Need Advice on Claymation Learning Path

Support Tutorials, Tips and Tricks
1

Hey everyone,

So I’ve recently delved into the world of 3D with the goal of creating some amazing claymation videos, and also doing VFX and visualizations later. However, with the plethora of tutorials and courses available, I’m a bit overwhelmed and in need of some guidance.

I’ve tried a few tutorials to get started. I watched Blender Guru’s latest donut tutorial, and honestly I didn’t like it. Then, I moved on to Joey Carlino’s Beginner and Modeling tutorials, which I found to be much more helpful. Finally, CG Cookie’s latest Blender Basics tutorials really clicked for me, and I enjoyed them a lot. I also watched SouthernShotty’s Your First Day in Blender 3D on Skillshare which was also a good one.

Now, here’s where I need your expertise and advice. There are so many other tutorials and courses out there, like various CG Cookie offerings like the many Fundamentals courses that sound intriguing. However, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, and I’m worried about falling into the perfectionist’s trap of being obsessive about watching and learning many tutorial out there and never starting to create.

Currently, I’m working on a relatively weak “potato” laptop with the following specs: Intel Core i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz, 12 GB RAM, and GeForce 940MX (GM108M). And it’s really a pain in the ass when it comes to rendering. Given my situation, I’m looking for advice and recommendations on the most effective learning path to master claymation without getting overwhelmed. What courses or tutorials would you recommend? Are there specific ones that have worked well for you in the past?

I’d appreciate any insights you can share.

Thanks

2

Hi.
When you say “Claymation”, I’m guessing you mean like savannahXYZ and not mamshmam.
If so, there are no shortcuts. Sounds like you are on the right path. Given your limited resources I would recommend a focus on low-poly modeling… I recommend Grant Abbitt’s tutorials - free and paid.
Once you can do LP animations then have a look at clay material tutorials and you should be in a good place.
It won’t hurt to attempt some traditional Stop Motion also.
Just remember that perfect is the enemy of done.
Good luck.

2 Likes
3

SouthernShotty has a few good tutorials on the subject as well.

https://www.youtube.com/@SouthernShotty

3 Likes
4

Yes, realistic looking claymation like savannahXYZ, but her models have too much fingerprint effect. mamshmam looks good too, but it’s not 3D CGI if I’m correct.

What I’m quite unsure about, is what topics should I follow and in what order. There are modelling, shading, texturing, geometry nodes, rigging, etc. courses. Do you recommend watching them all?

5

Modeling and Rigging/Animation are what you need to get good at… everything else has to be in service of that.
I also recommend Todor’s tutorials. They are probably the best free ones on YT for rigging/animation.

1 Like
6

Hello and welcome to the forum !

Keep in mind that learning CG takes a lot of time, especially when you want to do a lot of things. It’s quite rare to find people being able to do modeling, rigging, lighting, animation, directing, material altogether with a really good level.

My advice is to focus first on modeling and rendering. Try to do some props, a set, a character… At some point try to do a character in a set with some props in a polished static image. Then move on to animation when you have a strong basis on static images.

Do some tutorials, but also once you’ve made a few of them do a personal project that uses the knowledge you learned. Again not necessarily something complex, just an image of an object in the beginning is fine.

Basically, it’s not about as much knowledge you have, but more knowing the basics really well, especially when you seek to do a lot of different things.
For instance, you should know really well the basics of modeling, lighting, composition, and material, to make a nice picture.
Most of the time beginners tend to skip practicing the basics and they start to look for fancy and shiny tools but that doesn’t help to make good looking things.

Once you know really well the basics then you can start learning advanced techniques , or move on to another skills set, like animation and directing.

1 Like
7

I’ve heard that sculpting involves a significant amount of geometry. Am I going to need Blender’s sculpting mode for my specific use case? Is it possible to sculpt with low-poly models? If not, is it possible to later convert the mesh to a low-poly format?

8

Thank you.

Does this apply to indie projects too, or is it just for the big studios? Honestly, with all the crazy AI advancements, I’m not sure what the future’s gonna be like.

Great advice. I appreciate it!

Do you have any recommendations for courses/tutorials on those subjects?

9

This goes off into the rest of the art world… Apart from modeling, those things @sozap mentions are often best learnt from painters, photographers, even scientists…
Just the colors to use is a study in its own right, limited palette or not, the ins and outs of matching colors, using complementary colors on the color wheel…
I spent about a year (on and off) on YT studying the works of the classical art masters just to learn what I was looking at.

2 Likes
10

Well, the answer depends on what quality standards we’re talking about.
But in the meantime it doesn’t make a lot of differences. In studios the work is indeed segmented so artists tends to be specialized, or at least very good in one task. But most of the time the same artists are also talented in other areas but not at the same level.
In the meantime some artist are specialized at mastering various fields and it’s true that making quality content has become easier and there are more and more artists that can produce very good animated content all by themselves.

But in the end it’s just a matter of how long it is to become really good at something, like for instance the guitar ?
We could say that after 3/6 months someone can start to look like a guitar player and maybe play a few stuff. But it will probably take 2/4 years to become really good and from there probably after 10 years they’ll become even better and in the end it’s a never ending quest.

Now if you’re after learning guitar, keyboard, drums, singing, bass, and whatever is required to play your favorite kind of music all by yourself we’re probably talking about years and years of dedication before becoming really good.

And it’s basically a bit similar with 3D, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t embark on that journey because in the meantime it’s super fun and enjoyable all the way !

Indeed, AI is going to change a lot the way we do CG, and it’s very likely that it will raise the bar in terms of quality, and probably allows a lot of crappy stuff in the meantime :smiley:
But IMO there will always be a lot to learn in order to have creative control.
For instance, AI can provide code, but if you don’t know how to code yourself you are unable to fix mistakes, or integrate what the AI did in a more complex code base.

Same goes with images, it saves a lot of time, gives a lot of idea, but at some point you’ll have to understand why the result look good, and how to change that result to make your very own stuff.
But that’s just my two cents !

For the blender related part, I think especially in the beginning you can try a bit of everything and see what fits the best . Don’t worry if the learning material isn’t 100% what you’re after.
Blender Guru, CG Boost, Grant Habbit, are worth checking, but I’m sure there are a lot of other to check.
If you are really serious, at some point invest in a CG cookie training, or subscribe to the blender cloud. This will help to step up from basic level to a more advanced one.

For art stuff, which tends to be neglected in the beginning but at some point you’ll definitely need it , here are my top :

For lighting and cinematography :

Lot of valuable info about image composition and 3D in general :
https://www.youtube.com/@ArtOfSoulburn/videos

More about concept art than anything, but it’s like taking art class and it’s super useful for composition, concept, and entering the mind of a great artist :
https://www.youtube.com/@FZDSCHOOL/videos

Try to get a look at these from time to time, so you make progress technically and artistically !

Have fun !

1 Like
11

Great resources! Thanks a bunch!

1 Like