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Need advice: How to get unstuck in 3D modeling

BananONE
BananONE
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BananONE

A year ago, I started learning 3D modeling. At first, everything was going great – I was quickly grasping the basics, and I really enjoyed it. It seemed simple and clear.


But as I dug deeper into it, things got harder. I noticed that I was doing all my work based on tutorials. Whenever I tried to create something on my own, nothing turned out the way I wanted.


Theoretically, I understand how the tools work and how the process should go, but in practice, things just don’t work out. This sense of helplessness started to demotivate me, and at one point, I decided to quit 3D.


Now I realize that I still enjoy it, but I feel like I’m stuck. I don’t know how to continue and feel progress again.


Has anyone faced a similar problem? How did you deal with it? I’d appreciate any advice.

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  • zetheros
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    zetheros sublime tool
    click on all the buttons to try to make your 3d app crash. Swear so much you make a sailor blush and try again. You never lose if you never give up, good luck!
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  • Tiles
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    Tiles interpolator
    Hey,

    Stop watching tutorials and start to get things done. No matter how cruel it turns out, finish it with your current skills and knowledge. Then analyze how you can improve next time. This work, no matter how imperfect it is, also allows you to get feedback.

    Work in smaller chunks that are manageable for you. Set lower goals to lower your frustration. Also accept that you are years away from being a useful 3d artist. One year is nothing. You still scratch at the surface.

    Separate the creative part from the crafting part. This is vital. It's one thing to model a ship along some blueprints and concepts. And a completely different task to create this blueprints and concepts. And the worst that you can do is to change the concepts at your way. So first define the goal, then do the technical part.

    And learn to analyze what exactly "does not work". "Does not work" is no task that one can solve. Lighting is too dark, the shape does not fit, the topology behaves bad at deformation etc. is.

    Good luck :)
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  • Eric Chadwick
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    Eric Chadwick admin
    Motivation is Bull

    More good things: Game Industry Career Resources
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  • kanga
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    kanga quad damage
    Super advice above already!
    How can you get stuck? There are tutes for everything. If you cant find a free tute then just bite the bullet and buy one. They are really plentiful and they cost next to nothing. The fact that you are posting here and not with a specific question in tech talk is a clear indication that your problem is solvable. Don't try to conjure a castle, have fun building it one brick at a time.
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  • Alemja
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    Alemja hero character
    Hey! It's awesome that you're learning to do 3D, but learning the software is maybe about 10-20% of the adventure. What needs to be developed now is the ability to problem solve and it's honestly where I think a lot of us get long-term satisfaction from. You're rarely ever going to get things right on the first go, even as a professional. It's ok to do small things that look like garbage to build that skill. When I was switching over to blender I was taking it in small chunks, focusing on only a few problems at a time. I would build crappy low poly swords to figure out where all of the functions were or what they were called, I would bring in a model that would need to be unwrapped and topology tweaked but not done from scratch. I did this all as a person who has years of experience who can do way better than crappy little low poly swords. However in order to learn, I needed to fail, and fail fast. I needed to not get things right, ask myself questions, look things up, try it out, see what it does, assess if it did what I wanted and do it all over again if it didn't.

    Problem solving is the most important skill you can develop and transcends software.

    The other thing I like to say: it's a marathon, not a sprint.
    Getting good means sticking around for the long haul and virtually everyone you see who is making things that you are inspired by had years and years of work not being great. Here is a great thread that is a few years old where people showed their first piece, VS their latest: https://polycount.com/discussion/171907/first-vs-recent/p1 perhaps you'll find it inspiring


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  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range

    "Has anyone faced a similar problem? How did you deal with it? I’d appreciate any advice".

    If you're willing to hang in there like anything else worthwhile doing, the sense of accomplishment alone personally can be a real morale booster and likewise as already mentioned don't be afraid when things go pear shaped because in my opinion making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn.

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