During the second term of the vfx course I approached the world of crypto art and in particular the world of NFTs. The reason was simple, being also a photographer in my free time I was looking for ways to show or sell my work. I had tried through digital platforms or galleries but without success, until I discovered the world of nfts. Nfts (non-fungible tokens) are in fact an alternative way to show and monetize your content, digitally, based on blockchain technology. Whether it’s a photograph or a 3D render, it makes no difference, everything can become a non-fungible token.
Having also discussed it extensively in my final thesis, I decided to create nfts as my final major project. The idea is to create two digital art with maya and blender, minting on the blockchain, finally build a 3D virtual space where to exhibit the works, where people can access it from VR Headset or from desktop.
This is my initial presentation, explaining about what an NFT is, explaining references and development:
Initially the idea was to develop the entire nfts on Unreal Engine, but after practicing a lot this year Maya I rather wanted to learn an alternative program to it like Cinema4D or Blender.
First of all, I looked around to identify digital artists and collection, known in the nfts field. Among the many I particularly liked the artworks of:
David McLeod and his “Fuzzy Feelings” NFT collection
Fuzzy feelings is an original series that began several years ago and sparked a massive trend in the digital art world and social medias. What inspired me of this project is the movement loop and the different materiality/tactile quality used, that laid to a new visual language. Abstract and organic shapes made in Cinema 4D, using volumes, rendered in high quality with a unique sound effect.
Scene of the Solverse by Infinity Labs
Scenes from the Solverse is a collection of 8888 NFTs or “scenes” from every corner of the metaverse. There are 1111 unique artworks and 8 copies of each, to represent 8 different possible timelines.
Reference: 3D moving surfaces that overlap each other, Various landscapes and futuristic elements, Colours
Antoni Tudisco: Creative director & 3D visual artist
Reference: Made with Unreal Engine and Cinema4D, Short sequences, Environment research: unreal and unknown universes/oasis
For the development of my project I followed some ideas from some digital artists I found on the internet, many of them used blender as 3D computer graphics software, I found this tutorial on youtube extremely useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVOX5_Vl2VI
I had tried using blender earlier this year to create an asset for a compositing task on Nuke. I found blender similar in some aspects to maya, however I was unable to get exactly the desired results, but I’m happy to have learned a new software as I wanted.
After that my classmate Antoni and I decided to collaborate and create a virtual space to exhibit our nfts. Using Maya we have created a 3D model of a room, in a futuristic style following a “Cyber Punk Tokyo” style as a reference. The idea is to make it possible for people to access the virtual space, through a VR headset or through a computer.
We created the virtual room file with our artwork inside, through the virtual 360 camera in unreal it is possible to create an accessible virtual space. However, in order for our digital creations to be real NFTs it is necessary to mint them on the blockchain and show them in some virtual space of the Metaverse, so that our nfts are effectively accessible to people. Coining an NFT is a process called Minting or simply Mint, briefly it is the phase in which the digital asset created is put into the blockchain, thus creating the NFT, a non-fungible token.
The metaverse is a vast virtual world that lives between the blockchain and the internet. The world of NFTs is located in the metaverse, there are many exhibition spaces where you can see and buy nfts, even real art galleries.
We have decided to expose our nfts in a virtual space directly in the metaverse, accessible to everyone directly from the following link: