Starting a project
polycounter lvl 4
As most artists know starting a project is the fun part, the excitement of creating fantastic art can sometimes be over whelming. More often than not however projects get abandoned because we just don't like the look of our models before we even finish them.
This is surprisingly common for beginners and here is why.
Most online tutorials tell us "References are important" but they never expand much on how or why. So we merrily gather 300 images of a certain object and think "yurp them thar picturs shud do gud." Then boom straight into modeling without any further thought.
Not long into the modeling process we get stuck. "Why dus dis doohickey not look rite???" We try some more *irritation intensifies* We get the model done, it looks ok to us, to mom its the best art she has ever seen, ok onto texturing. "Nope nope nope! it looks nothing like dem picturs!" Now we are frustrated and angry, we question our worth as artist or if we will ever get better. Then just like that we find a new shiney to work on "Oh look a Space Marine!", there goes the project gathering virtual dust on a forgotten harddrive in a folder we gave an arbitrary name.
Now you may be thinking. Why is this so accurate? I hate you Twotents for reminding me of all these horrible feelings.
Well yea I hate myself too for bringing them up but the fact of the matter is to improve we need to learn from our mistakes.
So I went back to the start, back to the basics and I did research, I dug up tutorials and videos and I even unearthed the mighty Helix fossil.
I've decided to link the tutorials here for all to view because these things being covered are the most important parts of being an artist.
This is surprisingly common for beginners and here is why.
Most online tutorials tell us "References are important" but they never expand much on how or why. So we merrily gather 300 images of a certain object and think "yurp them thar picturs shud do gud." Then boom straight into modeling without any further thought.
Not long into the modeling process we get stuck. "Why dus dis doohickey not look rite???" We try some more *irritation intensifies* We get the model done, it looks ok to us, to mom its the best art she has ever seen, ok onto texturing. "Nope nope nope! it looks nothing like dem picturs!" Now we are frustrated and angry, we question our worth as artist or if we will ever get better. Then just like that we find a new shiney to work on "Oh look a Space Marine!", there goes the project gathering virtual dust on a forgotten harddrive in a folder we gave an arbitrary name.
Now you may be thinking. Why is this so accurate? I hate you Twotents for reminding me of all these horrible feelings.
Well yea I hate myself too for bringing them up but the fact of the matter is to improve we need to learn from our mistakes.
So I went back to the start, back to the basics and I did research, I dug up tutorials and videos and I even unearthed the mighty Helix fossil.
I've decided to link the tutorials here for all to view because these things being covered are the most important parts of being an artist.
Planning!
I cannot stress enough just how important this stage is in every aspect of your project. Without a proper plan our projects are most likely doomed to fail.
So here are some tutorials I have found the most benificial when it comes to starting any project and they have literally changed the way I approach projects. These things aren't set in stone and every artist approaches the planning process differently, but these few rules will help you get onto the right track.
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_dwTB5MwzM"]Basic Low Poly Asset - Concept to Completion - YouTube[/ame]
Author Tales of Nalstone
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEZasf6Mnto"]Theory: Efficient planning for modular environments - YouTube[/ame]
Author Unity Cookie
http://www.youtube.com/user/Futurepoly/videos
Author Futurepoly (I really wish I had the money to do their online course!)
http://www.3d-palace.com/category/introduction-to-gamedev/
Author 3D Palace (Oldblue)
I thought I should share this with polycount as I kind of feel its a very neglected part of becoming an artist and is usually an assumed skill.
Thanks for reading through this very long post I hope this helps you all!
Obligatory cat:
So here are some tutorials I have found the most benificial when it comes to starting any project and they have literally changed the way I approach projects. These things aren't set in stone and every artist approaches the planning process differently, but these few rules will help you get onto the right track.
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_dwTB5MwzM"]Basic Low Poly Asset - Concept to Completion - YouTube[/ame]Author Tales of Nalstone
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEZasf6Mnto"]Theory: Efficient planning for modular environments - YouTube[/ame]Author Unity Cookie
http://www.youtube.com/user/Futurepoly/videos
Author Futurepoly (I really wish I had the money to do their online course!)
http://www.3d-palace.com/category/introduction-to-gamedev/
Author 3D Palace (Oldblue)
I thought I should share this with polycount as I kind of feel its a very neglected part of becoming an artist and is usually an assumed skill.
Thanks for reading through this very long post I hope this helps you all!
Obligatory cat:
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