A.i. vs 3D - the ultimate showdown

Our team (and, let’s be honest, most of the world) has been buzzing about AI. It excites us, it unnerves us, but mostly it makes us wonder: what’s actually possible here? So we did what we do best—rolled up our sleeves and put it to the test. The brief was simple: take a Surfside can, turn it into a lighthouse (Nic’s in a lighthouse phase—don’t ask), set it adrift at sea, and build a little visual poetry.

Here’s what we learned: AI is fast. Freakishly fast. Like flipping through an endless sketchbook where half the pages are brilliant and half are… dumpster fire. It sparks wild directions, shows you things you’d never dream up—but when it came to the details that mattered? It fell apart. The Surfside logo wouldn’t lock in. The wrap and sheen on the can never landed right.

3D, on the other hand? Slow. Painstaking. But precise. Every pixel is yours to control. And when the product matters, 3D still wins. The real magic, though, is in the overlap: using AI as an accelerant. Generate, riff, explore the wild stuff—then bring it into 3D when you need craft and control. That’s where this tech feels like it’s carving out its lane.

But if your workflow (or your client) demands ‘exactly right’ instead of ‘eh, close enough’? Sorry, AI. You’re not ready for primetime just yet.