I think there is a lot of value in box modeling and basic nurb modeling skills. Especially for character work. Shoot, edge flow even matters in hard surface, especially when dealing with models that will be up-res'd. Telling somebody to ignore the basics and go straight to a tool like zbrush is a recipe for disaster.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
3D Modelling for beginners & nMP
- Thread starter motegi
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think there is a lot of value in box modeling and basic nurb modeling skills. Especially for character work. Shoot, edge flow even matters in hard surface, especially when dealing with models that will be up-res'd. Telling somebody to ignore the basics and go straight to a tool like zbrush is a recipe for disaster.
It appears you have not witnessed the greatness of ZRemesher 
- Edge flow doesn't matter anymore in modelling when you can simply do it by setting a few guides and hitting the start button.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVoFi2mnyhA
- Edge flow doesn't matter anymore in modelling when you can simply do it by setting a few guides and hitting the start button.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVoFi2mnyhA
It appears you have not witnessed the greatness of ZRemesher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVoFi2mnyhA
I use it daily. It's not perfect at all. Most of the time I need to redo flow and star position in 3d-coat or topogun.
I've been using zbrush since version 2
Last edited:
It appears you have not witnessed the greatness of ZRemesher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVoFi2mnyhA
Thats pretty neat! Does it work just as good from solid CAD mesh imports?
That could save a lot of time!
Never tried, but if you can somehow get a mesh to me in obj format, I'm willig to test it.
So, budget of 1500. Cars and Environments are something you are interested in and with the target being broadcast.
For environments you can model them up yourself using a traditional modelling tool like Cinema4D, Maya, Modo etc. I doubt ZBrush would be good at this.
For Cars, you need to understand the basics first. Polygon modelling.
Polygon modelling is the same across most packages, if you learn it in one package then that knowledge is transferable to another package. You will understand how to create and manipulate vertices, edges and faces to construct a model. The tools to manage the elements of a 3D object are also found in each package so again, transferable.
To get faster at modelling and produce enhanced results, you will start using the more advanced modelling tools of the package. As an example, cutting holes into objects and making the edges automatically have smooth bevels around the hole edge, that is called a Boolean operation. This is where the packages my be great at it or terrible and it is these more advanced features that will either allow you to model quicker with good results or spend time fixing an operation to make it look good. That comes with a price and why we have expensive 3D packages and cheap ones.
Believe it or not, many complex models start out as a Box or a Sphere and are extended from that.
If you want to find what tools are used in Broadcast/Film then do a google search for things like "What software was used to create Avatar" You will be surprised at how many different packages are used but that is a AAA blockbuster movie so you would expect no expense spared and a huge team of specialists.
Also, broadcast studios will have many team members responsible for different areas in the production pipeline. If you want to be a modeller then you are one cog of many. As you learn, keep half n eye open for what your model will be used for.
It sounds like you may want to be an Asset Modeller or an Environment Artist. Asset modellers do just that, they create assets that will not usually be be animated and are placed throughout a scene as filler content. Your job would be modelling up bespoke content like a Kings Throne, Weapons, Futuristic appliances, basically anything that can't be bought from a 3D stock model library for $99
An Environment artist has a bigger role and traditional art skills (form, light and shadow, perspective etc) would be very useful here. There are some tools that create environments for you like Vue http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/
So you could skip modelling and become a Vue specialist instead for example. I used it a few years ago because the job I worked on required a Jungle. It was brilliant and the results were far superior to something I could have modelled manually in the same time frame and I only touched the surface of what it could really do.
Anyway,
So, to get an understanding of basic modelling. Install a free package and create something like your Mac Monitor or a lamp. This would give you the starting fundamentals of modelling. Now, if you go and watch modelling tutorials on youtube for C4D, Maya, Modo etc you will have a greater understanding of what is going on in comparison to your own experience and you haven't spent a penny yet.
Another way to find out what industry consider key software tools to use would be to look at university courses and see what their preferred packages are. After all they are driven by industry demand.
Anim
----------
I wish I could, its all NDA stuff. I might be able to find something on the net though. Let me look, cheers.
For environments you can model them up yourself using a traditional modelling tool like Cinema4D, Maya, Modo etc. I doubt ZBrush would be good at this.
For Cars, you need to understand the basics first. Polygon modelling.
Polygon modelling is the same across most packages, if you learn it in one package then that knowledge is transferable to another package. You will understand how to create and manipulate vertices, edges and faces to construct a model. The tools to manage the elements of a 3D object are also found in each package so again, transferable.
To get faster at modelling and produce enhanced results, you will start using the more advanced modelling tools of the package. As an example, cutting holes into objects and making the edges automatically have smooth bevels around the hole edge, that is called a Boolean operation. This is where the packages my be great at it or terrible and it is these more advanced features that will either allow you to model quicker with good results or spend time fixing an operation to make it look good. That comes with a price and why we have expensive 3D packages and cheap ones.
Believe it or not, many complex models start out as a Box or a Sphere and are extended from that.
If you want to find what tools are used in Broadcast/Film then do a google search for things like "What software was used to create Avatar" You will be surprised at how many different packages are used but that is a AAA blockbuster movie so you would expect no expense spared and a huge team of specialists.
Also, broadcast studios will have many team members responsible for different areas in the production pipeline. If you want to be a modeller then you are one cog of many. As you learn, keep half n eye open for what your model will be used for.
It sounds like you may want to be an Asset Modeller or an Environment Artist. Asset modellers do just that, they create assets that will not usually be be animated and are placed throughout a scene as filler content. Your job would be modelling up bespoke content like a Kings Throne, Weapons, Futuristic appliances, basically anything that can't be bought from a 3D stock model library for $99
An Environment artist has a bigger role and traditional art skills (form, light and shadow, perspective etc) would be very useful here. There are some tools that create environments for you like Vue http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/
So you could skip modelling and become a Vue specialist instead for example. I used it a few years ago because the job I worked on required a Jungle. It was brilliant and the results were far superior to something I could have modelled manually in the same time frame and I only touched the surface of what it could really do.
Anyway,
So, to get an understanding of basic modelling. Install a free package and create something like your Mac Monitor or a lamp. This would give you the starting fundamentals of modelling. Now, if you go and watch modelling tutorials on youtube for C4D, Maya, Modo etc you will have a greater understanding of what is going on in comparison to your own experience and you haven't spent a penny yet.
Another way to find out what industry consider key software tools to use would be to look at university courses and see what their preferred packages are. After all they are driven by industry demand.
Anim
----------
I wish I could, its all NDA stuff. I might be able to find something on the net though. Let me look, cheers.
Last edited:
do you want to make 'real' models or computer graphics which look like real things but aren't necessarily accurate?
personally, i can't use c4d, modo, cheetah, zbrush, etc because you're not drawing with real dimensions.. more along the lines of 'oh, that looks cool'
if you think you'd rather learn a package in which the things you draw are representations of real world objects (computer aided drafting).. look into sketchup as it's great (relatively simple) for familiarizing with 3D drawing environment.. and rhino as it's basically the most accurate surfacing software you're going to find on mac since it's NURBS based as opposed to polygon modeling.. another NURBS package which recently came to mac and is a lot less daunting than rhino is moi 3d.. http://moi3d.com
regardless of which software you go with, you have to commit.. none of this stuff is easy to learn no matter who tries to tell you it is..
as for openCL, don't even worry about that stuff yet.. it's not going to speed up the drawing aspects of an application and definitely not going to speed up the learning process.. pretty much the main hope/goal (for me) with openCL and cad is that we'll eventually be able to draw real time in a rendered viewport instead of drawing then texturing then rendering.
http://pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/lesson/prototyping/
Feel free to amend your statement at any time. Most programs use real units of measurement or it would be extremely difficult to create any sort of composite with live action.
Last edited:
why? you're not sitting there drawing with real dimensions. (as in, let's see some zbrush stuff which is going to be constructed with ,say, 3/4" plywood)
Uh, you can set the units to represent whatever scale you'd like to use. Materials used to create said object are irrelevant. There is a team of doctors creating dentures and other oral prosthetics out of extruded resins based off models made in a Zbrush. The files can also be used with a CnC lathe and plywood. There is stepping in the wooden models but we just use automotive filler to smooth them out. So basically you are pretty ignorant to what is going on in the world of 3d printing. Again, feel free to amend your statement at any time.
Jesus Christ what the hell is the problem with macrumors forums?!
at OP.. go learn zbrush to design a house or prototype parts.. have fun.
I am? did you read the first post I wrote?
----------
answer this one question.. yes or no
do you (personally) build things which you've designed on a computer ?
I've got some teeth to glue together next week. I'll snap a photo for ya when I get in.
so you can scan a tooth, morph it til it looks good, then print it and install in someone's mouth.. all in zbrush?
that's great.. but in no way is it showing what I'm saying here is wrong.
The problem is that you still mix CAD with non-CAD. There may be some similarities but no one in design, movies, games or even 3d printing is normally needing CAD precision.
The mixing comes from the opener who wants to design i.e. cars. The important word here is design not construct. He want models that look like cars not models that could be built. So anything CAD-like would probably not fit the problem very well.
followed up by my first question of
"do you want to make 'real' models or computer graphics which look like real things but aren't necessarily accurate?"
whatever though.. this place is crazy
if the OP is truly serious about learning 3D modeling, he'll figure this stuff out for himself.. and he'll also find better areas of the interwebs to ask such questions than at a hardware forum.