Hello everyone. I got a weird confession/question for you today.
More and more lately i’m noticing a problem i seem to have. I’ll see something made in 3D that in my mind, i think… “This is the greatest thing on earth.” (In a hyperbole sort of way)
For example;
The new pokemon games contain some pretty darn adorable playable characters and NPC’s as well as every single pokemon in existence has been modeled, textured, and animated in such great detail.
Some 3D cartoons i’ll see on tv from time to time
and as an anime fan there’s been 2 particular games of Sword art online that i’ve seen 3D animated that looks so incredible.
And when i see these things, i get this string jealousy like pain inside that i want those things. I want to be able to make those things myself, they are picture perfect of where i wish i could be in my own study of 3D modeling and animation. I love them so much yet at the same time it almost hurts me to see them because it makes me feel self conscious of my own 3D talents or lack there-of and i feel bad like i won’t be as good as what i see.
Do any of you get like that as well? Do you get physically jealous of content you see produced by others?
Does it make you feel bad about your own work or does it make you want to strive harder to get better?
This is all opinion based questions but i really thought it would be neat to hear what some other people think about this.
Might be fun to see (:
Let me tell you that if you are experiencing this feeling you should train yourself to think “Alright, this is cute, let’s go look for Blender tutorials to teach me things I didn’t know yet, and then maybe I can understand how this was made a little better.”
The result will be instant motivation to improve when you see cool stuff instead of this sense of “I suck”.
That said, the models of Pokémon XY are really damn pretty. I now understand what they meant with ‘we don’t want to use 3d models till we’re sure we can keep the monsters look as cute as they do in sprite form.’
I’m pretty sure that at the very least the polycount for each pokemon model wasn’t possible on the DS, and they must’ve realised that if you can’t have top-notch models for the main game mechanic, it probably was better to stay with sprites.
I used to have that exact feeling quite a while back when I first started learning Blender and 3D modeling in general. Naturally I was my own biggest critic, much like many on here will be. But suddenly that all changed the moment I finally produced something that was exactly how I intended it to be. Admittedly it took several years to achieve that, but Blender was also a very different beast back in 06/07, it was much harder to learn and there was significantly less documentation out there.
That sudden burst of confidence has resulted in so much growth it’s unreal. Recently I’ve been having to do a lot of engineering modeling of real world computer parts, and I have certainly found my niche there. But at the same time, being able to reproduce those parts boosted my confidence so greatly, that I decided to have a go at the one thing that I had always been terrified of; a human face. And you know what? It came out exactly how I wanted it to, things just sort of fell into place without having to think, which is a remarkable feeling. Sure it wasn’t perfect, but the topology was good, and the likeness to the subject was very encouraging.
It’s amazing how much of an effect simply having that confidence can have. I’m not longer put off tacking seemingly incredibly complex models and ideas, and it’s boosted my abilities substantially. When I see these professionals creating mind blowing bits of 3D art, I no longer think of mine as inadequate. Instead, I now appreciate even more the lengths these artists go through to make something appear just right. Just keep at it and eventually you’ll get to where you want to be, just remember that those professionals had to tread the same path too.
I feel the same way Razc, I like to think that most of the time I use it as a motivator to improve myself, though at times it can do the opposite. I think it’s perfectly normal for someone who loves doing something, to be very self critical and maybe even be a little bit neurotic about their work at times. I learn technical things quickly, but, I think deep down I’m not really an artist, I don’t lay awake at night having visions and inspired idea’s, I have no profound message to convey to the world etc. Yet here I am, maybe I feel like I need to prove myself in some way, like we all want one thing in life where we feel we are good at it, and we have some kind of respect and acknowledgement from our peers. So to bring this ramble to a point, yes, I get jealous, but I’m jealous of the artist, not the art itself.
I totally get what you mean, but like others have said, You have to turn it into something motivating. Combined with Blenders amazingly strong and positive community this can be a really potent force. For me if I see amazing work in blender I feel great because its showing me more of whats possible with my favorite tool and breaking down limitations I had imposed on the software in my head. And if its done with something other than blender, then It often motivates me to find a way to achieve similar or better within blender, which is a great motivator for learning and developing new skills and techniques. Days where seeing others good work makes you feel bad are probably days you need a break. Take a deep breath and come back determined to create better than what you’ve seen, Life is so much more enjoyable when seeing something incredible fills you with a joy and hunger to achieve the same heights. Hope I didn’t ramble to incoherently, good luck
I like to see these things that I can’t quite make and say wow! Now how did they do it? Then I promptly go experiment and try to get at least something close to it. You have to understand most great CGI or 3D Works are put together by PROFESSIONAL artists, a whole team of 'em! So don’t feel too bad! instead look at these as inspiration and motivation!
It’s normal to have that reaction and it is experienced by writers, visual artists, musicians and any and everyone else who is engaged in an activity that is like undressing in public. For a true artist, letting others see your work feels that way. I agree with the others here in saying you should approach good work as a learning opportunity but would add that truly brilliant work is dependent on you being yourself. That being not writing for other writers, making a picture for other artists, etc. Oscar Wilde spoke about this in his essay ‘The Soul of Man Under Socialism’ as did others such George Orwell in his essay ‘The Prevention of Literature’. Your brushes, 3D software or pen and paper are your tools of trade and if you produce work that is solely designed to impress others then you are not an artist but rather a tradesman. (Wilde… I paraphrase) So yes, learn the trade but always remember the great work is in you and the trade is just the means through which you can bring it out to the world.
Ah yes, looking at some visual effect or monster and you want to be able to have the skill to do it too. I kind-of got that way recently when I saw Smaug in some of the new trailers for the Hobbit, thanks to Cycles however, the ability to make such realistic creatures got a lot closer (especially in the last few months).
Regarding Pokemon X/Y, since there’s around 700 Pokemon now with various forms and varying detail, there should be at least a nice grouping in there that would not be hard to make in 3D. Sspecially if you toon shade them because most of them are comprised of solid colors (which could be done with vertex colors) and few, if any textures. (Voltorb would just be a two-colored UVsphere with an eyes texture for example)
Never, but I must be different. For me art has always been simply a way of expressing myself, like I believe it is for true artists. Then I guess there are people who want to be “better” and they are depressed if someone else is better.
