Shapr3D (opens in new tab)'s closest equivalent is in fact not Maya, but something more like Moi 3D (opens in new tab) – however, the developers know its limitations and have totally embraced the gesture and tap-based interface options of Apple’s devices, providing a detailed series of free tutorials on their YouTube channel (opens in new tab), and in fact within the app itself. It also becomes increasingly simple to add supporting content like photo refs and video using the iPhone’s camera and syncing my files automatically – when I turn either device on, bam! There is my content, shared and ready to go.

In addition, syncing my iPhone makes my digital content available to me 24/7 wherever I may be, whether I have my iPad or not, meaning I can remotely download, share, move and store all my files whenever. This is actually the key to this whole enterprise: the iPad alone will not suffice, you need the cloud-based storage to make this workable, not just for its size, but also for its ease of access and shareability.

In order to fully release the potential of the iPad, I’ve embraced Apple’s recommendation to use as many of its products as possible, signing up for iCloud storage and linking my other Apple devices (an iPhone X and an older iPad Mini). After all, with the release of Photoshop for iPad, it looks like more and more apps could be getting an iPad-ready makeover. Apps like Face Cap (see video above) allow you to use Apple’s front-facing camera as a motion capture device, allowing you to record basic speech and facial expressions. So perhaps the iPad isn't as limited as you might imagine for 3D work. There is surprisingly some limited capability for mocap.

The iPad can't do rendering, animation or rigging – so straight off the bat, we are limited to the asset creation portion of the pipeline we can model, and create artwork and concepts, but that’s where this journey ends.

3d art on ipad