Looking to potentially subscribe to a 3D magazine. Any pointers?
Firstly I'd like to say Hullo! I've been a small time lurker on Polycount but recently decided to make an account and really get into this great site :]
I've been contemplating on subscribing to a 3D magazine, I am a 2nd year computer games design student and enjoy all aspects of modelling, whether it be environment/character or anything in-between.
From what I've seen so far '3D World' & '3D Artist' seem to be solid, if anyone here has subs to these mags or any others for that matter I'd be really grateful to hear your opinion on them!
I hope this wasn't too drawn out, thanks for reading.
I've been contemplating on subscribing to a 3D magazine, I am a 2nd year computer games design student and enjoy all aspects of modelling, whether it be environment/character or anything in-between.
From what I've seen so far '3D World' & '3D Artist' seem to be solid, if anyone here has subs to these mags or any others for that matter I'd be really grateful to hear your opinion on them!
I hope this wasn't too drawn out, thanks for reading.
Replies
It's always got some decent articles and interviews in. I personally don't ever use the tutorials, but the features on the big projects going on in the 3D world are always an interesting read and it often gives good insight into workflows / production pipelines of studios.
I really wouldn't recommend subscribing for the tutorials though. I think out of the 40 or so issues I've got, I've actually put the cover disc in my computer probably twice. If it's pure training you're after, you'd be far better off getting a month subscription to Digital Tutors, you'd learn more in a month than in a years worth of 3DWorld I'd say.
It's also obviously filled with inspiration. They hardly ever cover games though, they focus on the animation industry and also a lot of illustration stuff, TV / Film / Advertising etc. Architecture is often featured pretty heavily too.
I've only bought 3D Artist once or twice but it's never that great I find, certainly nowhere near as good as 3DWorld.
There's more to it than that. As I said, for pure learning the mag is not that great. But having a 4 page article with interviews from Pixar or ILM that you can sit down with on the couch with a coffee will always beat mindless trapesing around forums and Google.
Sure the internet is the ultimate resource for everything, but condensing a bunch of inspirational articles into a magazine format that pull you away from the computer is sometimes a nice thing.
But yeah, if you just want the highest learning>money ratio, then do what Stradigos said.
For interviews, workflow and articles on anything related to 3D graphics subbing to a mag could be great for me as I engross myself further into Computer Games Design :]
Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.
EDIT - I would be getting the magazine for the reasons stated by Creationtwentytwo above, to have a more diverse understanding and bigger insight of the CG world as a whole, and getting away from the computer every now and again is always a good thing :]
It's sometimes tricky to find in the shops, but WHSmith do seem to stock it.
I do wish we had better magazines instead of these commercialised rubbish though.
http://www.3dcreativemag.com/
I have been reading 3d World for a while now and I love it.
I used to subscribe to MiniWorld and MiniMag as well (mini related, suprisingly) until my car went into the garage and I ran out of money!
Yes there s the internet and yes there are PDF versions or whatever for the rubbishy ipad etc... however, I do still love reading books and magazines as I find it gives me a break from the computer screen.
They are great for people starting out and wanting to get into the industry but they just dont do it for me anymore. I buy imagineFX and Edge every month though which are alot more useful.
3Dartist is definetly my favourite of the two though, greater design and alot more insightful, I found that they really concentrate on the art side where as 3d worlds more about the technical aspects and is just not as much fun to read. The behind the studio section in 3dartist is always a great read aswell. Gav and Kekai Kotakis recent project collab in 3dartist was pretty good fun also.
Ah yeah forgot about that one, ImagineFX is always awesome.
I've never read Edge though, sounds like I should check it out.
Also, look out for the 'special editions' that 3DWorld / ImagineFX do. There's a pretty good ImagineFX one on anatomy that came out a little while ago, and 3DWorld have one on ZBrush which is pretty good for picking up a few tips.
After looking at my magazine collection and seeing all those 6+ pounds per mag adding up (I don't subscribe), I now tend to just have a good read in WHSmith's instead ..unless there is a really useful article in there.
@Badger: How's Brighton going for you? Is Andrew teaching you?
Thanks for all the replies guys, appreciated.
http://www.develop-online.net/