Where to start

[pmaster500]

Hi everybody
Im new to the world of 3D so I was wondering how
do I learn basic modeling? Should I take a class since Im
still going to high school I can't take any collage courses.
Also is it possiible to teach yourself
I just want to make 3D models of my drawings mainly cars
and maybe a some product designs like cell phones etc. But
I know this is easier said than done.

Thanks for your Help

[Need_Help]

You can learn to model by yourself (I did not attend any courses or class regarding this). Here are a few tutorial sites that I recommend :
1) 3dm3, 3dtotal, 3dk, evermotion and cgarena's tutorial section
2) Photoshop Tutorials and Flash Tutorials - Tutorialized
3) Oman3D.com
4) CGTutorials.com - The Pillar of Computer Graphics

Thanks and I hope you will succeed in learning that.

[Dr. D]

I have learnt 3d myself and don't complain.
Visit this.
Free 3D Tutorials & CG Tutorials
Watch DT or Gnomon tutorial. This is the fastest way to understand 3d. Good luck.

[pmaster500]

which software should I start with?

[Need_Help]

Personally I use 3DS Max and Vray as renderer. However, if you can't afford it, use Blender3D as it is quite powerful.

Thanks.

[Dr. D]

I advice Maya, ZBrush and Fusion. This is a nice start.

[Sw3D]

Zbrush for car modeling and product design ? i don't think so.

[pmaster500]

okay so i looked up 3ds max and maya (was supprised that autodesk makes both) and it
seems like you need to know programing for maya? So my plan is to download the 30 day demo of 3ds max and try it out and render with vray

PS what does a finished product look like without being rendered on Vray?

[Need_Help]

It looks quite similar depending on how you set the rendering settings. You can always refer to the documentation / help file in 3DS Max if you want to know how to do that. The built-in renderer in 3DS Max is MentalRay. The materials affect the look most of the time while the rendering settings play a smaller part.

Thanks.

[Sw3D]

the problem isn't here.
if you want to use vray properly, u need to understand first how works the basic lightning in 3d and global illumination.
It's easy to make a great render in vray with 18 hours rendertime.
but it's more difficult to understand lightining and optimize your rendertime.

you must to begin with basic lightning before begin with vray.

i'm nostalgic of time before vray, when you have no choice to make GI than put in scene 50 omnis in domelight....vray is too easy in theory.

:)

[KitLightning]

A freeware of 3Ds is GMax (thou no longer supported by Autodesk), and there´s Softimage's free XSI Mod tool.

For creating paintings/textures, GIMP is for free, or you can fetch a trial of Adobe Photoshop, just to get the feel of it.

A tablet/digitizer would be of good use when drawing and painting, but not an absolute must-have, thou you´ll be pleased when you learn it, just as you are with your familiar pencil/pen.

[pmaster500]

Ok so after playing around with 3ds max for 2 days i went and looked
at some tutorials untill i found a sort of beginner-ish one on how to make a
table but the tutorial maker had some weird version so i couldn't fallow him
all the way
but i managed to make this desk and added some light

[KitLightning]

Looks fairly good. Thou its a little too dark and it could use more light sources, if these becomes too bright, adjust them accordingly. You could also try setting a skylight at the front and render it in Atmospheric instead. This however will create artifacts and obscure the image a bit.

Some more free stuff (on light ) for starting out in 3Ds would be
3D Buzz
3DXO
CGArena

[minimus]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

I advice Maya, ZBrush and Fusion. This is a nice start.

well not every one have so much money that they can aford all that stuff. so i recomend starting with Maya or 3ds max becaus thats kinda the main softwares. learn them then proseed to the next level were you can gett higher details with zbrush and compositing with fusion ;)

[ToxicX]

Hey, instead of making a new thread ( because its sooo confusing im not sure how) i'll jst reply on here... I've been learning MAya and 3ds Max on and off for about 5 months now... Starting Computer animation and Special effects course at uni in septemeber, thought i'd join a forum as u seem to learn more and get into it better with a community around you :)

Anyways I started with 3ds Max took me a month to learn most the basics... then i realised my uni use's Maya so ive gone ahead using that.. I'd say there basically the same, maya maybe has a prettier layout? jst my opinion...

Anyways guys, how on earth do i create a thread? All i get up is "upload ur image here" etc... ?