resources that make one of the cornerstones of the entertainment industry – 3D graphics design. Needless to say, if you could describe this website in one word, it would be “fabulous”.

The Gnomon School of Visual Arts is a famous school in California for training some of the hottest talents that are responsible for refining the movie and gaming industry with state of the art concept designs that made us fall in love with it. Thegnomonworkshop.com makes for a handy online tutorial website for those that cannot attend actual classes or who travel a lot and cannot attend regular training sessions. Working experts use this website to create and teach artist the best concept art, effects animation and more.

The website, thegnomonworkshop.com, includes instructional DVDs and tutorials that are up for purchase. In other words, this website gives its members a chance to make it big in a booming graphics industry by giving them access to all their training videos. The idea of a free membership was to provide people a chance to utilize all that The Gnomon School had to offer without actually having to join the school itself and pay for classes. Beats having to pay for tuition fees, I would say. What impressed me the most was that the tutorials and DVDs on this website have also been utilized by media giants like NBC, Disney and even DreamWorks!

As far as the pricing system is concerned, The Gnomon Workshop offers its members up to 3 different pricing systems. They are divided into 3 “plans”. The first package, Plan 1, allows users to purchase every Gnomon tutorial for sale for 499 USD on an annual basis. If you want specific tutorials you can also opt for Plan 2 or 3. Plan 2 in particular consists of tutorials that are within the subject of visual effects for film and games, while Plan 3 includes tutorials in the field of design, illustration and sculpting. Registered members can opt for these packages for yearly tutorial updates.

Other than that the membership process is also free and easy. All you have to do is to follow standard procedure (email and accepting their policies) and you are home free. The subscriptions are the only things that you have to pay for if you want to use them. You can also make single purchases even if you are not a registered member. All you have to do is to toss your desired purchase into your “cart” and the website will take it from there. You will, however, have to register as a paying customer. This still beats having to specifically subscribe for whole sets of tutorials and being stuck with more than you know what to do with.  I was also surprised to find out that I could purchase the tutorial videos either as DVDs or as QuickTime downloads. The prices for both formats are the same, so it is best that you stick to the downloadable versions if you do not particularly like to wait for them to be delivered to your doorstep.

The subscription page seemed to be lacking something though. I would have preferred if the video tabs had a couple of screenshots or summaries that told me what they were about. For example, you will have to go out of a specific DVD’s web page in order to view its video details. The content for each page is distributed on various tabs which were a bit confusing as well. Nevertheless, I found that I could easily navigate myself through the website without coming across any digital dead ends.

I don’t know about you, but buying DVDs on the internet has never been my cup of tea. This website has changed all that. The content and the layout are very professional. However, you need to already know the basics before you even think of watching the DVDs. I lost my train of thought on more than one occasion on a DVD (“Production FX Workflows”) that showed “Brandon” talk about VFXanimation. I have had no VFX training whatsoever but I loved the way he showed how everything comes together so I wasn’t complaining. The DVD also included links and files so I had no problem with finding where I needed to go which was very helpful. Other than that, it consisted of basic tasks, terminology and file layouts.

Thegnomonworkshop.com is also a fairly user friendly website. At least, it was to me. In order to preview the content of each page, visitors generally have to browse their way through it via the content navigator. This will let them know what the website has up for offer in each section. One of the best things I realized was that the website allowed me to search for my preferred item by “Subject”, “Software tools” or by “Instructor”. Chalk one up for usability! It also offers “freebies” like free tutorials and desktop wallpapers for registered members. However, what really got me hooked was the discussion by “subject” tab. That, in my opinion, is where the real action is. This tab allowed users to pay particular attention to digital paraphernalia of every type imaginable. For example, I really liked what they had to offer in their Games and Visual Effects section. It included tutorials on Character Animation, Cinematography, Compositing and Effects Animation to name a few. Other “subjects” like Industrial Design, Illustration and Industrial Design were just as extensive. The pictures and art on display were up to 800 to about a 3000 pixels. Other than that the subscription DVDs themselves offer a ton of quality content for purchase. The “Galleries” also had artwork from the institute’s art directors. Each staff member had his own gallery page that displayed their profiles and their accolades. The gallery also displayed some samples of their art work.

Would you want to use this website? Absolutely! Will it help you get a step closer into breaking into art of movies and games? You said it! One of the best things about this website (besides the awesome layout) is the fact that it offers online tutorials that will instruct you on almost everything you will need to know in order to take your CGI aspirations to the next level. The creators and professionals offer great tips on topics like portraits as well as drawing hands and feet. How they are done is taught by professionals and at affordable rates to boot! In other words, if you are on the lookout for a website that brings together both quality and affordability, thegnomonworkshop.com is the place to be.

Summary:

+ A good navigation system and excellent 3D graphics design software and tutorials make this site unique. Other than that the fact that this website offers a great alternative to attending actual classes by providing members online 3D design tutorials is another selling point.

- Too many tabs for a single video description made looking for a particular tutorial annoying.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Today the main intentions of business communities are focused on minimizing the cost effects of whatsoever they are doing. Same is the case with media industry, which most commonly includes film making, gaming, TV commercials, presentations, simulations and interactive websites. To simulate real life scenarios there are two options – either hire real people on real places and capture it using cameras or make everything using computer graphics. Later one proved to be more useful because of less limitations and practical problems of real world, as well as currently being more economical. Flat Pyramid is a company addressing the above mentioned issue. In following lines we will analyze Flat Pyramid from every possible angle with the aim to provide complete details to artists and all others concerned with computer graphics industry.

This was all about the industry and the concept, now I will deliberate in detail on Flat Pyramid as a company. The official name of company is “FLAT PYRAMID” and was founded in 2005 in Los Angeles, CA. It is one of the biggest provider and online distributor of 3D content and interactive graphics which includes 3D models, photo renders, 3D tutorials, textures and 3D software along with various plugins. It is an online marketplace stuffed with non-exclusive and royalty-free digital graphics. Flat Pyramid is brought into existence with primary aim to reduce production costs in computer graphics industry. Hiring specialized graphic designers and experts for a single project is very expensive and can raise the financial costs. Even if specialized people are not hired still getting custom 3D models and graphics prepared from a provider is an expensive job. Flat Pyramid has provided a way out of these problems by making available lots of 3D models, textures, rendered photos and many other interactive graphics.

Flat Pyramid is mainly divided into 5 categories which are 3D models, photo renders, textures, 3D tutorials and 3D software and programs. 3D models, photo renders and textures, all are further divided into 15-25 different categories, which are very well tailored. Few examples of these sub categories are architecture, food, animals, computers and technology, business and communication, sports, weapon and many others. 3D tutorials section is divided with respect to the program to which it relates (e.g. cinema4D, maya, 3Dmax) or with respect to the technique/process used (3D modeling, 3D rendering and animations etc.). Though everything is listed in its respective category, filtering the list with different filters is also possible.

There is also section called “Custom 3D Graphics” which does not contain any stuff but is there to meet your requirements. At Flat Pyramid, it is possible to let customize 3D models or photo renders accordingly to your wishes. They even offer 3D animation service that includes whole set of works concerning with pre-production, production and post-production. These kinds of services are quite unique among this type of websites. Also, Flat Pyramid is not just a seller of interactive graphics and related products, it provides the opportunity for designers to place their stuff and sell it, too. In short, customers can do both buy and sell products. To sell products, one just needs to sign up for a free account with the option to become seller. Flat Pyramid pays 55% of the proceeds from sales to the artist. In this way, the company provides an excellent platform to expose your talent by making it public. Plus it is good opportunity to earn some money, too.

Let’s have a look on technical aspects, like file format and sizes. All types of models or textures are already searchable as per their format, however, if you buy anything from Flat Pyramid, you are likely to get many formats. For example in case of 3D models you get about 4 to 10 different formats depending upon the availability. The most famous formats are .3ds, .fbx, .max, .obj, .dxf, .psd etc. for 3D models, JPEG, PNG for photo renders and JPEG only for textures. File formats of 3D models give designers the independence of using these models in any program of their choice. Each purchased photo render or texture comes in various sizes (from low resolution to high resolution images), too.

Speaking about pricing, Flat Pyramid possesses a simple and straightforward payment system. You simply pay for what you buy. The price of 3D models varies from 40 to 650 USD per item (according to complexity and details), whereas photo renders are available for 10 to 70 USD per photo. No matter how many items you buy, the price would remain the same. The concept of membership is not introduced on Flat Pyramid. The price of custom 3D work also depends on the detail included in the model and the deadline before which it is required. It usually cost more than a regular item but for this price they adjust it according to your wishes and needs. The time which it takes to deliver the custom order is around 6 weeks, but it is possible to agree to shorter delivery time. Flat Pyramid even helps its clients in using the purchased stuff in their projects. You need not to pay any extra fees for obtaining pictures in different sizes or formats.

There is no doubt that Flat Pyramid is made with a very good concept and clear principles. Initially taken a slow and steady pace, the database is now growing quite rapidly. The most common advantages of being a customer of Flat Pyramid includes reduction in production costs, ease in buying items, ease in navigating through different categories, the availability of various file formats and sizes and opportunity to sell one´s works. Other than this, the custom modeling and design facility is really a unique feature. It helps designers in fulfilling those needs of their clients which they are not capable of. It is like a machine full of expertise and ready to output anything. In addition to above mentioned features, Flat Pyramid is made in a very decent and professional look.

Graphics designing is a field full of complexities, new challenges and changing technologies, hence being perfect in this industry is almost impossible. In accordance with this fact, Flat Pyramid also has some disadvantages or weak areas. The main problem is the lack of content. Though it’s increasing with a good pace but right now Flat Pyramid is not a place where you can find everything. In photo renders section, many categories do not contain any file at all. That can leave a very bad impression in visitor’s mind. The prices are also quite high if considering buying in bulk. Reasonable solution would be to offer some discounts or membership plans in these cases. Also, only one file format is available for textures and hardly two are available for photo renders section. Till now the 3D modeling has been the main focus which left textures and photo renders section in dark.

In my concluding remarks I would appreciate the efforts of designers and complete team of Flat Pyramid. They have managed to build a good platform which is likely to grow very fast in days to come. Even the stuff which is being offered by the company today – there is no doubt it is of very good quality and can be very handy to all professionals in the field of graphic designing. With efficiency and better skills, Flat Pyramid has started its journey towards earning a good repute.

Summary:

+ 3D models are of very good quality and designed with perfection. They are compatible with all leading software of the graphic designing industry. In addition, opportunities to let customize 3D models or photo renders for you or even earn money by selling your own, make this website unique.

-    The website lacks the volume of stuff. There´s no content in some categories so complete reliance on Flat Pyramid is somehow not possible. Also, it is needed to mention, that I haven´t got any reply on my e-mail I sent them in order to ask for some samples.

Popularity: 34% [?]

This review is for all CG artists dealing with everyday seeking for the right material, whether for their work or just for use in leisure time. If you belong to such kind of people, please feel free to read.

I ran into this site while browsing the internet in order to find some interesting textures and designs which I started to collect for my further works. The one thing about this site, that I need to mention right at the beginning, is diversity of its content in terms of products provided. Assist CG offers not only textures but also designs, backgrounds, video transitions and also software for video composition and texture modification. This site is a great place for getting ideas and good stuff.

It has to be admitted that in spite of its modest collection in terms of the number of textures in each category, Assist CG is pretty impressive and has lots to give. The website’s collection boasts of many interesting, quality photos, a few of them are hard to find anywhere else. Some of the eye catchy textures that caught my attention were for example Wood, Lawns and Paving sets. Most photos in Wood section may seem common, but some of them are very rare in its genre. Among the ordinary textures from Paving Sets, one can find intriguing photos of the Roman roadways, too. Above all, I would highlight remarkable designs offered in Tiles and Mosaic section, which are very rare and impressive. These great sets are one of the reasons, why artists definitely should visit this website. Since most of the textures represent different surfaces of the terrain and various kinds of walls and roofing, this site could be helpful for game developers in process of creating surroundings in games or for architects while presenting their architectural projects.

Textures are offered in the resolution ranging from 512×512 to 2048×2048 pixels, some even higher. Those in resolution of 512×512 pixels can be downloaded for free without having a membership. All you need to do is get registered and you can enjoy free downloads. Although free photos are in quite small resolution, still it’s a nice gesture from the website like this, which can also persuade artists to subscribe. Nevertheless, to get the original resolution of the images, you have to become a member.

Except textures, you can find a lot of more. The site provides Blender 2.49 which is software for creating video composition with different visual effects. Such video composition can be used in the presentation of your project. One can also find various transitions and animated video backgrounds ready for use in this video. Moreover, the site has a tutorial section in which a user gets information of how to use the provided software with some examples and tips. A new user, just like me, who is interested in making creative videos, can really get some help out of this. The basic version of the software is available for free download once you registered, but the full version which enables to use sources from the library is open only to members exclusively. There is also workstation section on the site, which provides software that helps you modify and make textures.

Assist CG offers a membership in length of three months for which one needs to pay only 10 USD. For such a small price one gets access to download all the textures and videos on the site in full resolution. The software is available in its full version, too. Although there is part of the website’s content which can be downloaded for free, for a price this low, I would better become a member and enjoy the full capacity of the site.

The license agreement of the site has very simple policies. The first being that one cannot put the textures and other material from the site directly on his/her own web for sale. If you want to do so, significant modification would be needed. Otherwise, all content is royalty free and can be used anywhere one wish to use.

The only defect of the site I noticed is its small collection. Assist CG holds very few categories with low number of textures in each category, when compared with sites like www.environment-textures.com, which has three times more categories and subcategories and which with the total number of more than 99,000 photos is one of the largest resources of high resolution textures.

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On the other hand, the site has a good search engine which helps to find any video, texture or software one needs quickly and easily. The site is also very well designed, too. I found it very intuitive and uncomplicated to use. Also, all the textures are very clearly divided into categories. That makes browsing simple compared to other bulky websites where it becomes difficult to get to a desired texture.

This review should provide the relevant information about Assist CG and I hope it has helped you get the idea of the site and its content. Please, note the summary below.

Summary

+ Intriguing and rare textures in good resolution and high-definition videos. Software is really helpful plus tutorials make it easier to use.

- Quite few categories of textures as compared to similar websites. It holds a small collection of textures in each category as well.

Popularity: 11% [?]