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ENGINEERING ARTISTRY: John Crane pictured in the Old Town Square offices of his company, CraneDigital, is a Colorado State University graduate. He began CraneDigital in Santa Fe, N.M. and moved the 3-D illustration and animation company to Fort Collins two years ago.
"Ant Acid" Crane's first, and first significant 3D work.
Recommendations for starting a 3D business:
Study art because anybody can learn a computer program. It's what you create with the software once you learn it that makes your product unique. Learn about art and design. Be prepared to spend a lot of time and have a good support system."
by Julie Gordon, Fort Collins Coloradoan
reprinted with permission from the Fort Collins Coloradoan
Originally printed Friday, August 23, 2002
John Crane loves making things three dimensional. The passion began after he bought some software and turned one of his own drawings into a 3D design.
As a junior at Colorado State University, Crane drew a cross between an ant and a bulldozer as a project for a graphic design class. He tucked the “Ant Acid” project away but pulled it out again about 10 years later when he decided he wanted to learn how to make things in 3D. “It was a perfect drawing to start with,” he said.
After turning “Ant Acid” into a 3D design, he found he loved it so much he wanted to start a business. Today, Crane owns CraneDigital, 19 Old Town Square, Suite 238, a company that produces 3D illustration and animation. Working from sketches, CAD files and blue prints, he primarily uses three programs to transform things into 3D: Electric Image, LightWave and 3D Studio Max.
Crane said he first thought about trying to make things in 3D when he was walking through PageOne, an Albuquerque bookstore. Strolling through the software section, he found Macintosh 3D software and though he'd give it a try. The software wouldn't work on his computer, so he invested in a new computer, a Power Mac 8100/80 with 32 Mb of RAM. “It's very gratifying to create something,” Crane said. “I get to be creative.”
CraneDigital was launched as Sandhill Studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1995. Crane changed the company’s name to CraneDigital in 1999 to better reflect what the company does. He and the business moved to Fort Collins in 2000.
Becton Dickinson Pharmaceuticals, a Franklin Lakes, NJ-based Fortune 500 Company that specializes in diabetes management, is CraneDigital’s biggest client, Crane said. Locally, Crane has worked with The Group, Inc. Real Estate’s Greeley office to do a 3D image of WestFork Village, a Greeley condominium complex scheduled to open in January.
“It was really fun to be able to bring him into this project because we knew that he was exactly the kind of talent that we need,” said Don Tennessen, one of the broker associates who has worked with Crane on the West fork Village project. “There are a lot of people who do 3D on the computer, but to do it at the level he does is rare.”
“Having a 3D illustration of West Fork Village gives people considering moving into the condos a better understanding of what it will be like,” said Chuck Rehmer, another broker associate at The Group’s Greeley Office. “Because John has done this in the computer, particularly entry-level buyers will be able to see what they’re getting,” he said. “It’s really a buyer visualization tool.”
The Group’s Greeley office plans to do more projects with CraneDigital, Rehmer said. “This is a logical step for the architectural industry, to go from 2D to 3D,” he said.“This is really going to be the future of most of the industry’s large projects.”
Phil Risbeck, a professor of graphic design and chairman of the Art Department at CSU and Crane’s former instructor, is confident in Crane’s skills and character.
“I think John is an excellent practitioner. Not only is he an excellent practitioner, but I think he brings ethical standards to the profession that are very commendable,” Risbeck said.
“He did outstanding work in the classroom when he was my student. He was a classroom leader. I see John as being on the cutting edge of the most advanced 3D computer graphics.”
Today, Crane visits Risbeck’s classes. “He’s addressed my most advanced students – Juniors and Seniors,” Risbeck said. “We’re very proud of John and all of his accomplishments since he graduated from CSU, and we’re glad he’s moved back to Fort Collins.
“It really is wonderful to have a role model for our students, someone who went through the program and has been very successful.”
Crane, who has 18 years of graphic design experience, worked for Boulder-based Blue Mountain Arts for seven years. He has been published in the New York Society of Illustrators, The ElectricImage Handbook, and The Ray Dream Handbook.
Crane was born in East Orange, New Jersey. He attended the University of Iowa, where he studied art and journalism, and then he transferred to CSU, where he studied graphic design. He and his wife, Annie, have a son, Matthew.
Crane comes from a family with a strong scientific background. His father, Ben, was an engineer for Bell Telephone, in Illinois. His grandfather on his father’s side, Leo Crane, was a civil engineer for the state of Michigan, and his grandfather on his mother’s side, Morley Gillson, was one of the early developers of radar.
Annie Crane's father also was a satellite designer for Martin Marietta, now Lockheed Martin. "I've got an engineers brain, but an artist's eye," Crane said.
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