Culberson wins fall semester award for modeling & texturing

April 15, 2024

Lainy Culberson, a senior Digital Art & Design (DAD) – Production Animation major from Rapid City, was awarded best 3D modeling and texturing for the fall semester for her piece titled “Retro Building.”

Structural modeling is set in stone a bit more, she explained, and she liked that about this project.

To complete the design, she first found her reference image. Then she moved on to the block-out process, which uses basic cubes, spheres, and shapes to build the beginnings of your reference, Culberson explained.

She usually prefers a cleaner, more put together piece of concept art, but was drawn to this reference image because it differed from her other works by being “A little all over the place.”

After developing the shape, she used software like Maya and Zbrush to create texture, cracks, and more in the building. This was the first time she took on such a project, in the past focusing more on characters.

The project took Culberson approximately 75 to 80 hours to complete, with the modeling taking about 30 hours, texturing taking 15 to 20 hours, and the remainder dedicated to finishing.

She has worked hard on her 3D art over the past year and was excited to learn she earned an award for her project last semester. “It felt really good.”

Culberson has loved animation since she was a child. She described herself as a “Disney kid.”

“Growing up, I was really big into Disney movies, and I still am,” she said.

As she got older, she started diving deeper into how animation is created and decided to pursue it as a career. Culberson was drawn to DSU because of the proximity to home, but she found it the perfect fit once she arrived.

“I’m honestly really glad that I ended up here,” she said. “The size is really nice, especially for the major I’m in.”

Culberson appreciates the expertise provided by the faculty, especially by Daniel Seman and Konrad Lightner, who has industry experience working with Disney. “His internal knowledge of how the industry works has been very helpful.”

Wendy Romero, coordinator of the DAD program, has also been helpful in guiding Culberson in areas outside of animation as part of her computer graphics minor.

Additionally, she enjoys the collaborative nature of the program, sharing that students get really close. “You start sharing advice with the people around you, which develops into a close-knit group,” she said.

Culberson was also selected as an OUtstanding DSU artist for the year.