Hello , i am an animation student who is going to graduate next year , i started learning blender last month and i loved it , i was planing on doing my graduation project (3-5 minutes 3D movie) but i am not sure that i can learn 3D modeling ,animation rigging ,texturing and rendering in just one year , my question is can i learn how to do all that in one year or less and come up with a good quality 3D video in one year? Or is it impossible to do it?
Hi Nadia, When i was at uni that was exactly what we all had to do.
Remember if you are doing animation degree course your work will be market on the quality of your animations, script, and the story-line. The films that were most successful had the simplest characters and scenes, but a very appealing; story, cinematic, and compositions.
Good luck.
Can i ask for some advices? Like how to learn blender in short amount of time ? I watched some tutorials for props and i made some of them they were pretty good but when it comes to me modeling a character i cant even start , i am freaking out that the project might look ugly or the story will be really good but the animation or the characters is gonna be bad
yes… alone and with the help of the community you can make it…
1 Like
first you need references of what you intent to make, model, animate.
Second once you made you choice, then you can find tutorials that will teach you along the way until completion…
third, for a movie, you need a story, or a something that is talking to the viewer…
1 Like
Hi, There should be someone at your collage/uni that suppose to mentor you and advise you as to the right direction to take. You will not be able to learn blender entire app, you will have to concentrate on the areas you most need, start with drawing your character in front and side views, use inspiration reference image, keep it simple and low poly for speeding up the rigging, weighting, and render time don’t use cloth or hair or any fancy dynamics simulations. Watch tutorials of any 3d app for the character animations. practice animating a basic ready made good rig first. spend all your spare time watching and practicing.
https://www.bloopanimation.com/student-films/
https://youtu.be/Bg_TNyBLJeg
1 Like
When you ant the fast track to blender have a look at cgmasters. They made The Blender 2.8 Encyclopedia on udemy and its just 12 bucks. Lee one of the instructors has also animation courses in blender. For sculpting characters have a look at yansculpt on youtube.
I also made a 3D animation for an assignment in university and after i made everything i had nearly zero time to animate it… =(
Here is the link when you want to have a look:Short film Production with progress pics - Finished (Scroll to bottom)
Best of luck.
1 Like
I have another question if i may ask , should i learn how to sculpture before start modeling? Is it easier or does it make the work look better ? I am willing to do that but not sure if its better for me or not ?
you don’t have to learn sculpting, don’t waste your time with that, you can create highly complex objects with modeling only, plus you’ll miss a lot of basics like modeling, materials, animation…
unless… you have a good reason to sculpt, because for example your scenario focuses on an object that you can only achieve by sculpting, and because you’re particularly attracted by sculpting and less attracted by modeling or animation, and you want to continue in this direction after your studies… but other than that it’s not the right way to approach 3D in my opinion…
actually you should first conceive a storyboard, then ask someone who knows 3D if it’s possible to achieve this within one year, how to do it, will you need to simplify the scenario to make it feasible, etc…
1 Like
HI, What moonboots said is correct, i don’t need to add anything to that except keep it simple.
Good luck. The real hard work start after graduating. 
The thing is i my drawing skills isnt that good and every YouTube tutorial i watch they start from sculpting and i am kinda confused
Also i am not in a really good animation school i dont have a mentor and even if i had usually they know nothing about 3D and i am struggling to have answers for my questions from people i know in real life , also its a bit of challenge i am going in alone bcs really i know no one who can help me in person
The logical thing when you want to learn 3D is beginning by modeling (and texturing), so as you have only one year, try to find a scenario that will be based on a nice (but not too complicated) setup and not too many animations, and camera moving through your scene to make your movie a bit more dynamic…
Simple, and a heck of lot shorter. Remember, most commercials are less than 30 seconds.
Think “Minecraft”, and you might be done by graduation.