Hey all!! I am very new here. I am a hobbyist modeller hopeing to edge my way towards an entry level artist position. I am self taught and seem to be hitting walls with my work lately. That is, I work a project to a point, then seem to be spending too much time researching how to improve my end results.I plan to have a site up by the end of the year, in the meantime I plan to improve and work on content.
Any input is much appreciated. I will be asking questions as I post, I do not expect them all to be answered. I do not think I know what the most important questions to ask are, so hopefully someone will pick what my work lacks and fill me in. I hope the thread doesn't get confusing with too many wips, I may split it up later but I just didn't want to start a heap of threads at once.
I have posted some stuff at 3d buzz, but since I moved brisbane recently I figured it would be more relevant to post locally. I don't know anyone with similar interests which is frustrating me a little at the moment.
I have inquired about training, everything seems very weighted to animation, my priority is to improve my models (modelling is where my heart is at). Also I do not have $32k or near it to spend on a course. Any info on courses also much appreciated. I would consider a private tutor to teach me what I personally need to know to improve based on my work as this way may be a shortcut. I have searched to no avail for a similar service and figure anyone with the skills is pretty busy. I mainly work in 3ds Max and photoshop.
Thanks for bearing with my long winded intro.
Hmms, well apart from a structured working environment I don't know if you'll get anything going to one of the schools.
What you've showcased here is pretty much on par with graduating students stuff in my opinion. It demonstrates familiarity with the program, and the rudiments of artistic ability.
Nothing really grabs me by the balls and demands my attention though. Check places like polycount and cgtalk out. Sumea is great for local stuff, but the community here isn't quite as developed. What you need to do though is go through the forums and look at the art there. If you think something kicks ass, ask to see how they did something (they'll generally provide texture flats and wireframes if you ask nicely - ie pad ego's).
Anyhow. Basic areas You need to improve upon.
Anatomy - Buy a book. They're handy.
Texturing - This is tough as there is generally no easy 'how to' guide out there. It's also probably the area you're lacking most at the moment. Polycount often has a lot of models that you can download and just texture. You can learn a lot simply by looking at how other people do things. When you look at their art, ask yourself why they do things. Why did they unwrap like this? etc.
Not sure how helpful this is.. I hope it leads you somewhere handy at least.Sorceror Bob2007-01-17 08:42:15
Thanks Bob, anything is a help at the moment. Been trying to research texturing humans lately, I'm finding there's lots of crap to wade through, The really usefull info seems scattered all over the shop, a concise guide would be great.
Apart from that I plan to introduce normal maps into my workflow this year, I agree also that my characters could be more interesting, working on that aswell. Always good to hear that stuff from someone else though.
I checked out some of the work at cgtalk, the standard is very high and really gives me something to aspire to, thanks again.
I know you can't shine a sh*t, but here's a couple of render tests. I can't justify doing too much of it at the moment as rendertimes break up my work too much, I know it's something else I have to work on though.
Car and wireframe.
R.I.P. Bushwick2007-01-14 23:30:49