Hi Everyone,
I’m new to blender and have been using it for about two months. I have really enjoyed using it and have found learning the software fairly intuitive.
The interesting thing about being a 3D artist was that it instantly fit with who I am. I knew that this is something that I could see myself doing as a career, or even perhaps just a very serious hobby.
My question to the forum is this, how do i Start? How do you start off as a 3D Artist?
Welcome.
The answer is really in the question. Start.
OK that is too simple. You have to ask yourself some basic questions and then plot out a path and get going on that. What is it you see yourself doing? Working for a company? Working freelance? What areas do you see yourself working in: Modeling? Texturing? Animation? All the above?
A basic plan is like this:
Get going on some projects - anything - that are in line with the answers to your basic questions. Work to get better and better gradually. When you feel you have things to show, post them online the get critiques. Learn from that. Then when you get some work that is worth showing get a website and post your work. Eventually make a video and post that online. Use this to promote yourself to get work. The details depend on what you want to focus on as well as where and how you want to work.
Look at other people’s websites who work professionally and learn from what they are doing. For example my website is not the best. But it is good enough to get work and I am employed full time as a freelance artist. It has taken years to get to this stage. If I had a better site with better stuff I’d get better more interesting work and so on. But this is the stage I am at now. Still working to improve.
And lastly ask yourself if you need to look realistically at adding other professional software to your tool set (LightWave Maya etc.) that can expand your chances for getting work especially at a company.
Good luck!
Hey,
As Mr Bigweld (from Robot City) used to say: “It all starts with a great idea, all the tinkering in the world will lead to nothing unless you have a clear goal” and in my opinion this is still the ever lasting truth. Once you have the idea, start with clearly planning out your work. The planning stage is actually the most important, in my opinion, cause all the rest that follows, is learning,applying, learning applying, learning applying, done.
and also, try to finish projects, you’ll find that very hard, I promise you
So: idea -> planning -> learning -> applying -> finishing -> promoting
regards,
Hewi
And meanwhile, do what I’m doing and do a search for tutorials for the beginner and then work through them from the 1st (“Interface”) to the last. But it looks as you’re quite a way along that path…
Me? The closest that I’ve come to an “intuitive” interface was a demo copy of Strata 3D that I had back in the '90s
Jim
Gib mir Schokolade und niemand wird verletzt sein!
My advice: Just pick an area of interest (game engine, compositing/VFX, etc.) Learn as much as you can in that area. Start a project, like a short or something, that’s currently beyond your abilities but not too far. Read tutorials. As you progress toward completing your project, you’ll learn loads. It worked for me!
Thanks everyone for the advice…
The planning part is gong to take me back to my roots. It is going to mean alot of drawing, and the funny thing was, i was never that good at drawing; somethings better than others. And I would expect that, with the complexities of blender, i will be better at some things than others.
This brings me to the next question: How do you choose a specialty. I have a dimploma in fine arts, i have a degree in engineering. These are very different backgrounds. My ability in art (sculpting, drawing, and photography) will help me in blender… I think that i could be a good modeler, or even texture artist. But the engineering side of me wants to get into the simulations, and the render engines to see how they work and be able to create special effects. Then the part of me that loves movies, wants to get into animation, which would then involve everything.
So the question i’m really asking, is what sort of character traits make a good modeler, or texture artist, or a special effects expert, or animator. How did you come up with your speciality?
you need to do all a bit to find out what you like best
no character traits make you a specific modeler or developer or …
you need to be slightly nuts, for sure, that will help you along quite well
Thanks Hewi… working on getting a good start to modelling right now.
You also need to go to a CG movie, stay to the very end, and stare at that long list of names in the credits. Every single one of those people, “is you.” Except for the key names at the front of the list, every one of them “is no more, albeit no less, than ‘you,’ and most of them are ‘more.’” (Like every business, you start out in the mail-room, then fight your way up.)
Your “skills” and “abilities,” no matter how good (you think) they are, are not a Golden Ticket. The day will very soon come when you will encounter someone in a professional situation who … there will be no doubt in the matter … leaves you positively and completely In The Dust. There’s the person who makes you look like A Fool. (And, worse yet, he might be someone who works for you, and who’s ambitious, and who’s got his eye on your job and just might win it.)
Now … if nothing that I have just said puts you off and makes you actually quit … then I am delighted, and I say to you, “welcome aboard, (perhaps one day to be…) Captain.”
You may have heard the Good Book saying, “those who are faithful with little will be faithful with much (and vice-versa).” Truer words have never been spoke. At first, you will be given “little.” Be faithful and professional with that “little,” and in every aspect of how you carry-out the business that you have been entrusted to do. If you, quite frankly, do not seek recognition, you will be recognized. If you do not boast of yourself, in time others may boast of you. Someone is always, always watching.
Don’t worry about picking a specialty yet. Try everything, then specialise later. Being a generalist will get you more work in the short term, and knowing a little about everything will help you in whatever specialty you choose in the future. (like hewi said)
Don’t worry about completing a super bitchin’ kick ass project yet. In fact, expect to fail. Failure is necessary.
However it is good to get in the practice of calling something “finished” and then moving on to the next thing… this is probably the hardest thing to learn.
Good luck!
Thanks Everyone.
It really is that part about finishing something… Part of me is a perfectionist. It is hard for me to call something finished. I think that I have 4 projects on the go just for myself, and another 3-4 that I want to start. The trouble that I have is finding the time.
But Rome wasn’t built in a day. Thanks for the support.