Is 3DMotive subscription plan worth it?

JDM

Hey there, I'm learning Maya, right now I'm in the middle of a 1 month course, and I'm seeing some nice progress already, I'm subscribed to Digital Tutors as well, lots of tutorials there...

However I stumble upon 3dmotive today, and noticed some very interesting tutorials, but not sure if I should spend in another monthly subscription when I have tons of stuff to learn on digital tutors. Money is not really a problem, just don't want to waste it you know. 

Can you guys tell the difference between digital tutors and 3dmotive tutorials?  any recommendations? 

Thanks. 

JedTheKrampus

3dmotive has some good tutorials but IMO there's really no need to have more than one tutorial service subscription at once. When you feel like you're hitting a wall with DT or just want to try something else cancel the subscription, finish out the month learning all you can, and subscribe to 3dmotive.

Even if you subscribe to them both, though, it's much more cost-effective than art school.

pear

i've used 3dmotive for 2 months and i loved it. i really liked the normal map and demon girl modeling tutorials. 

Technomancr

Digital Tutors:
Digital Tutors is great, but the target audience tends to be more beginner to intermediate level. Their tutorials are great for getting a high-level understanding of the topic. In their intro to Maya/Max courses, you learn all the different aspects of the software - it's not focused on game or animation techniques specifically.

3dmotive:
3dmotive has a few beginner courses (one of the best Intro to 3ds Max courses), but they also have a larger number of intermediate/advanced courses, and tend to take a deeper dive into a topic. In comparison, 3dmotive's Intro to Max course focuses specifically on what you'd need to know as a game artist. They also has some pretty awesome tutorials if you're into the hand-painted art style.

Zack Maxwell

They update way too rarely, and have too few videos for subscription. I recommend just buying the videos you need individually. Especially off Udemy, since they have sales often.
Or just sub for 1 or 2 months, and binge through the few videos you're interested in.
The videos themselves are good, but only if you use their narrow range of workflows. For example, they have a lot of good handpainted tutorials, but they use possibly the worst workflow for it; modeling in Maya, then 2D painting the texture in Photoshop.
99% Of the tutorials revolve around Maya, ZBrush and Photoshop.
I can understand the 1st two. ZBrush speaks for itself, and Maya is terrible, but the most commonly used. Photoshop, though?

Eric Chadwick

Photoshop is the universal workhorse in most game studios, afaik.

Zack Maxwell

Eric Chadwick said:

Photoshop is the universal workhorse in most game studios, afaik.

For painting on 3D objects? That's wildly inefficient with all the 3D options out there, and they aren't new.
Mudbox, 3D Coat, Substance Painter, Mari, Quixel. Even ZBrush would probably be better.

Eric Chadwick

For painterly work, which is likely the majority these days, none of those tools works as well. To each their own though.

Technomancr

Grimwolf said:

They update way too rarely, and have too few videos for subscription. I recommend just buying the videos you need...

Not trying to add fuel to the fire here, but I think 3dmotive releases a new video every week?

Zack Maxwell

Technomancr said:

Grimwolf said:

They update way too rarely, and have too few videos for subscription. I recommend just buying the videos you need...

Not trying to add fuel to the fire here, but I think 3dmotive releases a new video every week?

Once a month.
If you sub for month, they'll release one new video in that time. Which may or may not be relevant to your interests.
That's why just buying them individually is better.

Optinium

Grimwolf said:

Technomancr said:

Grimwolf said:

They update way too rarely, and have too few videos for subscription. I recommend just buying the videos you need...

Not trying to add fuel to the fire here, but I think 3dmotive releases a new video every week?

Once a month.
If you sub for month, they'll release one new video in that time. Which may or may not be relevant to your interests.
That's why just buying them individually is better.

They release one every week pretty regularly (It's one of their 'selling points').
As for the hand painted thing, the Maya > Photoshop workflow is quick and easy with a great result and like Eric says is supported by a lot of studios software library, the other method is Zbrush>Maya>3dcoat or Photoshop which also gets an awesome result but is much less tutorial friendly as it traditionally takes longer and requires a larger gamut of software which can be a lot to expect from the student typically learning this stuff.
I also wouldn't touch Zbrush for hand painted stuff with vertex painting >.< But like Eric said t each their own

Zack Maxwell

Optinium said:

Grimwolf said:

Technomancr said:

Grimwolf said:

They update way too rarely, and have too few videos for subscription. I recommend just buying the videos you need...

Not trying to add fuel to the fire here, but I think 3dmotive releases a new video every week?

Once a month.
If you sub for month, they'll release one new video in that time. Which may or may not be relevant to your interests.
That's why just buying them individually is better.

They release one every week pretty regularly (It's one of their 'selling points').
As for the hand painted thing, the Maya > Photoshop workflow is quick and easy with a great result and like Eric says is supported by a lot of studios software library, the other method is Zbrush>Maya>3dcoat or Photoshop which also gets an awesome result but is much less tutorial friendly as it traditionally takes longer and requires a larger gamut of software which can be a lot to expect from the student typically learning this stuff.
I also wouldn't touch Zbrush for hand painted stuff with vertex painting >.< But like Eric said t each their own

Then they're terrible at sticking to it.
"More Hand Painted Texturing!" 12-11
"Materials in UE4!" 11-06

"Learn to Script in Maya!" and "Create Tileable Photographic Textures!" 10-30
"Stylized Texturing" 9-23
Etc...

Optinium

Grimwolf said:

Then they're terrible at sticking to it.
"More Hand Painted Texturing!" 12-11
"Materials in UE4!" 11-06

"Learn to Script in Maya!" and "Create Tileable Photographic Textures!" 10-30
"Stylized Texturing" 9-23
Etc...

You're missing one out there I think and there is a disparity between when a tutorial goes live and when the news is actually posted. For example I made the latest Hand Painted tutorial for them and the blog post came ~1 week after the tutorial had went live.
They definitely aren't on a regular 7 day bases but looking back 3 months for the most part they're within 14 days of each other (weekly in a sense, beginning of one week, end of the next, guess it depends how you interpret that ).

Oh I guess I should say that I'm an advocate for buying them individually like yourself haha.

With regards to the OP, If you're after specific topics/subjects, I'd hunt for every tutorial relating to it, look at the artists who make them and make a judgement of that in terms of if it's going to be good value for money. Also look for any reviews if possible.