Study plan
Hi eveyone,
I started learning C.G. one year ago.
After consulting various forums, I enrolled on one of the biggest online schools 6 months ago.
During these 6 months I have tried several SW programmes.
I have also watched a lot of trailer and showreels by C.G. artists and have decided to go into the movie sector.
Unfortunately, I live in Italy at the moment and haven't got the money to go to the U.K. / U.S.A. / Canada to do a professional course.
I am currently out of work and have a lot of freetime.
I am writing this post to ask for assistance with creating a 6-month study plan to simulate a prefesional course.
So far, I have established the following through various forums:
* Maya is still industry standar for movies.
* Houdini will become the new industry standard.
* In U.K. Maya is more used than Softimage instead in U.S.A. Softimage is more used than Maya.
* It is necessary to learn 3DS vbecause its modelling tools are the best and it would give me the additional option to entering the gaming sector in the future if I decide to.
* It would be good to lear Mari because it will be place Photoshop as the industry standard for texturing.
* For molelling artists, it is also necessary to know a sculpting programs like ZBrush and / or Mudbox.
* Zbrush is better than Mudbox for sculpting but Mudbox is better tha ZBrush for texturing and compatibility with Autodesk.
* It's important to focus on only one sector but understand the basics of all the C.G. sectors. And as such, an eventual study programme could include:
° Modelling and texturing.
° Rigging and animation.
° Lighting and rendering.
° VFX like Flame, smoke and fluids.
* If I decide to specialize in VFX using Houdini and / or Maya (Eg. Flame / smoke / fluids), I will need to have strong knowledge of all sectors of the program(s).
Please could you let me know if my information is correct and I am on the right path. Please could you alse add any additional information that I have omitted above.
Any suggestion that you might have to help me create a detailed study plan would be more than welcome.
Eg. (Considering that I have 8 -> 10 hours of freetime per day to dedicate to my studies).
Week 1 + 2
Modelling
-> Please advice me of what I should be able to create by the end of this time period and which skills I can expect to have learnt.
Week 3
Texturing
-> Please advice as above.
Week 4 + 5
-> Rigging.... etc..
I know that 1 - 2 weeks on each discipline is not enough, but my idea is to try to simulate a prefessional course with realistic objectives and I need your guidance to help me.
I would also like to get some experience working as a member of a team on a real project (Even in a limited capacity and obviously for free) to understand the workflow of a project in real time.
Is there anybody who could help me or let me know I can contact?
Thank you all in advance for your help and I hope that this guide can be helpful to pthers who are starting out like me.
I started learning C.G. one year ago.
After consulting various forums, I enrolled on one of the biggest online schools 6 months ago.
During these 6 months I have tried several SW programmes.
I have also watched a lot of trailer and showreels by C.G. artists and have decided to go into the movie sector.
Unfortunately, I live in Italy at the moment and haven't got the money to go to the U.K. / U.S.A. / Canada to do a professional course.
I am currently out of work and have a lot of freetime.
I am writing this post to ask for assistance with creating a 6-month study plan to simulate a prefesional course.
So far, I have established the following through various forums:
* Maya is still industry standar for movies.
* Houdini will become the new industry standard.
* In U.K. Maya is more used than Softimage instead in U.S.A. Softimage is more used than Maya.
* It is necessary to learn 3DS vbecause its modelling tools are the best and it would give me the additional option to entering the gaming sector in the future if I decide to.
* It would be good to lear Mari because it will be place Photoshop as the industry standard for texturing.
* For molelling artists, it is also necessary to know a sculpting programs like ZBrush and / or Mudbox.
* Zbrush is better than Mudbox for sculpting but Mudbox is better tha ZBrush for texturing and compatibility with Autodesk.
* It's important to focus on only one sector but understand the basics of all the C.G. sectors. And as such, an eventual study programme could include:
° Modelling and texturing.
° Rigging and animation.
° Lighting and rendering.
° VFX like Flame, smoke and fluids.
* If I decide to specialize in VFX using Houdini and / or Maya (Eg. Flame / smoke / fluids), I will need to have strong knowledge of all sectors of the program(s).
Please could you let me know if my information is correct and I am on the right path. Please could you alse add any additional information that I have omitted above.
Any suggestion that you might have to help me create a detailed study plan would be more than welcome.
Eg. (Considering that I have 8 -> 10 hours of freetime per day to dedicate to my studies).
Week 1 + 2
Modelling
-> Please advice me of what I should be able to create by the end of this time period and which skills I can expect to have learnt.
Week 3
Texturing
-> Please advice as above.
Week 4 + 5
-> Rigging.... etc..
I know that 1 - 2 weeks on each discipline is not enough, but my idea is to try to simulate a prefessional course with realistic objectives and I need your guidance to help me.
I would also like to get some experience working as a member of a team on a real project (Even in a limited capacity and obviously for free) to understand the workflow of a project in real time.
Is there anybody who could help me or let me know I can contact?
Thank you all in advance for your help and I hope that this guide can be helpful to pthers who are starting out like me.
Replies
As for your schedule it seems a little unrealistic to try to learn every area of 3D in 6 months to the point where you would have any real skills. I think you should focus on one area and try to master it so you might be able to get a job one day. The industry, game or film, doesn't hire generalists that are ok in every little area. They hire people who are masters of each field so they can all work together. If you want to do VFX then concentrate on that so you can get really good at that, and try not to be an everything man.
Good luck on your endeavor
I disagree with it being "necessary" to learn 3dsMax. Few companies will require you to know max before they hire you. Some will allow you to use whatever program you want, some will give you time to learn whatever program they use, some do not even use max. Max is generally more used in games than many other options, but it is not the only choice. Feel free to choose max to learn, but don't feel like you have to use it.
I agree that modelers should be at least somewhat familiar with sculpting. Some companies won't require it, but many do.
I agree with your assessment of mudbox vs zbrush. You may also want to look into 3d-coat. Cheaper than either and is, in my opinion, better at texturing than mudbox.
I agree that you should focus on a single discipline. I wouldn't say you need to understand ALL cg sectors, though. You should have a very strong understanding of YOUR sector, and fairly good understanding of it's neighboring sectors. For modeling, the neighboring sectors would be concepting, level design, rigging/animating, and material creation. For all other sectors, it's good to have some understanding, but mostly unnecessary.
I think in general you focus too much on programs. Like bardler said, it's more about what you produce than how you produced it. I'm assuming you aren't a student, so it's going to be hard for you to get educational discounts on programs. Your best bet might be to use freeware at the moment. GIMP, Sculptris, blender, etc. A lot of people also pirate software to learn it, then buy it when they decide that they want to use it long-term.
I also agree with bardler that 6 months sounds pretty unrealistic. You could certainly sample every area of cg in 6 months, but you probably won't have much technical skill in any one thing.
As for your schedule, as a modeler I would say
Week 1:
Understand the basics of modeling. Learn about polygons, ngons, verts, box modeling vs strip modeling, topology, subdivision modeling vs low poly modeling, and the basic poly modeling tools. Download sculptris and start messing around with it. Try to make a couple simple models of household objects. Chairs, lamps, etc. Try to make 2 copies of an object - 1 low poly, and 1 high poly.
Week 2:
Try some organic modeling, and devote some time to understanding the importance of topology and the basics of animation loops. Learn about UV's, and texturing. Make a model and try to texture it. If you don't already know Photoshop (or gimp, or whatever) then spend some time learning that first. Make a model then sculpt on it in sculptris. Do the joan of arc tutorial.
It's more important that you know how 3D works, and how to solve 3D problems than it is to know every single program there is.
Most larger studios don't care "how" you create stuff, as long as:
-Your creations follow their standards, art style, etc
-Your stuff is delivered in time
-Your choice of software has support with their engine (for example, one studio might only have exporting tools for Maya but not 3DS - you will then be required to know 3DS or at least Maya so that you can learn 3DS easier)
Ask yourself what you wanna become - focus on that discipline, and when you feel comfortable there you can expand your horizons and focus on other stuff. No employer expects that you know everything about 3D when you are fresh out of school - no one!
I understand that I will need to focus on only one sector but at the moment, I'm still undecided between modeling, animation and FX.
Over the next few months, I would like to touch on the essential parts of these sectors to help me decide.
This's what I'm currently thinking:
1)Modeling.
Pros: D.T. has loads of modeling tutorial videos and they have recently uploaded lots of ZBrush training ideas.
I have always been fascinated by C.G. characters in films, cartoons and games.
At the moment, I understand the workflow for creating characters but I'm still learning the software.
And so, as you've said, it's better to understand the workflow before knowing the software.
Cons: I think there are loads of people who are trying to learn modeling. And so, I think that this sector as saturated.
Even if I'm fascinated in ZBrush, I'm scared of finding myself in difficult because I haven't got a background in drawing by hand.
2)Animation.
In all honesty, I've watched a few animation training videos but I haven't tried to do it yet.
I'm excited by what I've seen and want to find out it it's right for me.
3)Rigging.
I'm at the same point as I am with animation. if I decide to specialize in rigging, would it be better to concentrate only this or combine it with either modeling or animation?
4)FX.
I thin that this would be the best choose for working in movies.
I've watched a lot of showreels and the results are amazing.
But I think that this sector is the most difficult and requires a solid C.G. background.
I think it would be crazy to start with this, is this true?
The only things I know from browsing the forums are that it is better to learn particles before learning fluids, there is a lot of maths in Houdini and in FX in general, it is essential to know the "C" language and that it's important to know RealFlow.
I apologize for my newbie questions and my generalizations.
I'm just trying to understand better in order to choose the best path for me to embark on a career in this industry.
Based on your replies, I would like to use the next few months to understand better which field suits me best.
I thank you all in advance for your advice on which to concentrate on over the following months within each of the sectors mentioned to help me decide on which path to take.
firstly, thank you so much for your interest and advice.
My ideas are now clearer.
Please bear with me and help me to resolve my last remaining doubts.
I've decided to dedicate the next 6 months to studying modeling full-time before deciding on which sectors to concentrate on next.
I'm already enrolled with D.T..
My goal is to enter the movie sector.
And so, it will be essential to learn Maya.
I've also heard that Modo is similar to Maya and may be worth learning also. Is this true?
My last doubt is 3DS because there are a lot of jobs in the games sector and so I don't know if it would be worthwhile to learn this software to increase my work opportunities.
In your opinion, is it realistic to learn the basic of modeling in these 3 software programs in 6 months on am I expecting too much?
Thank you all for your patience.
I don't know about film, but in games it's not that big of a deal if you're not using max. Like I said before, not all game studios use max. I'm sure that not all film studios use maya.