[Question] How do you go about learning new software?
polycounter lvl 6
Hi everyone,
Many artists are working hard, striving to catch up with current-gen techniques and quality of game art. To make this a reality, one must learn software that is widely used in the games industry.
After a not so good 2015 in terms of doing much personal art outside of the day job, my aim is to turn that around by having a more successful 2016, getting more finished in the process. I typically get between 5-10 hours in for personal art at home per week.
I have been practicing with Zbrush mainly in recent months, but would also like to bring Substance Designer and Unreal 4 into my art pipeline and knowledge.
My question to you all is how you go about learning new software packages, especially when you are learning more than one at the same time (or if you ever do learn more than one at a time).
Do you find it best to concentrate on learning one program at a time until you feel fairly confident with it, before moving onto any other software. OR do you prefer working on a small project (i.e.: a small prop) that uses the whole pipeline of software at a more basic level, progressing onto more complex pieces once completed?
I would love to hear your thoughts and the pro and cons you have come to learn about learning in either of these ways.
Thanks,
Jamie
Many artists are working hard, striving to catch up with current-gen techniques and quality of game art. To make this a reality, one must learn software that is widely used in the games industry.
After a not so good 2015 in terms of doing much personal art outside of the day job, my aim is to turn that around by having a more successful 2016, getting more finished in the process. I typically get between 5-10 hours in for personal art at home per week.
I have been practicing with Zbrush mainly in recent months, but would also like to bring Substance Designer and Unreal 4 into my art pipeline and knowledge.
My question to you all is how you go about learning new software packages, especially when you are learning more than one at the same time (or if you ever do learn more than one at a time).
Do you find it best to concentrate on learning one program at a time until you feel fairly confident with it, before moving onto any other software. OR do you prefer working on a small project (i.e.: a small prop) that uses the whole pipeline of software at a more basic level, progressing onto more complex pieces once completed?
I would love to hear your thoughts and the pro and cons you have come to learn about learning in either of these ways.
Thanks,
Jamie
Replies
secondly, and most importantly, have a soft deadline of sorts, like in 3 months I am going to put this program into my pipeline. have realistic deadlines to btw, for example my time frame for substance painter was 6 months.
this gets me to my third point, you dont implement the new tool into your pipeline until you really feel like your comfortable with it in my opinion.
lastly, the way I learn things is probably a bit wierd, but it works for me. the first half of my scheduled time I usually dont even open the program. I spend all the freetime I have watching tutorials, youtube videos and the likes. the great thing with this is that I can work and have a tutorial going in the background, and thus, not wasting work hours. I think I spend at least 3-4 months just watching tutorials on substance painter without even opening the program once. but when I finally did, I pretty much already knew the workflow and every hotkey
But that's usually after doing some small tutorials or a "introduction to" video so i know how to do basic navigation and such.
@iadagraca - This is the current way I go about learning new programs and maybe it is the best method (at least for me).
The original question was born from my eagerness. I expect a lot of people are in the same boat as me and would love to be able to have all of this knowledge asap. That's why I was curious to know if anyone was learning more than one program at any one time. I wish the days were twice as long so I could fit more in to on day, but that's not feasible.
Keep the opinions coming though, I would love to hear more about how different people go about this
I'm currently working my way through Substance Designer and Painter, I've gone down a different path and have created a new personal environment project with completely new assets, just so I can use them with Substance. I'm still listening/watching to tutorials and it has taken a lot longer obviously to make everything, but it has helped gain a better understanding of how I would use the software in my own pipelines and how to get the most out of it.
I think the method you use depends on the software and how complex it is. If I was personally learning the software you are (Zbrush - Substance Designer - Unreal), I would create a lot of small pieces in Zbrush before moving on to texture/retopo.
I guess my worry is whether I would be slowed down drastically trying to do too much new learning on one smaller piece, or if it would be beneficial to do it that way.
Thanks for your thoughts and experience of going through this yourself.
The finished product may not look AAA amazing, but do everything you can along the way to make it look as good as you can for your skill level.
For instance, I have a piece of Overwatch fan art I am working on right now, and I want to try out the Quixel Suite 2.0 painter, so I will force myself to texture it entirely through that workflow. Previously I had a small computer type prop and wanted to learn the Substance Suite, so forced myself to texture entirely in Substance. I learned purely through articles, youtube videos, and a lot of trial and error. I personally like the "Just do it" motto. You want to learn something, find a way to acquire the software for personal use, and just start throwing shit at it till it sticks
I guess what I am trying to say is, project based, but do not hesitate to throw very simple assets into the software you are learning and just dicking around knowing its just a test of the tools. Have some fun with it!
@Arkaria - Thanks for your input. I find tutorial videos the easiest to learn from myself.
@VERTEX_ - I agree about that making a small project is good. Would you make a project that requires to learn more than one program at a time to finish it?
I 100% agree that "you just need to do something," but I also think that could be a very destructive idea. In order to "just do something," you need to at least have a basic familiarity with the tool you're using. Put in some quality time learning what each function does, what each option controls, and how you can actually use the software, and not just "do something" in it. I've found this can lead to getting frustrated because you're not comfortable with XYZ feature - whether the camera feels funny, or you don't understand something. Let yourself adapt and learn to the fundamentals!
Make some mundane shit while learning it - whether it is simple props, kitbash shapes, color / value studies, whatever. Apply what you learn about how to use the tool, and save everything. Can't say how long, but eventually you'll get the itch and you need to use it to make something "real." You'll never stop learning, so don't hold back on starting that project once you feel good about the tool. That time could be 30 minutes, 2 hours, 4 weeks; whatever.
Also, don't ask people. Use google. Find shit out on your own, and when you're stuck - ask someone.
TLDR: go slow at first to not frustrate yourself, then take off running.
Seems like you think it's better to concentrate on one program at a time, getting the fundamentals down before attempting to make something proper.
I have to tame my eagerness sometimes and know that by trying to do too much or learn too many things at any one time can result in burning out, unfinished projects or not become truly proficient at certain programs.
Another bit of advice to do is to take notes, in a book for each piece of software, or a sectioned notebook. Google is always a click away, but there is something to be said about writing something down - not typing or bookmarking or watching a video. When watching videos/tutorials - take notes in it, when people give you tips write them down.
When I was learning photoshop, I printed out the tool palette and wrote in each tool's hotkey on a kind of worksheet. I'd sit and practice going through each tool from top to bottom and bottom to top memorizing it. Has stuck with me since.
Thanks for your thoughts. Great to hear from everyone, especially those very experienced in the field as yourself