Getting into 3D Environment Art

foxwhite

Hey guys, it's my first post and I know that something similar was asked already but I kinda wanted to ask it my own way and get maybe more personalized advice/tips.

I've been trying to get into 3D modelling for some time now, doing it for few weeks and then my lack of direction and belief in myself along with laziness (despite huge aspirations) got me. This happened numerous types but I at least got to the point that I know I want to like use Maya the most.

I'm interested in learning to make props and environments (with a view to learn some level designing as well).

My main issue and the reason for stopping with anything I try to learn is basically a lack of plan or at least a knowledge of a way to get from my current level to that of a job-ready artist.

I'm willing to invest in one of the good subscription websites like Plural Sight (used it) or 3D Motive but I'm not sure which one to go with. There is a tremendous amount of stuff to learn: modelling, UV Unwrapping, texturing, painting, etc + softwares and shit loads more and I just want to finally, at last begin and make a progress and not stop. If anybody is willing to help out, thanks in advance!

P.S. Sorry for making another "Help me start topic"


Andy

Bedrock

Find a beginner tutorial that takes you through the entire process of creating an asset so that there's a defined start and finish to the project. If you are a total beginner aim for an asset that's made entirely in Maya, then move onto game assets that go into low poly and baking.

You can probably find stuff on youtube. 

Alex_J

Look up post history of a member called @JacqueChoi . He's got a program of sorts for the beginner artist. Main idea is to make one small prop everyday. Just basic modeling, no baking or nothing. I think it's a really good idea.

So first thing is to develop habit of consistently doing work. Next thing is learning to enjoy the work. Once those two things are happening, how will you not get better? You will get better. But you don't care about getting better. You don't have to worry over that  because you love the work. It's so much fun. You are getting up early in the morning and your spouse has to call you to bed at night and gripe at you for working too much. "It's not working, I'm having fun," you'll say.

I think either pluralsight or 3dmotive are basically the same. I used pluralsight and I'd recommend it. For maya do all the courses from justin marshall. Good starting point. Don't worry over what to learn and in what order, just do all the courses and by the time you get finished then you'll be able to actually make sense out of answers to questions like that.

Might find yourself stressing that theres too much to learn or you aren't really getting it all... just keep going. It takes time. Same thing if you want to perfect your running stride. Some people spend a lot of time discussing it, or doing all sorts of weird shit. If you just run a lot, you'll end up doing it perfectly, naturally. But you got to run a lot. More than everyone else.

Maximize repetition and exposure. Repetition sears knowledge into your brain, exposure brings new knowledge in. Doing work over and over is repetition. Gathering as much data as you can and trying out as many new things as you can is exposure.  Don't think you understand modeling because you did two tutorials on modeling. Don't ever say, "I got this." Nobody has got this. That's why we all got to keep on working. I see from a lot of beginners, they want somebody to say, "this is how you do this. This is how many triangles you need." What they are looking for is a dogma they can follow. Form of intellectual laziness. Can't be lazy. Got to get in habit of thinking critically about everything you do. So focus on building thorough understanding, not just rote memorization. Don't be a parrot, be a human. People with lots of experience give the best info, but it is still just data. You have to use it as such, and not just blindly follow rules.

Lastly, if you need a little peer pressure to get the spirits up day in and day out, check out some of these big discord communities like DiNusty or the polycount disscord. Make some friends, show some interest in others work and it will reciprocate. Start early and stay consistent and that may help get you a job down the road.

foxwhite

Bedrock said:

Find a beginner tutorial that takes you through the entire process of creating an asset so that there's a defined start and finish to the project. If you are a total beginner aim for an asset that's made entirely in Maya, then move onto game assets that go into low poly and baking.

You can probably find stuff on youtube. 

Thanks for your answer! So, for the time being, I should concentrate on just modelling part? No texturing, baking, etc.?

Alex Javor said:

Look up post history of a member called @JacqueChoi . He's got a program of sorts for the beginner artist. Main idea is to make one small prop everyday. Just basic modeling, no baking or nothing. I think it's a really good idea.

So first thing is to develop habit of consistently doing work. Next thing is learning to enjoy the work. Once those two things are happening, how will you not get better? You will get better. But you don't care about getting better. You don't have to worry over that  because you love the work. It's so much fun. You are getting up early in the morning and your spouse has to call you to bed at night and gripe at you for working too much. "It's not working, I'm having fun," you'll say.

I think either pluralsight or 3dmotive are basically the same. I used pluralsight and I'd recommend it. For maya do all the courses from justin marshall. Good starting point. Don't worry over what to learn and in what order, just do all the courses and by the time you get finished then you'll be able to actually make sense out of answers to questions like that.

Might find yourself stressing that theres too much to learn or you aren't really getting it all... just keep going. It takes time. Same thing if you want to perfect your running stride. Some people spend a lot of time discussing it, or doing all sorts of weird shit. If you just run a lot, you'll end up doing it perfectly, naturally. But you got to run a lot. More than everyone else.

Maximize repetition and exposure. Repetition sears knowledge into your brain, exposure brings new knowledge in. Doing work over and over is repetition. Gathering as much data as you can and trying out as many new things as you can is exposure.  Don't think you understand modeling because you did two tutorials on modeling. Don't ever say, "I got this." Nobody has got this. That's why we all got to keep on working. I see from a lot of beginners, they want somebody to say, "this is how you do this. This is how many triangles you need." What they are looking for is a dogma they can follow. Form of intellectual laziness. Can't be lazy. Got to get in habit of thinking critically about everything you do. So focus on building thorough understanding, not just rote memorization. Don't be a parrot, be a human. People with lots of experience give the best info, but it is still just data. You have to use it as such, and not just blindly follow rules.

Lastly, if you need a little peer pressure to get the spirits up day in and day out, check out some of these big discord communities like DiNusty or the polycount disscord. Make some friends, show some interest in others work and it will reciprocate. Start early and stay consistent and that may help get you a job down the road.

Wow, so much good info and encouraging answer. Thank you! I'll check 

@JacqueChoi 's plan.
Edit: can't find it. Do you have a link by any chance?

So just modelling for now and an asset a day, hm..sounds good to me.

I guess I should just check youtube or pluralsight and go through some tutorials but when you say "small prop everyday", you mean to do it myself completely or follow a tutorial? 

I think I actually did some videos from Justin Marshall and enjoyed them, as the overall pluralsight experience.

So, you are saying to just stick to it, no matter what every day and I will get better for sure...  I also emphasize with those beginner who look for reassurance and all. I am just like that, it's easy to think there are certain ways or rules on how to do this kind of stuff.

Discord channel could be a good thing for me. I'll keep that in mind. I usually look at other's work at ArtStation and I got in touch with some of the artists there. I like connecting with other artists.

Btw. You say start early but I'm close to 25 now 😂 I'm going to uni soon and will have a chance to study 3D there at least. I did however, worked in game dev already but as a developer, hopefully that will be a help in the future.

Alex_J

I think it's best to exhaust all the tutorials you can find first, then go into doing stuff on your own. But you could mix it up. Just pay attention and try to figure out what you enjoy the most, what keeps you motivated, what gives you the biggest strides forward. No one right way to learn, it's a never-ending process of refinement.

About Jacque Choi's post, I am having trouble finding it as well. PRetty sure it was him who posted it though. Goign off memory, but I think the plan was to make one model a day with 500 or less tri's total. Could be prop or character or anything I think. I think the main idea is to build both the technical proficiency and develop eye for good art without any unnecessary complexity. Like if you can make appealing low poly arts consistently, adding on the extra stuff is just bonus.

Brian "Panda" Choi

Finish a simple, real prop.  Like a tea kettle. 

Start there.

TheGabmeister

Agree with points given by the others here. Just wanted to share my own experience since I was also in OP's situation when I was starting out back in 2016.

I did all my learning through self-study since I came from an industry far away from digital entertainment. I was totally lacking direction at that time, didn't know what workflow to use in a certain situation, or what tool to use to achieve a certain result. The important thing was that everyday, I tried to learn something that I believe would eventually be useful in the future. Reading daily Polycount threads and 80 level articles was also a huge help since I started to understand how other people were doing it. 

I did this cycle of learning something everyday for about 2 years. Along the way, I created a lot of unfinished 3d models and scenes that I never really posted online since they weren't "good enough." Eventually by the 2nd half of 2018, everything seemed to click when I realized that I had enough knowledge to make a descent scene in Unreal Engine. That was the time I started uploading my work in ArtStation for other people to see.  

To sum up, I would say that Passion and Discipline was what pushed me over the beginner's block. Loving what you, and never letting laziness get ahead of you. Hope this helps you OP.

JacqueChoi

Woah! Super late to this.

Here's the old course.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QP3KrMoKx2df6fRZ-31DeGMMoCLttDsCA0lbaepkiks/edit?usp=sharing

First week assignment was to make a critter:
500 Triangles - 256x256 texture - Diffuse/Color Map ONLY


Almost a decade later, I still live by this course, and pretty much everyone who took this eventually found a job.

Although the entire basis was to give a simple assignment and get crit-bombed by tons of professionals nonstop all day every day on skype in the post, or whatever.

There was ongoing feedback every step of the way.

JacqueChoi

I was hoping to make this into a GDC talk, but bleahh.. SO much work going into wrapping this up into a presentation.

Alex_J

@JacqueChoi , that's not still going on at all is it?

JacqueChoi

God no. Took so much time, and we were all drained.

Was just an experiment that proved the results we were looking for.

monagart

Hi! I'm not an environment artist (yet) but I'm also working towards becoming one. I've been diving into tutorials online, and I found this resource being recommended on reddit: http://www.environmentartist2b.com/index.html It has a ton of great tutorials. 

When I started learning I worked from tutorial to tutorial, but I'd say as soon as you feel comfortable to start using what you've learned to make your own things. That's where I find my passion and learning really grow. Even if lots end up unfinished as you gain your skills, you'll eventually get to that first finished piece where you think "This doesn't look half bad"! I never thought I would be brave enough to start posting my work online, but a year later I've shared two small scenes and they've had great feedback.

BradleyWascher

I've been in the game industry for a little over 10 years now. I have a couple courses on getting started modeling for games in Maya and I have a modeling weapons for games course that is great for a beginner. Send me a PM and I can get you a code to get them for free If you're interest. Link in my signature.