Self Teaching Max?
polycounter lvl 7
Just wondering how many other people are self taught. I went to school and got my degree using LW and then realized I basically have to learn max to have a more relevant resume so I've spent maybe the last 8 months trying to figure out what I'm doing.
I've watched and done several tutorials but I'd say I'm maybe whatever above Max nooblet status would be, still not very good at it. The problem for me is I'm a really hands-on learner so for me just watching or reading a tutorial is very, very difficult. I spend 90% of my time headbutting my desk trying to figure out what I'm doing and maybe 10% of the time actually being productive.
This isn't like a, hey what should tutorials should I do? Thread, I have a feeling that would be some massive flamebait, more like a more efficient way to learn if anybody else is like me, know there has to be. I've been considering getting a membership to Digital Tutors but I wonder if it would be worth what I see as a kind of exorbitant price for more tutorials that may not be very helpful to me. I've considered just seeing if there's somewhere I can take a class in Max and Zbrush so I could have the benefit of having a teacher right there that can show me what to do. Ideas?
I've watched and done several tutorials but I'd say I'm maybe whatever above Max nooblet status would be, still not very good at it. The problem for me is I'm a really hands-on learner so for me just watching or reading a tutorial is very, very difficult. I spend 90% of my time headbutting my desk trying to figure out what I'm doing and maybe 10% of the time actually being productive.
This isn't like a, hey what should tutorials should I do? Thread, I have a feeling that would be some massive flamebait, more like a more efficient way to learn if anybody else is like me, know there has to be. I've been considering getting a membership to Digital Tutors but I wonder if it would be worth what I see as a kind of exorbitant price for more tutorials that may not be very helpful to me. I've considered just seeing if there's somewhere I can take a class in Max and Zbrush so I could have the benefit of having a teacher right there that can show me what to do. Ideas?
Replies
As I hit mini-walls, I do three things, in this order: I experiment with features in the software to see if that fixes it, I read that section of the help file to see if there's something useful there, and I do web searches.
Then I keep moving forward with the project, working towards finishing it off. This gives me a concrete goal, and a means to solve real-world problems.
Do you have a goal, an actual project?
Most tutorial authors are people that are learning things themselves, they're not experts. This is true for 99% of the free tutorials out there. The paid tutorial sites tend to have higher-quality instructors, but still, those people had to learn somehow, and it's not thru tuts alone.
Start a project. Use that to learn. It really is the best way.
start from learning the pipeline from concept to creation. start small and simple. make a cartoon guy or a simple room with a few items in it. if you suck at texturing, spend time making a few projects about texturing. if you suck at modeling make a few focus projects about modeling. keep the educational stuff simple so you're only concentrating on the weak areas. essentially to me, that's the main point, keep it simple till it's like brushing your teeth. eventually you'll get on this guy's level.
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Structured lessons (most important to me, I like to be able to look ahead and see exactly what the video will be about)
High standard for video-capture/audio quality
in-depth Intro/Beginner tutorial series (the guy that does most of the 3ds max intro tuts knows how to teach)
And if your looking to get into game development, you'll need to know more than just max, so the zbrush, PS, and game engine tutorials come in handy as well.
I've bought individual eat3d.com and 3dmotive.com tutorials as well, and they are just as good.
They also have freebies to get your feet wet:
And we have a ton of free resources here on our wiki.
http://wiki.polycount.net/CategoryTutorials
it's pretty much an introduction to the software more than a "let's make a bench". it teaches you your way around max and you just happen to make a bench while you're at it.
after that, just make cool stuff!
the reason a project is useful, as others have advised, is because it will scope down your questions... instead of saying "how to learn max", a very general question, you will start wondering, for example, "how exactly should I export from max to ____ engine?" that's a question that can actually be answered, it benefits from being specific.
set yourself a goal, like, i'm gonna get a model into skyrim using 3ds max. do your best to figure it out on your own, and the problems you encounter (and you will) will focus your questions.
it's definitely a thing for people to watch tutorials so much that it actually infringes on them getting their boots on the ground and practicing, making their own mistakes, creating their own questions.
The Paul Neale stuff almost gave me a mental combustion - it was so advanced and he does eeverything manually and is a skilled scripter, so following him was difficult but I followed along to create my own character which I intend on using if I have the opportunity. I revisit those DVDs whenever I need to recall how to do certain things. Max is very powerful and I suppose a lot of studios use it, so that's good.
Anyway to answer the question, I would get a real tutor if I were you. I don't think anything could beat the real expert at hand who can answer your every inquiry about know-how's and show you how the professionals do it all. I live in west africa so I don't have access to such an expert. If your situation doesn't allow for a real tutor, then Digital Tutors is good indeed. When you feel like you've learned everything you need to know down the line, you can cancel subscription and check other online tutors such as Eat3d, Gnomon, and Lynda to see if they offer other stuff to learn.
my biggest break early on into understanding it came with a youtube tutorial on making a orc gunwagon, but you can learn anywhere and everywhere, and even when you have mastered the tools that's just the beginning, texture theory, improving your drawing, a sculpting app.
I swear the reason I love CG so much is because im autodidact learning addict and theres always more to learn.
I suggest going through some of the more organized tutorial sites, like Digital Tutors. Most "tutorials" out in the wild or even on some of these sites are disorganized and start way farther along and assume too much. There are some really good ones, but they're hard to find and often are only a part of what you need to know. The best way to learn, in my opinion, however...is to make friends online or local (preferably) who either know what you want to learn or are learning with you. This is the only real benefit I got from the school I went to for this kind of thing. We constantly joked, but seriously meant, that our favorite instructor at the school was YouTube.
Another consideration is finding books that rate highly among the readers who seem to be around your level.
that there are a lot of super artists who know how to do everything right here
on this forum. so i posted an ad for a tutor.
i found a real pro and we did the tutoring sessions via skype with screen
sharing. yes it costs more this way, but not as much as art school.
in a month or two my skills increased 10 fold. if you can afford to pay
extra for a tutor i would highly recommend it.