Hi all - just starting out

ytrebil

Hi there.

We were talking about 3D modelling & animation at work the other day which made me reminisce on the days that I was messing around with 3DSM during the school holidays but I tried to start off too complex as I’m sure many do and dropped doing it completely.

Last week I opened up Maya for the first time and I’ve been following tutorials almost every day since. I can only study it in the evening as I have a full time job and spend a lot of my spare time in the gym and doing boring stuff (cleaning, cooking etc) so fitting in the hours is tough but I enjoy doing it.

I’ve been using Lynda.com for tutorials as I have access to an account there and so far so good. I started off with a random online tutorial on creating a pocket watch that probably wasn’t the best way to get started as the author wasn’t very professional and went over the tools way too quickly. At least with the Lynda.com tutorials there is some sort of methodology in the teaching and although you may only spend a brief time covering some subjects, they’re all referenced so I guess when I’m modelling my own stuff I can use it as a reference for handy tools should I get stuck.

Now I can run through all the tutorial sections before I start to try and model my own stuff, or I can start modelling now after just a couple of lessons (polygons + NURBS introductions) – at least I can start practicing what the tutorials are teaching. Where to start though! I was going to create a futuristic gun (as posted in one of the inspirations thread) but then I had the idea of trying to model a Street Fighter character – so yeah, something random.

I hope to learn from this place, be inspired and maybe, just maybe, one day be able to show something half decent off.

Thanks.

p.s. I can’t hand draw for toffee !

EmAr

Welcome to polycount. Actually, learning to draw can help a lot. It's not a strict requirement by any means but it's worth pushing a little. You can try Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain as a starting point.

Also, if the regular text color of the forum appears too dark on your monitor, try adjusting your settings. Pure white is too bright. The colors of this forum are pretty well adjusted

Good luck!

Kwramm

My drawing skills deteriorated again since I haven't drawn for a long time. I sketched a lot in college though. But just from drawing and the observation that is required you learn a lot. You have the chance to learn about shading, composition, form, shape, silhouette, perspective, proportions. And the most awesome thing is, with a sketchbook you can do this almost everywhere. Doesn't cost a lot and you won't run out of batteries when on the go

The main goal for students with sketching is to train those skills, as well as hand eye coordination, not to produce great masterpieces. Although if you make one as side product - great!

There's a few people with great talent, but many practice, practice, practice to get good. You'll get good at it too if you just work on it often.

ytrebil

EmAr wrote: »

Welcome to polycount. Actually, learning to draw can help a lot. It's not a strict requirement by any means but it's worth pushing a little. You can try Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain as a starting point.

Also, if the regular text color of the forum appears too dark on your monitor, try adjusting your settings. Pure white is too bright. The colors of this forum are pretty well adjusted

Good luck!

Sorry, I c&p'd my topic and it was in black text. So without thinking I changed the colour to white. :poly141:

Thanks for the message. I would like to be able to draw better. It's just my brain and my right hand don't have a great relationship. Haha.