New Orleans-based TurboSquid is a place for 3D professionals to find digital models for use in high-end 3D software. Their models are used by game developers, news agencies, architects, visual effects studios, advertisers, and creative professionals around the world.
Their latest venture, stemming from the 3D focus of the company, is PixelSquid, is a marketplace where designers can alter images through a new content type that combines the creative flexibility of 3D with the simplicity of 2D.
Matthew Hales, VP of Creative at TurboSquid, says designers can spin and arrange PixelSquid objects directly inside of their photoshop or iOS composition using the PixelSquid plugin, with zero knowledge of 3D software. “They can even separate their PixelSquid objects into a collection of advanced compositing layers, letting them use techniques that just weren’t easily available outside of the special effects industry until now.”
Hales says the ideal customer is a creative explorer, “The kind of designer that wants to push their art, is open to new methods, and enthusiastically embraces experimentation.”
The mobile app went live last week and is now available from the App Store. It allows you to add photoreal objects to your shots that were previously only available to professional 3D artists. “Ultimately we’d like to expand the definition of 3D artist – the app really lets anyone have fun with 3D design,” shares Hales.
Hales provided additional insight into this latest venture. PixelSquid has been in development for over four years, ever since the idea of selling 2D renders of our 3D content dawned on a lot of people at TurboSquid. “All of these ah-ha moments were bubbling up from multiple departments, for very different reasons, and all pointing in the same direction…It became clear that high-quality renders had become a viable alternative to conventional photography, and that 2D designers were eager to consume it. After over a decade of 3D and 2D designers remaining largely separated by technology, we had a unique opportunity to connect them.”
“So far, pretty much all of our challenges stem from the fact that it is truly a new content type,” he explains. “Getting the right balance between feature complexity and creative opportunity is the central challenge for us. It’s not 3D, it’s not 2D, it’s somewhere in between.”
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