Alright, I have a legitimate question.
I stumbled upon this forum after news of the Team Fortress 2 Polycount contest. Every once and a while I'd stop by and check out the creations people have made. I looked today and saw some of the models from Allods, and I was impressed. I did a bit more poking about and found all the wondrous stuff people have made - hell, I didn't have to look too much, most of the good stuff was right up in the header. I was frankly amazed, and it made me question just how it was made. How, and with what, specifically.
I dug around for it, doing several searches, checking several stickied threads, and even checking the FAQ (there isn't one?). I can't find just how you people do this modelling. What program is it? How'd you learn? Any tutorials? I tried once to just thrust myself into a modelling program - this was for Warcraft 3 - and I was completely dumbfounded. All I saw was an XYZ plane, and it scared the crap out of me, so I signed 3D modelling off as something I'd simply never do.
Today I stand before you (well, not really) to ask what program you work with and how (if you do) you make these fantastic textures. I have little to no experience with any of the programs necessary (unless you're talking GIMP, in which case I've barely even begun to scrape the surface), but I think it would be kind of neat to know a bit of modelling and even do a little. Even if it's just low-polycount characters or little swords or doodads like that, I think it'd be kind of cool.
Case in point - What program do you use to model, and how/where did you learn how to model?
Replies
http://3dtotal.com/
http://area.autodesk.com/tutorials-tips
http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/
http://www.polycount.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=43
And this new site that is pretty awesome: http://gametutorials.tv/3dmclean/
Pretty much every program has a FREE trial period, if youre interested in doing this type of stuff, take advantage of the free trial period and attempt some basic tutorials. Dont give up when things start to get a little hard. Feel free to post your work here (pimping and previews thread) to get help and advice. This community is pretty friendly with helping people, as long as youre polite.
Good luck
If you just want to start making stuff, Sculptris is probably the easiest 3D program to use... ever, but anyone that's more than a hobbyist, they would probably only use sculptris for sketching or as a starting point.
This is the major difference between anyone successful and anyone not successful.