pic: VEX Mecanum Wheel/Tread

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Good design skills take work. Rendering, not too much skill as it is patience and having an eye for lighting and textures along with a solid computer/software package. (Trust me, I used to spend more time making something look good in a render than I used to spend on the actual design).

As a former animator I'm taking offense to this. Creating an effective render takes just as much skill (and imho a little more talent) than designing something. The artist must take into consideration the angle of the part, the lighting, what you can show off and what you can't (for static images) and several other factors that all contribute to the quality of the render. Remember, the point of a render is to convey the design in a simple and effective manner. If you make a render of a dark piece on a black background than you are not being effective. Just the same as if your goal was to design a ball shooter and your design sprays gear teeth across the field.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't discount the work other people do just because it looks easy. I've read books on lighting, hundreds are articles on shot composition, and spent tons of time practicing to learn what every setting can do to an image (for my camera which is a very similar artistic pursuit). Engineering has rules that can't be broken, arts have rules that can't be broken except when they should be... or when the artist feels like it... or when it looks good. It is a completely different mindset and, if you take the time to really learn it, I would claim it is as hard as any engineering.