As part of the process of undertaking this commission Cara developed 3D working drawings for Seed Heads using Maxon's CINEMA 4D, a state-of-the-art 3D drawing program. An incredibly powerful piece of software, CINEMA 4D contains everything needed to create high quality 3D images and animations for use as part of the design process.
CINEMA 4D itself is incredibly complicated and once Cara had created the initial concept and drawings on paper she enlisted the help of her father, Michael McCrory to assist with the creation of the 3D wireframes and renders. Michael, also an internationally recognised silversmith, is an expert with CINEMA 4D and he helped Cara to realise the rendered drawings of Seed Heads.
Michael, trained traditionally, now designs as much on the computer as on paper. He states: "The computer has been a revelation for me and it has revolutionised how I work. I use the Cinema 4D software extensively to conceptualise, develop and render my silverware designs. I can play around with the form and lighting to get a better idea of what my designs will look like and make numerous changes at the touch of a key without having to redraw every new design detail.
"When I am commissioned to design and make a piece of silverware I can present the client with a rendered image of exactly how the finish design will look before I make it. In keeping with this approach, I assisted Cara with renders for the Seed Heads piece as part of the design process."
Cara states: "Drawing on the computer is not a quick process, it took several weeks of drawing wireframes and models before the virtual drawing began to resemble my sketches and concepts. Once complete, however, the 3D models allowed me to develop and explore the design's three dimensional potential fully.
"CINEMA 4D is a complicated program and I am very grateful to my father's patience and computer skills which enabled the Seed Heads model to look so life-like on the computer. Without him it would not have been possible!
"My tableware is enhanced by user participation, the user often controlling the positioning of the different objects' relationship to one another, the piece constantly evolving. CINEMA 4D allows both the designer and viewer to experiment with how the object might be viewed on the table within a virtual environment."
A brief glimpse of how CINEMA 4D allows rendered objects to be repositioned and explored through user participation can be seen in the 3D Modeller Application developed for the Silver Sounds exhibition.
