good books/resurces on 3D modeling

I didn’t see this in the forum archives, possibly because it falls under the heading of “If you have to ask…”, but can anyone recommend any good books or other resources for creating 3D models in general?

I predominantly use Blender for enhancing live videos (depsite some limitations with fonts it’s a wonderful tool for making titles) but then I look around at the projects (like Cyan Sun) people have been creating and I get a little green eyed and would like to be able to produce something even 1/1000th as nice.

The problem is I have effectively no artistic talent in drawing and I don’t have the technical knowledge of how one models anything more complex than a cube and I’m not expecting a book to help in this respect, but maybe it could show me how to get started.

I’m really looking for something very basic (read: for the rank beginner). I’ve tried following some of the tutorials posted, but most of them assume you have a clue [!]

Thanks,

Dave S.

the tutorials at blender3d.org are really good for beginners–thats what i started on…but, if your looking for a real book, the best one out there ive seen is called “The Official Blender 2.0 Guide”, you might be able to still find it at the e-shop at blender3d.org, or maybe at your local book store…its a little outdated, but its a FANTASTIC resource…it teaches you almost all of the modeling, texturing, lighting, and animating aspects of blender…hope this helps, happy blendering! :wink:

TUDBZD69 over and out!

Tudbzd69,

Thanks for the info. I already have the Official Blender Guide (and the Blender Book as well). I agree that these are highly worthwhile (the 2.0 book is out of print but available for download as a PDF from Blender3d.org for US $12).

What I need is something that might be published under the name “3D Graphics Designs for Dummies” (or possibly “How to Gain Artistic Talent via Osmosis”). I can operate the Blender interface well enough; what I can’t do is break down a real world (or fantasy world for that matter) object and figure out how to model it.

Dave S.

I recommend the Character Animation Books by Maestri. He breaks down character models into their separate components and gives you several ways to model each.

I also recommend doing as many blender specific tutorials as possible, I know they don’t all make sense just yet, but cummatively they will start showing you how to start projects and how to break down things around you.

Trust me in time you will start seeing things as a collection of spheres and cubes, and then you will start seeing things in wireframe. It is a learning process in itself to see in 3D. :smiley:

Hello ds101,

I will try to help you out.

I think I’m safe when I say you won’t find a general modeling book, but there are many APPLICATION SPECIFIC books related to mainly character modeling or modeling for games and the like.

One thing to remember is that theory and technique can be applied to any app you use, but application specific knowledge will do you no good when going between apps.

The key is once you learn theory on how to use bevel, lathe, extrude, loft, subdivide, and smooth to model what you want, it then becomes a matter of finding these tools in the application of your choice. But what good are the tools without knowing how they can help you reach your goals?

Okay enough preaching! Here are some of the better references I’ve found on the net. None are Blender specific.

General References

3-D Animation Workshop
An older, but very informative and relevant set of lessons on the world of 3D.

Professor Giulio Porta’s Home Page
I stumbeled upon this one day. This page has several College Courses that can be followed ranging from drawing and art techniques, to 3D modeling and animation. There is some good beginner reference material here. He uses several apps in his courses, but the concepts can be carried over in most cases. This is key because as you may already know, no two apps are exactly alike.

I highly recommend you check out the Syllabi, Tutorials and Course Information. Each course has assignments you can follow.

Digital Sculpture Techniques
How to Apply the Principles of Traditional Sculpture to Make Stunning 3D Characters by Bay Raitt and Greg Minter

In a nutshell, modeling for subdivision surfaces. A must read! Save the PDF!

Other free tools

Wings 3D
Grab a copy of Wings 3D. This is freeware. It is regularly updated and released by its developer. It makes organic modeling easier to handle. You can manipulate edges, faces and verticies easier than any commercial or freeware app I’ve seen or read about. (This will go hand in hand with the Digital Sculpture Techniques PDF)

Be sure to visit the Community links on the Wings 3D home page. There is an Official development forum and many other forums devoted to Wings 3D inlcuding one on CGTalk.

Wings 3D tutorials, notes and general information

Amapi v4.15
Also, grab a free commercial copy of Amapi 4.15. You might find it easier to make non-organic models. It has an incredible set of modeling tools and can export to many file formats (including DXF which can be opned in Blender).

Amapi 4.15 specific tutorials

An excellent Amapi Resource.

I listed these tools because they have modeling capabilties which Blender currently does not have. However, they can be used to create models, which can be imported into Blender. Notice I’m not taking Blender out of the equation! Blender has numerous features that the afore mentioned apps do not. Using them together can prove to be powerful.

Modeling Tutorials

Lightwave Modeling Tutorials.
I listed this because there are a number of modeling tutorials here for everyday objects. Once you learn theory you may be able to take these and replicate them using the tools in Blender, Wings 3D or Amapi.

Interviews

3D Modleing and animation has such a huge learning curve. Its crazy. But the pros will tell you it can take years to be any good at just one aspect!

3D Total Artist Interviews

Inside CG Artist Interviews
(see roughly the middle of the page).

I hope this helps you out in some way. Practice, make mistakes, learn. Good luck.

Dreamsgate and ec2, Thank you! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

Dave S.

There’s also a good book I picked up from my local computer store. Think it’s called “3D Lighting Techniques” Very in depth book that’s not application specific. Better yet it was on the clearance rack :smiley: I’ll try and post the book information when I get home tonight, some people might find it a good one to read. Before I started reading it, I didn’t think much about lighting a 3D scene, now I find it’s just as important as modelling/texturing/animating.

It might be a good idea to run over to a used book store or some sort of clearance bookstore place and find a book on general 3D principles like modelling, animation, and lighting.

Trust me in time you will start seeing things as a collection of spheres and cubes, and then you will start seeing things in wireframe. It is a learning process in itself to see in 3D.

ahh!! dreamsgate!! I do the same exact thing! yes ds101, eventually you will be able to see the entire world around you in wireframe, and for example…if you put an object ive never seen in my life in front of my face, i would probably be able to almost instantly know how to model it in blender. As dreamsgate said, find some specific tutorials like for example, how to build a castle(its on blender3d.org), then once you know the principles being taught in the tutorial, apply the same techniques you learned on other objects, like how to build a sword…what im saying basically, dont be afraid to experiment…in moderation that is…and never forget the power of extrusion…its one of the most powerfull tools in any 3dapp., nearly every model you’ll ever make will be started as a simple plane or circle…just practise, and practise alot, and once again…

happy blendering!:wink:

TUDBZD69 over and out… [>] [>] [>]

Draw, Draw, Draw!!! Can’t stress that enough! You’ll become a better 3D artist if you are a better 2D artist first.

There are a lot of links to different basic art tutorials as well as 3D tutorials at this topic:

https://blenderartists.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9137

Here is a more basic sub surface tutorial that can be applied in Blender:

http://sdk.web3d.org/summer2002disk1/tools/Lattice/technote/designer/tutorial/rabbit/rabbit1.html

and one that I did…

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jmandmc/legtut/legtut.html

… And one of the best advanced modeling tuturials available:

By the way I DO NOT recommend spending the money on the George Maestri book its way TOO general as well as outdated.

When you are ready I have a lot of advanced modeling tutorial links I have collected.

I was at the bookstore and saw a coupla books that really might be worth your time. One was the video game character modeling and animation book by Paul Steed. The other were “Building a Digital Human” and "Modeling Digital Dinosaurs " by Kenneth Brilliant, an artist who really knows his stuff. Of course I would suggest that before you buy any book you sit down with it at the bookstore (if possible) and read through it a bit to make sure that its gonna teach you something. There are A LOT of people writing books that don’t know what they are doing!!! Don’t waste your money. Good luck and feel free to PM me about anything modeling related!

TorQ

No problem

Regarding books, I picked up Digital Texturing & Painting by Owen Demers and Digital Lighting & Rendering by Jeremy Birn. These books are must haves, they will expand your knowledge and help you build techniques in the areas they cover.

Also check out 3drender.com which is another good resource.

TorQ

Nice tutorials you’ve made, my first time seeing those.

The book you don’t recommend is the Character Animation Book, correct? Because the Digital Lighting & Rendering book is great.

Or look at:
http://www.cgtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

With regards,
Michel

More.
Ed Harris
Great site for XSI users, but there is great subdivision surface information in the Tutorials section.

Hi,

I am probably way too late
for this post, but what the heck…

I can highly reccomend the following
books:

3D Modelling and Texture Mapping
By Tom Capizzi -Premier Press

3D Lighting and Compositing
By David Parrish -Premier Press

There are two other books in the
series, character setpu, and animation.
The website is
www.premeripressbooks.com

They are both non-application
specific, though the program used
for examples is Maya. (mainly)

The lighting an compositing on
is my personal favorite, because
that is what I enjoy more.

The modelling one is a little
more app specific, because it uses
patches and curved surfaces mainly
to model, but hamaPatch is a good
freeware modeller that uses those.

All four books will be reviewed on
my website, elementi-motus.com
(currently nearling completeion,
it will be another 3d community with
forums, reviews, interviews, etc)

Laters,
Derek

Its never too late.

I wondered how good those book were. I skimmed them at the book store, so I will be looking forward to your review.

Tekobyte, you’re not too late. I really appreciate the input I’ve gotten from everyone (not to mention a heck of a lot of tutorials and other materials to study).

I wish I were more of an artist to begin with; it would definitely help. I was perusing through the contests and saw the one for The Unlikliest Superhero and I immediately got an idea but couldn’t figure out how to model it (it was kind of a “Michael Moorcock Meets the PowerPuff Girls” scene (most people don’t bother to ask me where I get my ideas; they just want to know why I get them)). I knew what I wanted it to look like but discovered (very quickly) that I couldn’t model even a relatively simple cartoon-like character. Hence this thread…

Dave S.

1 Like

Character Modeling
by Bay Raitt

Digital Sculpting Forum
Dedicated to Character Modeling.

GIMP
From the home page:

GIMP Savvy

Grokking the GIMP - Learning Advanced Image Editing

Here’s my 2 cents worth

The Blender Book
by Carsten Wartmann

it is Blender specific, but very much a step by step learning tool with emphasis on examples. I often turn to it to help me jump start an idea. Comes with a handy CD too.

Subdivision Modeling Essay