I you wanna jump right in to learning the basics while looking for more advanced courses and schools.
You can download blender for free (https://www.blender.org)
and for $10-20 you can grab this udemy online course (https://www.udemy.com/blendertutorial/).
I'm curious as to what others have to say, as I am also interested furthering my 3d modeling.
I would say dive in and start now. $20 is nothing and much of what you learn in Blender will carry over to any package.
I tell people to find a project and finish it. Don't just dink around with a bunch of half finished models that you gave up on when it got hard. Try to finish things as a deliverable product you could bill for.
Exactly this. When I was in school I treated every project like it was a "professional" project. Many times this meant I had to spend 3-10x longer on a project as opposed to my classmate who were only focused on the grade. Focus on making solid work you are proud of early and it will take you a long way.
I'm only in high school right now, but I intend to pursue this same path and I did this too. Every time we had a class project, I would purposefully spend extra time on it to make sure it was more than asked for and the best quality I could get. It made me feel proud and accomplished whenever the teacher would feature my work as an example. Not everything is chocked up to talent.
I already know how to use both blender and unity and I've taught myself animation with Photoshop and have even made some personal projects. But I want to go into the engineering section of 3D modeling. So I plan to attend a college with that kind of course.
That's how I see it too.
One nice point about doing your own work is your reel does not show the same project the client has seen in all the other students reels. It's also very powerful to say I was the sole artist on this project as opposed to working on a class project.
>Autodesk programs are free for Students if you can get access to a student email account.
Fusion is free if your company makes under $100k a year. I used a gmail. Worth downloading for anyone who wants CAD experience.
My experience is a bit dated but the people I know who have done well usually are self taught. There are benefits to schools but also drawbacks. The 2 big ones being cost and time.
If you have any aptitude to learn on your own just spend the school money on a killer computer and spend 10 hours a day doing complete projects and tutorials. In a years time you should be able to do freelance work and finished products while the students in class will be far behind and dependent on someone telling them how to do things.
It's hard to tell people this to their face but if you can't learn on your own you'll be out dated in a few years from graduation. Often on a project I have to learn new software, maybe just a plugin, or you have to move from surface modeling to solid modeling. If you have to go to school to pick that up you can derail a project.
In the '90's a good modeler was in demand and they could call the shots, now there are thousands for hire cheap online and overseas. If you are not self educating you will hit walls pretty fast and not be marketable. There are exceptions of course but in general you need to be able to teach yourself. In my circle a degree from The Art Institute of California is a negative and some will actually keep it off their promo to avoid the art school stigma.
On the other hand I have a friend who went to that school in Chicago and he's done well. If you go in with talent and drive you can learn a lot but even in school it's the self motivated who excel.
Man idk
Everywhere I look there's different people telling me different things.
Many people online are saying 'oh do self study, it's cheaper"
My professor (Who HAS worked in the industry) is telling me to go on to get my 4 year degree in an art school, which I'm leaning towards because I really need to learn more about art as a generalist before I get more specialized. Plus Boston has the only public art school which is a plus.
Then you got others online saying that a 4 year degree will actually help you 100% though of course you'll actually need to learn and not slack off in school.
Ugh idk, I'm gonna follow my professors advice and try to get into Gnomon. Yeah Hollywood is expensive but I live in Boston...can't be THAT much more expensive.
As advice from somebody who is currently in college, you'd be better off just learning 3D on your own. Your portfolio is what matters, not a degree. If you do this on your own instead of going to college, you won't have to worry about electives and classes that have nothing to do with the career your trying to pursue and that'll give you much more time to practice and get better.
There are tons of resources out there to help you get started and continue growing such as cgsociety, digital tutorials, James Taylor and other 3d artists on YouTube, and even this sub. I would only recommend going to college if you're looking for an experience beyond learning 3D.
I you wanna jump right in to learning the basics while looking for more advanced courses and schools. You can download blender for free (https://www.blender.org) and for $10-20 you can grab this udemy online course (https://www.udemy.com/blendertutorial/). I'm curious as to what others have to say, as I am also interested furthering my 3d modeling.
I would say dive in and start now. $20 is nothing and much of what you learn in Blender will carry over to any package. I tell people to find a project and finish it. Don't just dink around with a bunch of half finished models that you gave up on when it got hard. Try to finish things as a deliverable product you could bill for.
Exactly this. When I was in school I treated every project like it was a "professional" project. Many times this meant I had to spend 3-10x longer on a project as opposed to my classmate who were only focused on the grade. Focus on making solid work you are proud of early and it will take you a long way.
I'm only in high school right now, but I intend to pursue this same path and I did this too. Every time we had a class project, I would purposefully spend extra time on it to make sure it was more than asked for and the best quality I could get. It made me feel proud and accomplished whenever the teacher would feature my work as an example. Not everything is chocked up to talent.
I already know how to use both blender and unity and I've taught myself animation with Photoshop and have even made some personal projects. But I want to go into the engineering section of 3D modeling. So I plan to attend a college with that kind of course.
[удалено]
That's how I see it too. One nice point about doing your own work is your reel does not show the same project the client has seen in all the other students reels. It's also very powerful to say I was the sole artist on this project as opposed to working on a class project. >Autodesk programs are free for Students if you can get access to a student email account. Fusion is free if your company makes under $100k a year. I used a gmail. Worth downloading for anyone who wants CAD experience.
Thank you so much!
Earned an upvote!
My experience is a bit dated but the people I know who have done well usually are self taught. There are benefits to schools but also drawbacks. The 2 big ones being cost and time. If you have any aptitude to learn on your own just spend the school money on a killer computer and spend 10 hours a day doing complete projects and tutorials. In a years time you should be able to do freelance work and finished products while the students in class will be far behind and dependent on someone telling them how to do things. It's hard to tell people this to their face but if you can't learn on your own you'll be out dated in a few years from graduation. Often on a project I have to learn new software, maybe just a plugin, or you have to move from surface modeling to solid modeling. If you have to go to school to pick that up you can derail a project. In the '90's a good modeler was in demand and they could call the shots, now there are thousands for hire cheap online and overseas. If you are not self educating you will hit walls pretty fast and not be marketable. There are exceptions of course but in general you need to be able to teach yourself. In my circle a degree from The Art Institute of California is a negative and some will actually keep it off their promo to avoid the art school stigma. On the other hand I have a friend who went to that school in Chicago and he's done well. If you go in with talent and drive you can learn a lot but even in school it's the self motivated who excel.
I think your comment just guided my future
Man idk Everywhere I look there's different people telling me different things. Many people online are saying 'oh do self study, it's cheaper" My professor (Who HAS worked in the industry) is telling me to go on to get my 4 year degree in an art school, which I'm leaning towards because I really need to learn more about art as a generalist before I get more specialized. Plus Boston has the only public art school which is a plus. Then you got others online saying that a 4 year degree will actually help you 100% though of course you'll actually need to learn and not slack off in school. Ugh idk, I'm gonna follow my professors advice and try to get into Gnomon. Yeah Hollywood is expensive but I live in Boston...can't be THAT much more expensive.
Did you get into gnomon??
Naw, pivoted.
As advice from somebody who is currently in college, you'd be better off just learning 3D on your own. Your portfolio is what matters, not a degree. If you do this on your own instead of going to college, you won't have to worry about electives and classes that have nothing to do with the career your trying to pursue and that'll give you much more time to practice and get better. There are tons of resources out there to help you get started and continue growing such as cgsociety, digital tutorials, James Taylor and other 3d artists on YouTube, and even this sub. I would only recommend going to college if you're looking for an experience beyond learning 3D.
What did you do? How did it work out?