Looking for friendly advice on how to get the ball rolling

Slim009

I have dabbled in 3d and 2d and seem to get side-tracked, or life throws me off whether its a ridiculous job or whatever.  I am finally in a situation where I have more time to create art and can still make ends meet.  My question involves me wondering what to do to actually get some experience going.  I realize concept art is not the most ensured way to break in (although its cool), so I would rather focus for now on making really good 3d props. 

I have an older version of Zbrush (2022), I also downloaded the free final version of Modo, and I am considering Blender.  Which one might give me the best results (I guess things to consider is support and resources in learning the programs so Blender seems appealing for my main 3d package).

Then, I run into this issue of watching a tutorial and I cannot follow exactly, for example, I was wanting to learn how to do hard-surface modeling in Zbrush based on this awesome tutorial on Artstation by Henry Chervenka (the helicopter rotor one).  I couldn't load his UI, maybe there was issues with my version, but that has happened a lot with me trying to follow and I can't because of reasons like that.  

I think in order to get going, I need to just get into Blender and learn the program, get familiar, then try to make simple props and level up that way.  I haven't been on Polycount in a while, but this really does seem to be the best place to get support in a timely manner.  So I think I'm answering my own question here, I will just take it one step at a time (because art often feels like starting over again and again), and just sticking with certain programs and not losing focus will help me finally develop a flow. My goal (I think) is to make 3D assets either as a modeler or designer.  First step though is to prove I can model from observation.  I also get that getting any type of job is likely to happen with being a modeler, not a designer.  I love creature design, but those jobs are so niche that it is better to just focus on really learning the basics of 3d, and sticking with it and producing tangible results.  I kind of realize that 2d is too subjective of a medium to really be employable at this time, if industry pros are put out of work because of the current climate then there's no point doing things that won't help me switch careers. 

I am looking to get into the industry somehow, and I am just looking for friendly advice on how to get some work done.  Is it really as simple as model something that has enough references to do the job, and just get it done?

Like literally go on Amazon, if I have to, and get the ortho's there lol and model a computer printer model x123 or whatever the hell.  And just never give up and take pride in my craft and let my art speak for itself. That's about all we can do.  

I imagine too once I have completed some fundamental projects well, I will gravitate towards the disciplines I like more, but I am definitely leaning more into 3d, it makes much more sense to me in terms of being employable and I enjoy it too. Based on my research though hard-surface is a skill that I really should learn so that's what I want to focus on for now. 

Eric Chadwick

Welcome to Polycount!

Kudos for laying out your situation, this is a good amount of info for people to understand how to help you get the most out of your journey.

You mentioned "industry", I guess you mean game development? The game industry however is perhaps the hardest to enter, simply because everyone likes playing games and therefore everyone thinks why not make a dream career by working on games. The game industry is unfortunately rife with exploitation, mis-management, job insecurity, low pay, long hours, stiff competition, etc. A career can be made there, it's just good to know it's a long uphill battle. There are fortunately quite a few industries that need 3d artists (ecommerce, health, military, gambling, etc.), so 3d skills would not go to waste if you're willing to branch out a bit. 

To get yourself in the right mindset for learning how to make 3D content, I would suggest checking the Sticky at the top of this forum section. In particular:

• Motivation is Bull
• The Death of Curiosity
  
• http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Game_Industry#Education is also great.

Slim009

It's all ok, I've worked plenty of jobs that I am not passionate about and I would be open to doing anything 3D.  Right now I am just going through Blender Guru's donut tutorial starting again from square one, it's necessary to learn Blenders interface, but I will push on.  I am passionate about concepting but have no problem modeling from observation so pretty soon I will be posting work!

Fabi_G

Hi! Things you can try to get your hands dirty:

• Bi-monthly challenge (any challenge really). Why it helps: fixed duration, concepts to work off, others potentially doing the same subject with perhaps different approach, gives reason to think about and articulate workflows. Fill additional parameters like style-specifics (game xyz) or what soft to render in yourself. When you're just starting out, you can break out a smaller portion of the concept, like a chest, chair or pillar, to ensure you manage to finish within the timeframe.
• Sketchbook, digital and/or analog. What does it do? Well, if you manage to use it somewhat frequently, you'll have something to look back on later. Perhaps now and then you'll thing 'wow, I haven't posted in my sketchbook for a really long time, I should do something'. Just to keep the barrier low, could just post odd or bad-looking things sometimes, or non 3d is fine too :P
• Help with a mod. Helps to get used working with people, assets get actually integrated, so you learn how to make that more smooth. Also will need to apply feedback and optimization to assets. I think for this, ideally you already have some ability and are able to commit time. You would want to find a team that is serious and committed. Some team-members might be already professionals, others will go on to work for studios, sometimes whole mod teams form a new studio.
• Game Jams - there's a whole table with running jams on itch.io. I find this can take a lot and often the result is different than the initial plan, but most jams are fairly short, like 1 or 2 days . Great to have something working in the end and good opportunity to get an idea of 'new' areas, learning some scripting, level design, animation, ...

Good luck

sacboi

"...I am considering Blender.  Which one might give me the best results (I guess things to consider is support and resources in learning the programs so Blender seems appealing for my main 3d package)."

I'd agree, indeed worth keeping in mind at least, it's "Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" acknowledged philosophy would imo suite those beginning their digital art journey. The community is huge likewise available resources, I might also mention DCC app used by established games/VFX artists, for instance Karol Miklas and Fausto De Martini naming two. Lastly how long it takes to amass the skillset required to be hireable, in my view depends upon time/effort put in, plus perseverance toward a perceived end goal although even after all that, when one doesn't eventually make the grade nothing really goes too waste, just attempting to master this medium is an achievement in and of itself.