Cut-Away Illustration and Animation

Those who haven’t yet considered 3D technical illustration or animation as a potential marketing solution – and instead rely simply on video or photography – will benefit from this quick mention.

In the real world, it’s often impossible to visualize how something works. Our eyes stop at the exterior shell of the object, unable to penetrate and see what lies within.

3D Cutaways are an excellent way to explain your product’s features, benefits and value proposition. By either ghosting away the exterior shell or slicing away a portion, details previously invisible are now visible.

I learned about cut-away illustration many years ago when upon discovering the work of David Kimble, the famous airbrush artist responsible for so many automotive masterpieces. Inspired by his work, I set about to create my own version of such illustrations. One of the biggest differences in how David created his art and what we do at CraneDigital is the computer. David did all of his illustrations by hand, painstakingly drawing and airbrushing every detail.

Before moving to the computer in the early 90’s I too was an airbrush illustrator. But eventually the computer became the sensible choice for the technically complex illustrations I kept finding myself working on.

Sometimes you don’t want to show something specific – for example, a proprietary modification you’ve made to your product. 3D Animation can easily omit whatever intellectual property or features you wish to protect.