SOFT WARE: NOMAD SCULPT | PROCREATE OR PHOTOSHOP
Glen Southern replies
Cutaway illustrations date back to the medieval period, as well as finding use in contemporar y art such as Star Wars vehicle and ship imagery. Generally speaking a cutaway is a visual representation of an object that shows its internal components, organs or features as if a por tion has been sliced off.
This technique is used to provide a clear view of internal workings or layout. The exterior of the subject is typically depicted as transparent, allowing viewers to see inside. Cutaway illustrations are commonly employed in fields like concept art, anatomy, engineering and architecture to communicate complex concepts in an accessible, understandable manner. They can also enhance visual storytelling and worldbuilding by providing insight of the inner workings of fictional or imaginary objects and structures.
3D is perfect for this type of design work, as you can build a model and then carefully reveal the internal intricacies as you need either for animation, motion graphics, or of course as a reference for technical illustration. Because you can show and hide parts, and even make certain areas transparent, it works well to help reveal the hidden details.
Most 3D software is useful in this regard and I’ll personally use Blender, Cinema 4D, ZBrush and Nomad Sculpt on the iPad. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. As long as the software has tools for building out or sculpting geometry, has transparency capabilities and can show and hide parts of the mesh, you can likely use it for this type of work.
Some software has perfect tools for these jobs, such as ZBrush its with Live Booleans that essentially let you define an area to hide or reveal while still being able to move that part of the cutaway. This method helps you to establish different angles and views by moving the cut in a non-destructive way.
In this example we’ll look at creating a botanical cutaway for a snowdrop using nothing more than Nomad Sculpt and Procreate on the iPad.
