Different takes on 3D modeling

Today I've stumbled upon two very interesting examples of what levels has 3D modeling reached these days, and I'd like to share them here.

The image above is by American photographer and model maker Michael Paul Smith, whose work I came across thanks to this article on The New York Times.  

Using scale-model cars mostly from the 1950s and ’60s, a few handmade miniature sets and his camera skills, Michael Paul Smith has created a town, Elgin Park, that exists only in photographs.

The accuracy and details that Smith puts into his work is breathtaking, and seriously makes the pictures of his model look like real-life shots: I've tried sending a couple of friends direct links to the Flickr slideshow and just one person realised they were models right away. Many of them also have real buildings, trees, and other objects as their background: these are usually at least half a block away to give the right sense of scale and perspective.

The image above is by Canadian 3D artist Stephan Brisson, who used Maya, mental ray, and Photoshop to conceptualise, design, model, render, etc. this fantastic place.

Here too, the sheer amount of details is striking — bordering astonishing — and many features clearly require a high level of digital skills: look at those air bubbles! See more 3D digital art (best of) on the Society of Digital Artists' website here.

What's also interesting is that these two very different approaches to 3D modeling have both an important part to play in today's art world. On the one hand you have the traditional take that we've all experienced, in a way or another, through miniature train sets and car reproductions: touching because so real. On the other it's intriguing to discover how much you can do with computer programs, some of them as popular and widespread as Photoshop. And with such beautiful results.