FoToonZ are the result of an idea I originally had in 1990, when I was opening an advertising photography studio in Charlotte, NC (Studio 5). My thought was to do a sort of photographic cartoon, using live models, real props, etc... The more I considered the idea, however, the more I realized that wouldn't be practical. Too difficult to do a really good job of it. Also, far too time consuming and expensive. So, the idea went on the back burner for a while.
About a year later, I saw some examples of the 3D photo-realistic rendering that was starting to be used in movie special effects. It knocked my socks off, to say the least. Now THERE was a good way to do my 'toonZ! The problem? Prohibitively expensive hardware and software for a very uncertain payback. "Photoons", as I was thinking of them then, were not going to happen yet. I kept a close eye on developments in the 3D arena, however.
In 1996, I bought a very high end Windows NT workstation and a license for Lightwave3D 5.0. Photorealism was now achievable, but still much too time consuming. It would have taken me a month or more to do each 'toon, between designing the 3D objects, texturing them, and rendering them. Not practical at all. It was evident, though, that the hardware and software for doing this sort of thing were getting better, faster, and less expensive every year. I bided my time. And kept improving my skills with a variety of graphic software.
By the fall of 2004, I decided that conditions were right to finally get this project moving. I acquired an XP workstation, upgraded my existing software, bought more software, and began buying the 3D digital objects, textures, backgrounds, and so forth that I would need. I spent quite a lot of time and energy to get just the right "look" I was after, and sorting through reams of ideas that I'd written down to decide what was going to make it into production first. The result is what you now see on your screen. I hope you enjoy them!
Gordon
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