Have you ever re-used parts from old projects and re-purposed them for new ones? This practice can be a great way to start with something more than a blank page as well as save yourself a bit of time and effort.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m writing a sci-fi novel (don’t worry, you can be sure I’ll mention it again). It’s called Matter of the Heart. The cover isn’t quite finished yet, but the design I have now was actually a re-work of an old college project. We had to design a large-scale environment in 3D. Here was my initial concept sketch:

And this was my final project:

Yeah, so it's very ... glow-y. Believe me, it looked much better when I made it way back when. Admittedly, most 3D artworks (games and movies as well) don’t hold up over time.

Even so, I was able to open up my old Maya file (it’s a 3D software, for the uninitiated), make some changes and now, voilá! 

Even though you can tell I used parts of the same model, the results are very different. It's still a work in progress, but I like where it's going. If you’re curious about the story itself, well you’ll just have to stay tuned.

Hey Creatives, have you recycled any of your own projects before? Let us know in the comments below.