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How and where learn modeling?

Hi, am using Maya for modeling...i know how tools working but i have problem with modeling by myself. To this day i model by tutorial. Have you got some tips ? And i have problem with topology too..thank you

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  • Andreicus
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    Andreicus polycounter lvl 6
    It comes down to 3 things:

    1) Learning the theory behind the various aspect of 3D ( what are meshes composed of, why quads are better than everything else etc. ), usually theoretical stuff comes out when you start a new aspect of 3D ( ex. texturing for the first time ), when you encounter some problem ( ex. bad topology ), when you need/want to learn new tools or if you simply want to improve. I advise you to study theory while practicing
    2) Watching tutorials where other artists show how to model stuff and their workflow
    3) Practicing, when starting out a new model always use reference images ( real life reference if possible ), deconstruct the shape to a basic form ( ex. you need to model a door, it's just a cube extruded in and out, eazy...and so on ), model

    With that said you must be persistent and have patience. When i started out i sucked hard at modeling and at first i went with VFX because i was thinking "i just can't model" but then i tried again and here i am now, i can model almost anything that is not an organic character, i'm selling assets online and i'm freelancing from time to time, and trust me that i sucked so hard that i couldn't even model a straight wall.

    Some times ago i replied to a thread where the op was asking for a "route" to follow to learn 3D, i wrote a quiete detailed answer about the method that i used to learn 3D and environment art, maybe it can be useful to you too: https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2635942#Comment_2635942

  • Alex_J
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    Alex_J grand marshal polycounter
    I just kept doing all the tutorials I could find until I just started naturally thinking of ways to model things I wanted to model. 

    I'd recommend doing a variety of tutorials -- not just ones in the style or genre you are interested in. You can learn things from environment artist that will help your character art and vice versa. If somebody is clicking buttons in a 3d application and they've been doing it for awhile, theere is something useful you can learn from them.

    Once you are comfortable with your software, then there is loads of workflow breakdowns on artstation, gumroad, youtube, marmoset website, allegorithmic website... just got to search around.
  • matakocanda
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    Andreicus said:
    It comes down to 3 things:

    1) Learning the theory behind the various aspect of 3D ( what are meshes composed of, why quads are better than everything else etc. ), usually theoretical stuff comes out when you start a new aspect of 3D ( ex. texturing for the first time ), when you encounter some problem ( ex. bad topology ), when you need/want to learn new tools or if you simply want to improve. I advise you to study theory while practicing
    2) Watching tutorials where other artists show how to model stuff and their workflow
    3) Practicing, when starting out a new model always use reference images ( real life reference if possible ), deconstruct the shape to a basic form ( ex. you need to model a door, it's just a cube extruded in and out, eazy...and so on ), model

    With that said you must be persistent and have patience. When i started out i sucked hard at modeling and at first i went with VFX because i was thinking "i just can't model" but then i tried again and here i am now, i can model almost anything that is not an organic character, i'm selling assets online and i'm freelancing from time to time, and trust me that i sucked so hard that i couldn't even model a straight wall.

    Some times ago i replied to a thread where the op was asking for a "route" to follow to learn 3D, i wrote a quiete detailed answer about the method that i used to learn 3D and environment art, maybe it can be useful to you too: https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2635942#Comment_2635942

    Thank you ! :)
  • matakocanda
  • matakocanda
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    I just kept doing all the tutorials I could find until I just started naturally thinking of ways to model things I wanted to model. 

    I'd recommend doing a variety of tutorials -- not just ones in the style or genre you are interested in. You can learn things from environment artist that will help your character art and vice versa. If somebody is clicking buttons in a 3d application and they've been doing it for awhile, theere is something useful you can learn from them.

    Once you are comfortable with your software, then there is loads of workflow breakdowns on artstation, gumroad, youtube, marmoset website, allegorithmic website... just got to search around.
    Thank you ! 
  • Sage
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    Sage polycounter lvl 19
    Always you reference. Start modeling and texturing simple objects first then tackle harder objects. Search on youtube topics you want to learn more of.
  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    Learn to get comfortable with boolean methods and medium poly modeling.
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