Some tips for a beginner?

Shadow Monkey

Hey guys,
I haven't done any models or so yet, so I'm a complete beginner and this is my very first post. I would like to get some questions answered by you.
I focus on moddeling for games, especially for TF2 currently.

Which programm(s) do you use? Why are they good?

How did you learned moddeling? Tutorials? Or just "learning-by-doing"?

I am a creative person, but I suck at drawing. So ... is a good sketch needed for a good model? Or is that only necessary if you don't have a good power of imagination? Or are references as good as sketches?

How important are good textures? Can you leave out some moddeling parts by doing a good texture?


I hope you can answer my beginner questions :S

Bye,
Shadow Monkey

Piflik

Programs are many and most of them can do similar things. Get trial versions and try them out to see what fits your taste. Noone here can say what program is the right one for you...have a look at the Wiki for a list of tools available.

Tutorials are great for learning the basic techniques, but nothing teaches you better than finding a solution to a problem you encountered on your own.

Drawing is not needed for good modeling, but it helps.

Good textures are important. Bad textures can easily ruin a great model. Sadly it doesn't work the other way around. A bad model doesn't suddenly look good with a great texture. What details to model and what to texture is depending on time and engine constraints as well as you proficiency in both. Major features should always be modeled, though, to get the silhouette right. No Normal Map, regardless on its quality can change the silhouette.

Moosey_G

On the other hand, good texturing can make a simple model look complex, which is definitely something to consider.

boyluya

Look at other's work and carefully study how they do it.