What is the most important skills for a character modeling?
polycounter lvl 9
Hello guys,
I'm a new modeler, and I want to know exactly what skills set is most important for a character modeler, so I can focus on it first to develop myself better :poly121:. As you may already known, there are a lot of skills that a good modeler needs, and these are a few in my opinion:
Imagination/idea
Anatomy understanding
Tools grasp (photoshop, zbrush, 3dsmax, maya...etc)
Sculpting skills
Texturing skills
Retopology (not sure if this is belong to Tools skills set or not)
Drawing skills
From the top to the bottom is equally to higher priority to low. If there is any skills that I'm missing, please add
.
I'm a new modeler, and I want to know exactly what skills set is most important for a character modeler, so I can focus on it first to develop myself better :poly121:. As you may already known, there are a lot of skills that a good modeler needs, and these are a few in my opinion:
Imagination/idea
Anatomy understanding
Tools grasp (photoshop, zbrush, 3dsmax, maya...etc)
Sculpting skills
Texturing skills
Retopology (not sure if this is belong to Tools skills set or not)
Drawing skills
From the top to the bottom is equally to higher priority to low. If there is any skills that I'm missing, please add
.
Replies
Uh......yeah. You pretty much nailed it....don't really know if I can add anything, maybe color theory? Everything else seems fairly accurate
Must be referring to the new '3D Shlong Artist' role at Bungie...
A certain characteristic that allows you to play with clays/models for days and days.
Yah, you mean the way how we translate things to form and shape? Is there any way I can improve/practice this skill?:poly122:
The same could be said about rigging - not as important for a Character Artist to know as much as a rigger.
Still helps to have that background knowledge though, e.g. Knowing how to create topology that will deform well, etc.
You could consider reading about how subdiv surfaces work and what they are (Wiki). An understanding of the underlying mechanics might help you when you run into issues.
But yea you really nailed it. As a new modeler, what software are you looking at and why? I'm just curious.
Throwing weird folds and incorrect tension points all over the place, it annoys me far more than it should, but it does :P
Of course with the advent of marvelous designer that's kind of going away, but I still feel that an understanding of cloth in general is a good one to try and pick up.
Completely agree and may I say, your works are sweet
Get up close with your surfaces - eyeball them as if you were holding the model in your hand and looking down the curves.
You r n artist no matter what ( right? ), in which case talent just equals insane interest/enthusiasm.
90% of art is addition n subtraction the truth/solution... problem solving from an initial blank canvas. A process that would be oppressive suffering for a sane normal person but brings satisfaction to the artist.
Otherwise...
I started( suffered ) Character Modeling in Power Animator with Nurbs when I switched to Polys in Mirai I felt like I was handed the keys to the kingdom. Anyone who says the tools do not matter can do so because of the luxury of the tools and ease of extensibility that we enjoy today.
before the dark times...before the Autodesk Empire
I know it can be argued that it's better to have a course and structure but, from personal experience, i have found the most was learned not by studying certain avenues or techniques but by forcing myself to try them and think of your own solutions.
This may not hold up if you're completely new as, say, ZBrush isn't the most intuitive of software but the need to add something or change something and then finding a tutorial to fill that need will burn the memory into your head much more than if you just followed a tutorial from start to finish.
Oh, also.. the biggest thing that i have found is patience. The more you rush to be something, the more stress you risk puttting yourself under. Not only that but the whole thing may just become a task that is constantly annoying and hard work other than the fun you want it to be.
Please don't take this for the sermon it sounds like. All of these points can and should be argued but i simply advocate getting in there and having a crack by looking at ohers' stuff, their topolgy, process, techniques as you're working through your own character, naturally asking the question: "Hmmm, what should i do now?"
Oh, and here's one example of workflow
Best of luck and i hope it brings you a load of fun! ^^
First of all you should learn 3dsmax, maya or modo before rushing into Zbrush.
You should start small don't go full realistic character if you're not secure about your anatomy and forms.
Find a small simple concept and try to create a production ready character (it's important that the concept be simple and not over ambitious), follow ALL the steps and redo them untill they're perfect (don't be lazy on topology or UV's for example). You can find tons of good tutorials that explain all the steps ( the polycount wiki has great ressources).Finish the project, stay focused, finish it! don't burn steps!.
Don't try to be creative or show your style, it'll drain you and intefere with the learning process, follow the concept period, master the tools and process before you create personnal art.
Forget about zbrush skin pores for now and concentrate on the overall process, you'll notice Zbrush sculting is only a very small part of the full pipeline.
I'm not an expert but since the forum doesn't cost me anything I'll try to be constructive this time