🌆🤖 The AI Mirage: Why True 3D Artists Shine Brighter Than Ever!
- Retro Sonya
- Jun 21
- 8 min read

Neon lights. Palm trees. Synths humming under a glowing sunset.
That’s the vibe of this bold new era — where AI dazzles with instant “creations” and everyone’s hyping up the death of traditional artists. ((“No more pain,”)) they say. ((“No more stubborn artists to deal with,”)) they laugh.

But is it really true? Can AI programs such as 3D AI Studio, Tripoai or Meshy truly replace legit 3D creatives? Let's dive in!
In the age of AI, I would like to encourage some artists today. On the last blog I wrote about AI (Why Do Artists Attack Other Artists? - Part 2), I addressed the hostility against AI art sharing in the Synthwave community. Some say that AI art sharing is lazy and championed by know-nothings. While folks like me say AI can be used as a tool for sharing, even for artists to connect with the right audience, I also suggested that we put it in its rightful place. I would also like to point out the ounce of truth in the criticism.
While legitimate artists, such as myself, use AI art for sharing, we also have non-skilled peeps bragging about how they will get that free ride into the art community with their AI creations and rolling in the dough💰, as if you could actually use these meshes in real-time production for games and animated movies.
Can they even make that claim? And is it really true? And how can you make money off them if you cannot use them for anything other than display?

What these AI art critics, who excluded me from the creative community, didn't realize was:
I defended AI art sharing as a tool for social media, not as a replacement for professional art production. Big difference!
What do I mean by that? Let's also address where these critics are coming from.
Here’s the thing that these AI enthusiasts who brag about real artists becoming obsolete: They don’t realize, cruising blind into the dark like it’s 1984 without headlights on.⚡ You can’t fake real skill. ⚡
💥 He says real 3D artists are obsolete because AI can do it all. The dude can’t even extrude a cube without calling IT support. 🤖💻
Oh, you're wondering what that means? Read on!
💿 The Missing Pieces:

Think AI can actually do what real 3D artists do? Let’s take a drive down memory lane — you’d better buckle up:

🔥 Topology & Edge Flow: AI might spit out a pretty mesh. But can it move? Will it deform gracefully under animation? Nope. Real artists know edge loops, clean topology, and proper rigging so that the character can dance under neon skies.
💥 Dude thinks AI will replace 3D artists. Give him a rigged model and ask him to make it jump. Spoiler: you’ll get a glitch-dance remix. 🕺⚡

🎮 Game-Ready Assets: Game engines don’t care about “pretty.” They care about LOD, lightmap UVs, material setups, collision meshes — all things AI-enthusiasts never even thought about.
I am so serious. These AI enthusiasts who mock artists, like me; who have taken the time to learn these things, have no idea about the work that goes into these game assets. They think they can now become successful in the art field and get a free golden ticket to a game art career or success in the animation industry by typing prompts into an AI generator to spit out models for them? Without having to get a solid education in game art production? Try showing that to an employer. Show them your 'knowledge' and the steps you took to create it on Artstation. Oh wait...
💥 He wanted to brag about making 3D art without artists. Two FBX imports and a crashed game engine later, and guess who’s Googling ‘what is retopology'? 🤖🔥

🎥 Animation & Motion: Smooth, human movement isn’t born from magic prompts. It’s born from animation principles, weight painting, IK/FK rigs, constraints, mocap clean-up — hands-on techniques that make a world feel alive.
💥 The only thing his AI replaces faster than artists is his own patience once he sees the rigging process.🧵😂
💥 VFX & Motion Graphics: Fireworks over a cityscape? Synthwave light trails in a music video? That’s compositing, simulation tweaking, particle design, color grading, glitch effects. It’s an art, and artists don’t need AI to light up the night.
💥 Says he’ll never need motion graphics artists. Let’s see him animate text that doesn’t look like a Windows Movie Maker demo. 🎥💀
Meanwhile, this is a real artist's work. What will you choose?
AI can generate flashy results at the push of a button — but knowing what to do with them next? That’s the real craft. Every beautiful model, every cinematic VFX shot, every hypnotic motion graphic you admire has a human who knows the rules, the tools, and the tricks under the neon hood.
But AI can do all the VFX, right? Sure. Until you want it to actually match the lighting of the scene. That’s when the panic kicks in. 🔥😅
Without that expertise, AI output is just raw fuel. Artists are the ones who light it up. 🔥💜
🕶️ True Artists Don’t Fade

✅ AI-Generated Models Still Need Human Cleanup!
And that cleanup is work: retopology, fixing UVs, making materials, adjusting weight maps — all of these require specialized knowledge. Even with the best AI, most professionals will touch up or completely rebuild the asset.
✅ AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement! Professional artists already embrace AI to:
Rapidly iterate on ideas.
Fill in tedious tasks like creating base textures or generating concept art.
Speed up the boring bits so they can focus on creativity and polish.
That’s why the artists who understand the pipeline will continue to thrive — they’ll use these tools intelligently. Meanwhile, people who “just generate stuff” without a deeper understanding will hit a wall as soon as they need production-quality assets that work properly.
AI is a tool — a wild one — but a tool nonetheless. And tools don’t make the masterpiece. Artists do. 🔧🎨
Those bragging they’ll never need a real artist again? They haven’t hit their first rigging bug.

This applies to music, too; folks! Just a reminder!
They haven’t wrestled with baking maps that actually look good. And they sure haven’t spent hours making sure their characters can groove perfectly to a synthwave track.
🎨Artistic Core Skills:
Design fundamentals — Color theory, composition, form, anatomy, proportion.
Stylistic consistency — Matching existing IPs or creating art that stays on-brand.
Critical eye for detail — Spotting and fixing tiny errors most people would never notice.
Hidden skill sets & technical knowledge most AI-braggers never even think about:

🎮 Video Game Production Know-How:
Polygon budget optimization — Knowing how to hit strict polycount targets for real-time engines like Unity/Unreal.
Efficient UV mapping & texel density — Balancing resolution and performance.
LOD (Level of Detail) — Crafting multiple versions of assets for performance.
Collision meshes & hitboxes — Creating invisible, simplified shapes for gameplay physics.
Engine setup — Importing into game engines properly (materials, shaders, physics setup, scaling).
Lighting & lightmap baking — Proper UV2 setups and ensuring smooth baked lighting without seams or artifacts.
Material instancing & optimization — Creating reusable material setups to cut draw calls and improve framerates.

💥 He thought AI would do all the work. Five baking errors and one exploded UV map later, and he’s crying into his keyboard. 🎨💥

🎥 Animation Production Knowledge
Rigging & skinning — Building bone hierarchies, painting proper weights, IK/FK setups for characters.
Blend shapes / morph targets — Crafting facial expressions, phoneme shapes for lip-syncing.
Animation principles — Timing, spacing, weight, overlap, arcs. Knowing these is what makes animations feel alive.
Motion capture cleanup — Even mocap data needs tweaking to avoid popping or jittering.
Facial rigging & deformation — Creating proper topology for expressive face animation.
Animation layers & blending — Mixing idle, walk, and run cycles into seamless locomotion states.
Constraints & drivers — Advanced rig setups that help animators work faster and achieve stylized movement.
He thought AI could do VFX. Until he learned what an alpha channel is — now his explosions have white borders like bad clip art.💣🖼️
🎵 Music Video & Motion Graphics Skills
After Effects & compositing — Keying, color correction, particle effects, and transitions synced to the beat.
Camera work — Understanding cinematic shots, lens effects, depth of field, framing, pacing.
Kinetic typography & lyric videos — Syncing text perfectly to vocals or beats for lyric/music videos.
Particle effects & simulations — Generating and directing particle trails, fireworks, energy effects that match the song's mood.
Post-processing — Color grading, glows, motion blur, glitch effects to enhance style.
Storyboarding & previs — Planning shots and movements before rendering.
💥 AI will do all the VFX work, he said. Now his lens flare is blinking like a glitching Christmas light. Artistic? Nope. Accidental? Absolutely. ✨🎄
💥 VFX and Special Effects Expertise:
Fluid & smoke simulations — Adjusting parameters like viscosity, turbulence, wind for realistic fire, explosions, fog.
Rigid & soft body physics — Correct setups for debris, shatter effects, and cloth.
Dynamic lighting & shadows — Lighting effects that match scene tone and integrate CG with live footage.
Green screen compositing & tracking — Combining live-action footage with CG seamlessly.
Scripting tools & automation — Writing Python, Blueprints, or node-based setups for faster workflows.
Rendering optimization — Knowing what can be faked vs. what needs true ray tracing to save time and money.
💥 AI bro: ‘I don’t need VFX artists anymore.’ Also AI bro: spends 3 days trying to figure out why his green screen key looks like a 90s home video. 📼👻
💡 Big-Picture Skills AI Enthusiasts Forget:
Production pipeline knowledge — How every department fits together: concept → model → rig → animation → lighting → render → post.
Version control & team collaboration — Using tools like Git, Perforce, ShotGrid to work across a team without chaos.
Client & team communication — Understanding briefs, art direction, making iterations, and meeting deadlines.
Creative problem-solving — Improvising and innovating under hardware/software constraints.

🌇 Future-Proof Creativity
In this neon-lit future, artists who embrace technology and hold their craft close will thrive. AI can draw the blueprint. Artists will raise the skyline.
And as long as there are worlds to explore and hearts to move —real skill will never go out of style. 💜🏙️
My thoughts on these AI model generating tools: As a modeler since 2016, I can appreciate these apps for making quick models for background assets for props to fill up scenes with. But don't cheat yourself out of learning a craft because it's easier.
These apps won't always be here. But your learned skills will. Just saying... but cool apps. I use AI art for sharing on social media. AI is great for that. But when it comes to 3D assets, you gotta put in the work, AI or not. You gotta clean up the topology, the UV maps, the textures, the normal maps.

As the old saying goes: "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll never go hungry." Learn how to do it, and you won't have to keep paying them to do it for you.
AI is an exciting helper — but without this foundational knowledge and hands-on experience, these AI “braggers” will quickly hit the wall as soon as they need their stuff to actually work in a production pipeline. That’s where real artists & technicians will always stand apart.
So, as a creative, what do you think? Do you think it would be easier and better to use AI or to do it yourself from the start? And should a creative in the professional world use AI or not? Let us know your thoughts. See you in the comments!
Keep creating. Keep glowing. Stay synthwave. ✨
Retro Sonya out!
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