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[ela3d]

Furniture_01

So furniture: chair, table, sofa, wardrobe, bed, carpet and so on.....

Let’s gather some videos and knoledge:

http://www.thecgschool.com/images/Tutorials/creating3D_%20furniture.pdf

http://www.3d-sphere.com/interior/modeling-interior-furniture-in-3dsmax

https://www.3dm3.com/tutorials/30-furniture-modeling-tutorials/

http://viscorbel.com/free-tutorials/

https://evermotion.org/tutorials/show/10571/modeling-chesterfield-furniture-in-3ds-max

Ok, I’ll start with this one (it has been created based on a box not image):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_unzLDGj9U&t=18s

NOTE: if your symetry doesn’t work properly select the area, where the both side should connect, then it works perfectly. (well I’m using 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYca2HzWCJQ&list=PLKkfcMV4fS0zg34-zNg1Hd5z71MSqUoHl&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwqzHroURsY&list=PLKkfcMV4fS0zg34-zNg1Hd5z71MSqUoHl&index=4

Sure they are farrrr... away from the standard but they are there:) Everything has a start:)

Let’s try something more difficult:):)

[ela3d]

Quick Overiew

So I’m finished with the basics revision.

I decided to make a plan, walkpath. It’s popular in sports as well as in tutoring to make a plan of your learning and look back at the achievements. Usually you’ll read stuff like learn the basics... then practise... but what basics do you exactly have to learn--> TONS of videos!!! Which one to choose??

So with this in mind let’s have a look at my plan.

THINGS TO LEARN:

Modeling

Reference image modelling

Texturing

Map backing UV Maping, unwrapping

Rendering

Lightning

Retopology

High & low poly models

Animation

Scripts/Plugins

Automotive tasks

GENRES:

Furniture

Interior assets

Exterior assets

Interior/Exterior visualisations

Guer/Weapons/Swords

Clothes

Environment

Fluids

Automotive/Machines

Food

Animals

Game assets

3D Text

Textures

Product Visualisation

Particles

Human models

Monster models

Well of course I won’t learn everything, I have already decided the thing I want to specialise in, but an overall knowledge even the basics are needed in these topics. Sorry not sure if there is anything more I just start with these.

I have decided to take it step by step of course I will put everything I learn from here so if someone wants to look into it as well feel free to use it.

Regarding the genres I don’t know which will come first yet, I have already done some of them but it’s hard to say which knowledge I have to obtain to make it work, so I’ll look into it later on.

So lets model some furniture:) In my personal opinion it’s the easiest.

[ela3d]

Choosing your path...wisely

There are tons of possibilities - what kind of graphic designer you want to become. I’ll say it again no matter how hard it might appear - FAKE IT TILL YOU BECOME IT!!

Choose your path wisely, considering your abilities, market, future jobs and time.

Why am I talking about time? Well some of you start with 3D when they are 9-12, but there is a bunch of people, who switch their career and start it in their 30s or 40s...(I’ve started it with 15 but then returned to it in my 20s). Then you don’t have time to spend 5 years on learning before appling for a new job. You need to learn fast and concentrate on the things you can do.

HOW TO GO ON?...

For example an architect would tend to go directly for visualisations or furniture ... but if you consider this direction you have 3D designers, architects, interior designers, furniture designers and so on to compete with!!!

If you go for character design - you need to concentrate on anatomy, have at least basics at traditional art - it definetely helps but you also have to look into job opportunities - looking at the market - when it comes to 3D model sells - character design is trending and will be needed in the upcoming years, but there are tons of posts from proffessionals, which say that the amount of people aming for this job is increasing but not the job offers. So you have to compete on a very high level for few jobs, where the rotation is rather seldom. 

Lots of information regarding the industry and how to make a living:

http://polycount.com/discussion/181999/game-industry-career-resources

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Freelance

http://polycount.com/forum 

https://www.cgtrader.com/blog/infographic-best-selling-3d-models-and-practices

Well there are tons of possibilities, these are some of those (please look into it on your own, here https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/game-jobs):

Generalist Character Artist  Invironment Artist Level designer Asset Artist Vehicle artist Lightning Artist Clothing artist VFX Lead (said to be hard to get a job) Digital Matte Painter  Animator Rigging artist

and many more...

Think about the things you are good at, and what you would be able to do 24/7 :)

Then you will be able to decide on your goal:)

I have already decided on mine:) But I’ll be looking into it slowly and writing it down:)

There is a saying for every succesfull person - from the goal to the start -> what does it mean? Imagine you have achieved the goal and take a look backwards - what did you have to do to get it:)

After choosing your direction look into the things you have to learn.

INFO HERE: http://palidoozy-art.tumblr.com/post/114180057031/so-you-wanna-do-game-art 

For example:

If you are going for game invironment artist you definetely need some #s:

Programs:

#3DsMax

#Unity/Unreal

#Photoshop

Skills:

high&low resolution models

textures, maps

retopology

and so on...

So 

set the goal, 

choose the path, 

plan the programms to learn 

skills to obtain 

look into job requierments

MAKE A STRATEGY! - and GO FOR IT:) 

[ela3d]

Little Pause... but why so fast?

You know how they say - every time you want to do something - everything goes it’s own way. Something must come up to keep you away from your project. Well in my case - I ended up getting a 2 weeks project which consumed me fully, so I had to set priorities. 

It’s said that we tend to say “I don’t have enough time to do it” or “I’m too tired to do it today I’ll do it tomorrow” ---> it totally applies to me (hard to admit but true). After finishing the project (needed for work) I’ve found tons of other things to do and this project lost it’s priority to me... at least for a while.

I decided to look into it. Why was is it like that? Why did I find so many excusises, so as not to do it?

The answer was easy -> I’ve started to question this project, because I couldn’t see the goal of it. Even though I thought that I actually had a goal. From a ball to character design. But after looking into it closely I noticed that this is just not enough. I wanted to create a map and decide which things I can ommit and which to practise more. Because lets be honest nobody can be a generalist and be good at everything. After a while you notice what you like (can) doing more and waht less - for example furniture rather than cars and so on.

So I’ve decided to make a list of the things, which you can learn so as to pick out the things I’m good at and concentrate on that.

In order to do so I’ve read many posts, some of them were really helpfull to move forward and decide on my goals.

Worth reading:

http://polycount.com/discussion/149131/becoming-a-3d-character-artist-what-is-your-opinion

In the next post I’ll provide some more information regarding how to choose your path wisely.

[ela3d]

3rd day - Usefull shortcuts

Got to the video 10 from Official 3ds Max course - youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISjIQUiX3Kc&index=10&list=PLnKw1txyYzRkDT7ZH-2Mzd4hwZ_zjY_jt

Set up scale before creating an object:

Customise-> Units setup->US standard

Decimal Inches->System Unit Setup->1.0 Unit=1.0Inch

Shortcuts I found or remembered as useful:

W- move E-Rotate R-Scale

Position X 0,Y 0,Z 0 of the object - right click on spinners - brings it aut. to 0

Rotation - Angle snap - rotates every 5 degrees

Right click on the icon - rotates the exact amount

A - Angle snap

Align object icon

Rotation of several objects together (clean effect) - change rotation mode - to LOCAL

Duplicate objects:

I prefer with alt (but there is also shift and drag)

Instance object cloning - possible changes to all cloned objects at once

[ela3d]

Gather Information

Ok, where do I start - tutorials? Books? Magazines? Articles? Online courses?

I googled :) 

How to  master 3ds max - brought some results from the official 3ds Max tutorials.

How to become a 3D artist brought a post I became interested in, so - sharing:)

http://www.raythucle.com/blog/how-i-became-a-3d-artist 

https://formlabs.com/blog/how-to-be-a-successful-3d-artist/

What I’ve learned:

Platform for 3D artists to look up some inspiration, get some news:

Artstation

3DTotal

Ten Thousand Hours

Pixologic Zbrush

Level up!

Deviantart

Polycount

CGSociety

CGPlus

Sketchfab

the biggest goal of being an artist is to be better everyday, and the only way to get better is practice. (...) If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don't, you will find an excuse.

So true:) 

I have read some other posts before (sorry don’t remember them anymore but I have found some recources I’ll be using for my plan):

Like I mentioned before - I’m trying to use things, which provide free access to it.

I put it here to have everything in one place:

Magazines:

https://www.3dartistonline.com/news/tag/3ds-max/

https://www.3dartistonline.com/news/tag/hdri/

https://www.creativebloq.com/tag/3d

http://emagazinepdf.com/2017/08/imaginefx-october-2017/

http://emagazinepdf.com/?s=3D+World+UK

http://www.pushingpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/files/HDRI%203D%20Issue%208%20-%20Go%20With%20the%20Flow.pdf

https://doc.lagout.org/Others/Game%20Development/Designing/3ds%20Max%206%20Bible.pdf

News:

https://www.fxphd.com/tips/

Tutorials - free online resources:

For starters watch:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwRkkGzA98k

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7LaYg5-pB0&list=PLnKw1txyYzRkDT7ZH-2Mzd4hwZ_zjY_jt

Some people claim that it takes 2 weeks to learn the fundamental basics. I have found a source saying it takes 24 hours:)

“3ds max in 24 hours sams teach yourself” - 48pages available for free

Truth is - IT TAKES TIME TO READ IT!!

So instead lets go with youtube.I already know the basics - but I still want to go throught it to check if I remember it well.

So for today:

1. Video nr 1 - I just like how he explains it

2. Official 3ds Max Cahnnel - 1-5 episode (link above)

Comment to myself:

After each video -> DO IT - not only watch it!

Resource I read today:

https://www.creativebloq.com/features/10-top-3ds-max-tutorials

adding  links to remember it:

http://docs.autodesk.com/3DSMAX/16/ENU/3ds-Max-Tutorials/index.html?url=files/GUID-E1B42D4D-E193-4290-83D8-72FB66E467F6.htm,topicNumber=d30e6685

https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorials/3ds+Max/?

https://www.highend3d.com/3dsmax/tutorials

https://www.creativebloq.com/tag/3d

[ela3d]

How to start?

How to get from this to this?

I’ve started to write in order to motivate myself and pack my bags to start a journey with 3ds Max. I have tried to master this program several times but lost interest in doing so. That’s why this blog is only a method for me to keep up and do something.  Well let’s see if it works:)

(and by the way English is not my mother language so look away from my mistakes). 

Usually when you want to learn something you look up everything you can get on the internet (for free as best). But guess what - there’s a lot of stuff!! There’re overflowing you!!! So much that it’s hard to find the things you are interested in:( Wait..... what exactly are you interested in? 3ds Max offers a wide range of things. What are you looking for? What for?

I’ve read tons of courses, watched videos and read books, but after a while I’ve noticed that I don’t really have a plan for my learning process. I don’t know anymore what I can do and what do I actually have to learn.

What’s the goal?

What are the steps to achieve my goal?

How long will it take?

Why am I doing it?

I have found the fundamental questions and answers to it and I hope also a method to motivate myself to achieve this goal. Why do I need motivation? Easy - 50 hours working during the week are totally ruining my balance - You know this feeling when you get home and you don’t wanna to anything - that’s what I’m fighting against:)

I have decided to make a schedule plan for 180 days - learn a new thing every day regarding 3ds Max.

Articles regarding 3ds Max say - You have to learn, learn, learn.... - but there are tons of courses, videos, books, platforms and stuff like that - it’s hard to make a real plan with a real goal. 

When I speak about a goal I don’t mean - master an intermediate course or get a job as a 3d modeler or get famous on youtube or things like that.

“I mean goals like - how to get from this to this???”

Nice link (he explains it well - regarding Zbrush):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn0z9yJkR2s

Ok it will deffinetely take more than 180 days - let’s stay realistic (months, years, decades - doesn’t matter. 

But what exactly do I have to learn to be able to do it? 

That was my question - and I have decided to find an answer to it. 

(Ok you can do it fully in Zbrush but I want to try it with 3ds Max - sure a mix of both would be perfect).

Whether I find it or not - it’s a different story - but in 10 years - I won’t have regrets - not doing anything - I can at least say - Ok, I’ve tried:)

So this blog will be actually about this - how I try to master 3ds Max to answer my questions:) 

I’ll tell you right away - I will concentrate on the things I find for free first - when I feel like reaching a limit - I’ll switch to the things you can find online (for cash).

Learning process:

I’m building my workplan for the whole week. Articles I have read, videos I’ve watched and the progress I’ve made. I think it’s important to notice your progress and give yourself a reward afterwards:) 

 I will put everything here. Don’t expect long posts (exept of this one:)) - short and spicy - because I don’t want to invest too much time in writing. After all it’s learning by doing, not learning by writing.

By the way I have left the “leave a comment” possibility for people, who want to contribute to my learning process with some tips or ideas. 

Haters - please stay away:) It’s a blog for me - either you find it stupid or wanna make fun - just go somewhere else:) thanks:)

So that’s it for my first post. Hope it goes well - we’ll see:)

[ela3d]

How you gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose

Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha “Startupofyou”