Learning to model 3D for games - where to start?

AntRobWells35

Hi,
I've been coding for years, but I want to try learning how to model 3D assets myself - Such as levels and characters. But I'm not sure where to begin?

So my question is, could you recommend any books or tutorial sites(Free or paid) where I can do that?

Also, which 3D Modelling app would be best for a beginner?

Cheers.

Brian "Panda" Choi

3Dmotive is hilariously and awesomely hand-holding.  They've done a wonderful job simplifying and teaching basic 3D modeling skills.  I highly recommend going to them for their tutorials, and the price is awesome.

AntRobWells35

Thank you, the site looks great - I'll sign up soon.

kanga

As far as 3D apps go I reckon your best bet is Blender3D. I grew up on 3DSMax and its a lovely program but Blender is free, downloads in the blink of an eye and its community keeps it up  to date. Like Maya you only activate features you are using, so its startup is very streamlined. There are loads of tutorials and a great bunch of Blender users here to provide support and knowledge. If you are asking for opinions on this it means you have the luxury of choice, so if I was in your position that is the path I would take.

Cheerio

Toku

+2 for 3D Motive and Blender. 

I would read the wiki as it has a good explanation of the main principles, such as vert/edge/poly components, edge modelling and normals. depending on what you want to model will influence your choice of application and learning. If you use max, Grant Warwick has some really good tutorials on hard surface stuff for vehicles/scifi

AntRobWells35

Yeah thank you - I do have some limited exp with 3ds max, but just simple operations rather than a grasp of how to achieve the model I wish - I will download blender as you guys suggest and give it a go.

If I had one follow up question, it would be, where would I learn how to turn ideas into something in the app? Like say I wanted to model a weapon for my game. How I would I create the basic shape, and so fourth? It's the missing key in my mind despite my exp. Cheers.

Toku

yup its always important to have a basic shape, even if its not the one you are going to detail, once you have it you can build a new detail mesh around it with good edge flow. try using basic geometry and edge modelling/vert manipulation to get the shape in, some really important modifiers are FFD/Symmetry (there is an equivalent in most modelling applications). You can spend time ideating with basic geo, or you can thumbnail in photoshop then set up a reference plane to model it from. Also check out PureRef, That lets you referencematch quickly

AntRobWells35

Thank you, I will check those out - Just installed blender and about to start, thanks for all your help guys.

sacboi

In addition if you've an interest in realtime mechanical (weapons, mechs) hardsurface asset generation via a self teaching avenue working with Max then you really can't go past Tim Bergholz over on Gumroad:

http://gumroad.com/timb

I've personally completed a couple of his workthroughs basically from ref setup to modelling, retopo, uv mapping, texturing....etc. His step by step user friendly narration style which I have to say was an absolute godsend for me because I hadn't worked with Max since Iast trialling a copy back in 2009 plus aside from learning/re-learning a ton of stuff, actually made the whole process a fun and enjoyable experience too boot, said as a longtime Blenderite. So do yourself a favour check out his tute library either there or on ChamferZone.

Have a good one.

pior

There really are two ways to look at this.

- If you want to learn how to do proper game art modeling (as in : well optimized models, maybe even deformable with a skeleton), then definitely pick up Blender. It has all you'll ever need and even surpasses the big name commercial applications in many areas. It will, however, take a long time to learn. Probably about 6 months if you learn fully on your own, less if you find some good ressources or take classes.

The absolute best introduction to it is "Introduction to Blender for Zbrush artists", here : https://gumroad.com/masterxeon1001

- Now for the other way to look at it. Coming in as a programmer, you will probably want to get something into your game engine fast and efficiently first - to test gameplay as early as possible, and so on. And there's probably nothing more frustrating than having to learn a complex 3d authoring program from scratch just to do that. With that in mind, there are a few things you can leverage to get content done very quickly : 

Sketchup. KSP was built with it : : https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ArtyomZuev/20130731/197365/Environment_art_and_modeling_in_Kerbal_Space_Program.php

Magikavoxel, a fantasitc way to get simple voxel models done quick :
https://ephtracy.github.io/

Asset forge - comes with pre-made assets one can use as building blocks :
https://assetforge.io:smile:



And maybe even before getting into Blender, you could give Wings 3d a spin :
http://www.wings3d.com/
It is the most barebones modeling program out there, and will be a fantastic way for you to get used to the core principles of poly modeling before moving on to Blender.

You could also try Moi3d (nurbs modeling), as it is very straightforward to pick up and will let you make some seemingly more refined models easily.

Good luck !

AntRobWells35

Thank you guys, I am grateful for your help. I'll check your links/suggestions later today. Cheers.