# 3D modeling type stuff?



## Ginsu (Apr 27, 2013)

I'm going to be starting a game design course in fall, and I was just curious if anyone on the forum had any experience with 3D modeling and rendering and stuff. As far as the aspects of game design go, I KNOW it'll be the one I find most challenging, so I want to go into the class with some idea of what I'm doing so I don't end up horribly behind. Any advice for a beginner is appreciated. 

Oh, as far as programs, I'll be practicing on Blender because I have no money and can't bring myself to pirate.


----------



## Khoi (Apr 27, 2013)

I've been doing some 3D work, mostly visual effects, not so much modeling.

What I can tell you that it's incredibly time consuming to render, and you'll need a powerful CPU if you want to make your life manageable.

Some of my renders take 40 hours, and that's non-stop rendering with an i7-2600k (4 cores, 8 threads) processor.

I personally like to use Cinema 4D, but it's worth looking into a variety of programs that best suit your needs.

For example, Maya and 3D Studio Max are more geared towards modeling and animation (like Cinema 4D), whereas you can also have 3D modeling CAD programs like Rhino.

My advice to you is to start learning NOW. Even having a very standard basis of navigating the 3D software will put you well ahead of the curve.

Learn tutorials on Youtube and other sites. You learn much better from doing it hands on and you can make some pretty cool stuff. Most 3D software is pretty similar, so if you learn one, you'll have a pretty easy time adjusting to the other.


Here's some of the stuff I've done in Cinema 4D. These are more fun little animations and tests, nothing too serious


My 40 hour render


----------



## Alimination (Apr 28, 2013)

Blender is a fine program. I've seen a lot of amazing things come out of it.

Autodesk features a long period of free trials for college students. So I'm sure you can pick up and learn a lot out of it without having to pirate. Both 3D Max and Maya preferred in most game industries. 

Here in Konami we use a lot of Maya and Zbrush.

As for Tutorials there are a lot of great ones off Eat3D.com and Gnomonworkshop if you subscribe to them. That is where most of my knowledge came from.

-----------

As for Game modeling, as long as you have a solid understanding of 2D art you should be able to pick it up pretty fast. 


The basic pipeline process of it in the game industry is...

-Concept art (basic sketch, rough drawing)

-Low Polygon Modeling (low polygon so it can handle running in a game engine without lagging a computer)

-Unwrapping (flattening the model to a 2D image like a jpeg so you can be able to paint it photoshop)

-High Polygon sculpt (used to extract all the fine detail and plant it onto your low polygon model to give you the illusion of detail)

-Rigging (Placing bones inside your model and setting up controls for an animator to move the character)

-Lighting/rendering (setting up lights, shadows, bounce lights, and lots of optimization to save render time)



I know all of this sounds overwhelming at first, but I'm sure you will have one class for each of these subjects like I did. It's a real fun skill to have, but the competition is unbearably heavy. I wish you luck and if you need help feel free to PM me in your educational journey. 

Cheers!


----------



## Ginsu (Apr 28, 2013)

Alimination said:


> Blender is a fine program. I've seen a lot of amazing things come out of it.
> 
> Autodesk features a long period of free trials for college students. So I'm sure you can pick up and learn a lot out of it without having to pirate. Both 3D Max and Maya preferred in most game industries.
> 
> ...



Um. I have little understanding of 2-D art...any idea where I'd go to learn all of that? Thanks to both of you though, your help is appreciated, and that's some awesome stuff, Khoi!


----------



## Alimination (Apr 28, 2013)

If you're starting school I'm sure the first year would strictly be 2D drawing. Everything from Color Theory, Design 101, Observational drawing objects then soon nude models to study anatomy, etc. 

But really man buy a subscription to the Gnomon Workshop and you'll be set. I didn't even have the need to buy books at school just because they cover everything in their videos from beginning to advanced. 

I can't recommend them enough.


----------



## Natenate9 (Apr 28, 2013)

When I was big into that stuff I used 3DS Max(Thats what my school gave me) It was a good program with little flaws. But its expensive as fuck. I have tried blender to and its pretty good. And free so thats awesome!


----------



## Ginsu (Apr 28, 2013)

Alimination said:


> If you're starting school I'm sure the first year would strictly be 2D drawing. Everything from Color Theory, Design 101, Observational drawing objects then soon nude models to study anatomy, etc.
> 
> But really man buy a subscription to the Gnomon Workshop and you'll be set. I didn't even have the need to buy books at school just because they cover everything in their videos from beginning to advanced.
> 
> I can't recommend them enough.



Well, you see, the thing is, I'm not going for just the art. I'm going for design in general. Like...all the aspects of it. I don't know how much time I'll have to build skills, since it's an accelerated curriculum (three years, at Full Sail). The second thing though, I will look into.

EDIT: Holy crap. I literally can't afford to set aside even $100, let alone five...


----------



## MFB (Apr 30, 2013)

A lot of the stuff that Alimination is talking about is geared toward students and is cheaper if you are one since it's being used for learning and not profit, etc... 

I'm doing 3D courses right now learning low poly stuff but I may have to redo the course as 3DS MAX doesn't work on a Mac and I didn't have the money to put aside for a new PC out of thin air


----------

