I would like to know about all of 3D

LimitLess · 08-01-2004

hey people. I am a newb at 3D and i would like to know where exactly to start. I want to know the basics to the advanced levels. Does anybody know where I can get this kind of help. I wanna be good at 3D. So any ideas on how to get me started would be helpful and mostly appreicated.

ConceptualMind · 08-01-2004

Wow, that's a big step to take at once.

First off, what program(s) are you using?

Milkdrop · 08-01-2004

i would look at the major four apps firstly then choose one.

The major four apps are obviously, maya 5, 3ds max 6, lightwave 8, cinema 4d.

They all have roughly the same features except for maya is pretty advanced and has some ground breaking stuff.

Interface:
many people think that lightwave has the hardest layout. I do not neccesarily think this is true but it is rather hard at first. 3dsmax's interface seems a little tricky for my liking. Mayam, i really dont like this one at all. It seems really hard to access the most basic of all features but it is meant to eb the most efficient 3d app, after you have mastered it. Cinema 4d, i think has the best interface ever. Everything is clearly placed out and is very easy to navigate and find items.

Basic knowledge:
Here are some basic things i will shortly discuss about all 3d apps. It can be summed up as doing the moddeling of the object, then texturing it, then putting in the light sources then rendering.

Moddeling:
SDS: sds means subdivisional surfaces. It sounds tricky but it can be best summed up as sculpting. It is grabbing and dividng peices of a 3d mesh to form new areas. It is the most reconised form of modelling and probably the best

NURBS: this is a bit like drawing. You draw out the main shape and then duplicate this line drawing and modify it to form a mesh. It is summed up best as drawing.

BOOLEANS: booleans is a basic form of joining objects. This is the most memory efficeint way of modelling but can be hard in some apps.

ANALYTICS: the basic modelling functions, which have been taken away from many apps.

Texturing:

Textures: You can map textures onto your meshes by drawing out a texture in photoshop and then applying it to a mesh in your 3d proggy by parrarell mapping or cube mapping etc.

Materials: apply these to an object and they interact with light etc. You can make your own custom materials etc like glass or steel and they should interact with the enviroment and lighting. Very useful and very needed in good 3d

Lighting

point lights: the basic vanilla light that can be placed anywhere and are pretty effective when they are used well.

spot light: they can be directed to hit a certain part of the model. Much better than point lights but they take longer to render (occasionally) and take a while to place

Ambient lights: apply light everywhere you can think so no shadow is produced

Rendering: this is basically defining a camera and then choosing quality settings etc. It should thn produce your 3d model into a 2d miage, at the angle of the camera you have specified.

Well i hope this basic guide helps you when you come to getting your chosen app.

LimitLess · 08-01-2004

i know the very basics of 3dsm. a tiny portion of it. all i need is a basic jump start. I have the 3dsmax 5 bible but iam too lazy to read it. i just finished the first chapter of it. my app is definitly 3dsm. and after that its maya. i also got a book on that. i just need something very easy and broad to foloow that will inspire me to jump into more complex things.

jonbalza · 08-02-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by LimitLess

I have the 3dsmax 5 bible but iam too lazy to read it.

There's your problem. How does that motivate us to try and help you out? Try some stuff on your own first. That book is an excellent place to start.

LimitLess · 08-02-2004

like i said i need something basic to start on to inspire me to learn and expand my knowledge thus using the book.

Milkdrop · 08-03-2004

lol always read articles instead of experimenting in 3d apps because teh book always gives the best solution.

LimitLess · 08-04-2004

wat kind of articles. where can i get those from. any sites would be helpful.

@5-0 , i got some questions

how did u get so good at 3D. and how did u start out?

and can i see ur very first piece?

Milkdrop · 08-04-2004

haha lol,

i am not very good at 3d at all, i am just learning. I have been doing 3d for nearly a year now. I havn't had any help or tutorials, so i reckon you could get just as good as me, if you did 5 major 3dsmax tutorials.

I started out by buying a magazine called computer arts and on the cover was a special edition of realsoft. I installe it and found it very dificult. After a month of doing some serious practice i started to enjoy the app. From then onwards i never left the hting. It was so much fun.

I'l see if i can find my very first pic. One of my first models i made.

This was one of my first ever models. It took about two hours to make (compared to my models which now take 20 hours)

http://www.liquidreality-design.co.uk/room.jpg

Just remember that we all had to start some where. So dont go thinking that i was born with teh skill of 3d because i certainly wasn't i just practice about 3 hours a day.

LimitLess · 08-07-2004

i see, thanks for the advice man , i really appreciate it. Ur first piece isn't bad at all, i like it. thanks again.

Milkdrop · 08-08-2004

bah all of my first peices were really shi* but i just progressed at a decent pace.

Evdawg · 08-09-2004

remember this: you arn't going to do anything in 10 minutes. If you've got the attention span of a gnat, then stop and come back later. It works. Seriously.

Milkdrop · 08-10-2004

lol, i spend about 13 hours per a model, then maybe another week to finally get a kick ass render outta the thing.

You need alot of patience but it is serious fun. Also remember, the more attention to detail the more life like your model shall be.

inkdotcreator · 06-12-2005

I am in absolute awe of that piece. It's simply stunning.

Treedeejoe · 07-09-2005

how the tutorial?