Ugh… detailed… ;D it would take few hours, haha… because it’s much easier to do it than to explain everything… but briefly explanation would be:
1.) I create 2-dimensional vector shape (just wireframe) in CorelDraw12… and if I want it to be as sharp as it can be when shrinked to the size of 100x100 pixels (avatar’s size) it has to be vectors, not bitmap graphic.
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5472/13ua.jpg
2.) I turn everything into (still) 2-dimensional poligons and I color certain areas of the object.
http://img416.imageshack.us/img416/3750/20qw.jpg
3.) Then I export my creation as .AI (Adobe Illustrator file) to get much smaller physical size of the file and of course to be able to import it in the 3D program I use. It can read just few file types since I don’t have plug-ins for importing some other file types… anyway, .AI is sooo good to work with, so I’m using it very often.
http://img418.imageshack.us/img418/923/35vw.jpg
4.) Now starts cleaning of the object and combining of all those separate parts (oh yeah, there are so many separate parts I work with - see screenshot below)… Note: every little poligon you see on the screenshot, is a separate object… it allowes me to control each object the way I want and not as a compact unit. It means, I can control transparency, 3D effects, bevels and some other things separatelly for each one of those little parts… I hope I’m not boring you with this stuff… hehe ;D
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1360/42cg.jpg
5.) After I cleaned the object completely and combined all those separate parts, I import it into Swift 3D. Now, I add 3D effects to it, plus I create all those 3D animations in the same program. I am not that good in 3D animating, I am familiar just with few standard movement commands… sure I would like if I had more free time to play with those 3D applications, but unfortunatelly I went completely other direction… :-\
http://img414.imageshack.us/img414/1427/52tx.jpg
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9343/62ac.jpg
6.) Finally I import everything into Fireworks, put everything into one big unit, add some backgrounds, add some effects, and of course manually create all those words animations and stuff…
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/4374/75gy.gif
And that’s pretty much it… same thing with your avatar Peter, same thing with Polonus’es avatar, same with all others… ;D ;D ;D
Cheers !
Sasha