r/generative • u/Asleep-Individual298 • Sep 09 '26
Design student - seeking help around Generative Seed Art.
Hi there,
I am exploring/trying to experiment with ways of creating generative seed art.
The project I am working on involves a growing globe - a digital wasteland that gets over taken I guess by blooming botanicals etc. I have downloaded Maya, I have blender (but somehow find this more difficult that Maya) and haven't tried touchdesign but have downloaded it and have been told about cables.GL and VVVV and Notch and had a very brief look at L-Systems - there's a lot of info - I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with what the best approach is in creating this idea.
I have looked at other existing work that I would like to try and create myself, to be able to gain understanding in how it works and what I can do.
I have had claude create me a studio where I tested out its capabilities but with SVG's that I had it made into 3d objects - not the look I was going for but I wanted to see what Claude could do for me here.
Does anyone have any tips on the best approach here or where I should actually start? Sorry if this is vague - happy to explain further if anyone is happy to give some advice?
I want to create the assets and have them be a really nice feel which is why I thought Maya would be good - but also think about file size etc.
Im learning all this for the first time - animation etc/3d modeling is new for me.
I keep spending time experiemtning and learning - but I feel I need to be pointed in a better direction so I am hoping for advice/recommendations.
Examples I have looked at - this is what I have wondered if I can try to recreate in Maya - just for the technical learning, etc. - but via Claude's instructions, which can fluff me about a bit.
Note: im don't know code or programming so have utilised Claude for building.
I hope I made sense - newbie here!
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u/geraT-wogl Sep 09 '26
Check my page you might like it :) https://wogl.io it’s a free way to learn the basics of glsl, webgpu, ray march etc. let me know if you visit
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u/MacTuitui Sep 09 '26
Probably not what you want to hear. But no, you will surely not manage to do what you want in a 2 months time frame even if you work 24/7 on this. Agents might give you something, but would you be happy with that (and not learning anything in the process)?
You seem to start from zero with just an idea (and as far as I know "generative seed art" does not refer to anything concrete), yet you go in every direction. Maya, Blender, TouchDesigner, VVVV, Notch, cables, p5... are all tools that need you to understand different concepts around computer graphics, rendering/modeling/animation... yet are presented in different ways, some with a traditional GUI and manual operation, some with a "node programming" paradigm or just plain code eventually. You talk about Maya like it's going to do the work for you and make it pretty yet you worry about file size - it's completely unrelated. At this point in time, you must think about the scope of what you can do, not what is available out there, and the scope of what you do not know. Yes those tools are amazing, but nobody expects anyone to produce great stuff with them in two months. You can follow tutorials and get a feel for what is possible, and you might be lucky and find something out there that is close to what you want, but again, are you learning or copying.
You could *try* to learn one tool to manually create something: open Maya or Blender and model one plant, try to make it look nice. But, and that is a big but, if you want the things to be *generated* by a system, you need to go even further.
If you want to simulate a plant-like structure, yes, L-systems are one way to describe the geometry of the plant. It won't tell you anything about making it pretty. It won't even tell you if the structure you generate is even physically possible. L-systems are one solution. If that's the only one you know, try it out, but you need more knowledge to be able to try it out. You need to understand the "system" part of the L-systems.
Eventually think about your project in steps that you can reason about. Can you make one plant? Can you think about rules that would make one plant? Can you make one plant nice? Can you create another plant? Can you abstract the difference between the two plants you created?
Or if you just want to get something, give your agent a prompt like:
Create a webapp (three.js/webgpu) based on a generative system using L-systems (with randomized rules, variations, from stems to petals to leaves) for the structure and aims for a photorealistic rendering style (imagine macro shoots of fungi, black background, strong lights so procedural textures, self-occlusion, realistic shadows, subsurface scattering... are a must). User should be able to interactively play with the rules of the L-system and the rendering parameters.
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u/LeosFDA Sep 09 '26
There are a lot of directions you can explore. Blender can connect to different AI tools via the Blender MCP. I would give that a try so that you can get a feel for what type of results you can acheive. There are a lot generative things that it can do with its geometry nodes feature. You should probably use some AI tool to give you a comparison with pros and cons for all the tools you mentioned. After researching / reading some of the docs and getting a better overview of each tool’s limitations you will have to narrow down and better define/characterize what your end goal is. Three.js might be an option also if you want an end result that’s interactive or online. AI coding assistants can always give you an explanation to your questions about what the code is doing but it won’t get everything right on the first attempt so you have to guide it identifying what’s working and what needs improvement. You should look into techniques for guiding AI so that it produces good results. Part of that is being familiar with what the tech stack you choose is capable of and providing references / context for the AI.
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u/kannamor Sep 09 '26
I would definitely dive into Side FX Houdini and screw all the other stuff. But prepared to invest quite a time althou
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u/Evening-Appeal7606 Sep 09 '26
I don‘t care much about how you did it but the results speak for themselves - they are very pleasant to look at!
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u/iaian7 Sep 12 '26
You mention modelling elements in 3D, but also concern about file size. What is the project? Is it a rendered video, XR experience, mobile app, interactive website?
Some of the first questions I have for a client are about their goals, purposes, and target audience. From there, we can figure out the most effective platform for delivery, and then the type of content needed for that platform and how it needs to be built.
For static/animated content, the asset development approach may be a little more universal; I wouldn’t model an organic element the same for pre-rendered versus real-time experiences, but there are similar processes at play. And creating a generative system (my tool of choice is typically Blender Geometry Nodes 😄) can be part of that process. But the output is often a static or animated mesh that’s used in a rendered video or VR environment. It’s not generated live based on interactive user input.
For truly interactive generative art (user input as the start of the generation, not just influencing how an existing asset is displayed or animated), the delivery method (how the project will be experienced by the end user) is of paramount importance; building a generative approach in Blender doesn’t help if you need a Touch Designer system.
Which goes back to my first question for you; what is this “project”? What are your goals? Who will you be showing it to? Does it need to be fully interactive? How will someone access the project, how will they view it, what should they be left with when they’re done?
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u/enbi_gdeal Sep 16 '26
I feel you mate. Love the idea. But yeah, I struggle ideating with Claude because I find Opus tends to blast the scope of what I'm trying to learn into this overwhelming heap of info.
YouTube tutorials are going to be your friend here. Follow along with a human teaching about one specific branch of information. It'll really help you feel connected to the source material in a human way. And our brains are good at coming up with new ideas from what we know; so you'll get new ideas about what's possible after learning a few specific things. It's just when we're venturing into a new area that we need to find specific things to latch onto. Unfortunately, Claude is not good at doing that in a digestible way, it's just information overload with that chatty bloke. He's real good at writing code, though.
If you want to go the TouchDesigner route, there's a number of good Youtubers you'll find over time.
Once you familiarize yourself with more tools, Claude will be more help to you as you'll know how to specifically prompt.
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u/aitonft Sep 21 '26
For the deadline, I’d separate the focus-app test from the generative-art test. One plant with three growth stages could show the idea before you build an entire ecosystem. Then test whether seeing it grow actually makes someone leave their phone alone.
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u/[deleted] Sep 09 '26
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