The Value of Reference Material

When modelling anything, the importance of visual reference material cannot be understated.

Just like when drawing, there is a temptation to rely soley on our memory to tell us what something should look like. However, if we have an exmple of what we are replicating to work from, our model (or drawing) will be much more accurate.

Proportion, Shape, Colour, Scale and many more attributes greatly benifit from the use of reference imagery. Though it may feel like an interruption to our creative process to do so, it’s great to start any project by amassing a nice stock of real world reference for all the assets in your scene. (A simple Google Images search will usually suffice). This is in fact a really exciting part of the process, as you’re effectively defining the “look” your scene is going to have.

My most recent project called for some antique style furniture. I was surprised by how little I could recall of what defines the appearance of older furniture, though after some quick image searches, I was away laughing.

Here you can see my reference image for a lamp, beside the final model.

...And my table reference alongside the resulting model.

The process of modeling something from reference reminds me allot of drawing from life, in that you are looking, reading, and then reproducing form. Though it may take a little longer, the results are incredibly rewarding.