3D Modelling/Graphics

3D Modelling/Graphics

To begin at the beginning.. Learning to Model is a good place to start. Can’t do much without it!!

Well after much investigation and playing around with various packages including:

Blender from www.blender.org FREE
Blender is a really good 3D application. It has an enormous amount of functionality and includes cool things like its own games engine. However, it has an equally steep learning curve. The User interface especially demands respect and considerable effort to master. However, there are some very good tutorials available and recently a new book.

I worked through the previous block_buster (well that is what your head felt like after trying to make sense of it) called Introducing Character Animation with Blender. I do not recommend this as a first introduction to Blender because unfortunately I suspect it was written for a previous version of Blender than what is available for download now and when I tried it out. Due to Blender being Open Source and thus developing and assumably (if there is such a word) improving rapidly, I had to spend a considerable amount of time trying to find “work arounds” or the new way of doing things. I also found that the text itself was sometimes more confusing that need be and sometimes it just did not make sense… well to me anyhow!! Let me know if you found it otherwise.

Wings 3D from www.wings3d.com FREE
I played around with Wings 3D a bit. It was much easier to get to grips with than Blender. I found it pretty easy to get right into creating some nice 3D models, however, unfortunately I had already been spoilt by Blender’s extensive functionality by that stage so did not really pursue it with heart and soul.

Anim8tor from www.anim8tor.com FREE
Pretty much the same as with Wings 3D. I do think Wings was a little better.

Google Sketch-up www.sketch-up.google.com FREE
Google’s sketch-up has not impressed me much. I believe there is a huge, growing community developing of Sketch-up users. However, for me it paled again compared to Blender and Wings 3D. I am referring to the FREE version of sketch-up as I was not going to spend money on a slightly enhanced version of the FREE sketch-up. It did not seem worth it. Perhaps other users feel differently.

Caligari True Space from www.caligari.com
Well, now. I did pay quite a large some for this little investment and was really looking forward to using it. On giving it a go for a few days – enthusiastically working through the tutorials, I eventually gave up. I did not find it intuitive and although they provide one with sweet little pictures to show you what the tools are.. I could not get the hang of the interface and could not figure out what the logic/organisational structure is behind where the tool I am looking for could be found. I spent a number of nights incurring an excruciating headache as I determinedly hunted thought the icons to find the right tools.

Having struggled for some months working my way through all of the freebies and always coming to the conclusion I might be missing something… I finally decided to make the mammoth investment of getting hold of 3DS Max (V9). Wow and was I right… I certainly was missing something before. It is a very, very powerful beastie!! Bowled me right over!! And I will probably still be recovering in years to come. Once you have the hang of the basics though, it is very easy to play and fiddle and learn. It is huge! In some ways it is almost embarrassing when you click a few buttons and you remember how the same thing took you about 3 months to achieve in Blender.

Now after only about 6 weeks of playing and learning 3DS Max, I have created a fiat 500 high poly model. I also recently completed an architectural model of a 3 bedroom house, starting from a not very good Auto Cad .dwg file I downloaded from some place for free. Needless to say the Auto Cad floor plan and elevations were not the best but it did the job. Then again what would I know.. I’m not an architect and I am not a Architectural 3D Visualiser (if that is the right personal noun). But hey, my house looks like a house complete with walls, windows, door, 3 bedrooms (one double, 2 single), 3 bathrooms, lounge, dining room, kitchen, garage, outside deck with railings as well as … and don’t mock the difficulty of achieving this… a multi-level roof and walls that actually cover all the gaps between roof levels too!! The latter alone was a good night’s work! :-)

Dauntingly, I now need to progress to adding materials, textures and lights to both the models. .. eeek… another learning curve of note… I have armed myself with two books… 3D Game Textures and Rendering with Mental Ray for this challenge.

Incidentally, the book 3ds Max 8 Architectural Visualisation by Brian L. Smith is a great book to get one going with Max. Brian makes the complexity of Max fade into the background by just identifying what you can get away with for architectural modelling. This is quite useful since if you want to learn it all at once you might as well book yourself on early retirement … because you will be busy for a LONG time.. and most of it spent going back and re-learning what you did.

I also recommend Chad Perkins 3D Max Tutorials to get one started. I suggest one tackles the lessons in chunks by doing the modelling tutorials first. Thereafter go off and GET SOME PRACTICE. If you are like me you always underestimate the need to embed something in your memory. Believe me you will have more fun and certainly progress quicker in the long run if you take the time to practice chunks. Do a little every day rather than days and then moths of nothing. Then you might as well give up before you start because you will give up due to frustration at your own fallibility…. Well, that is what I am doing NOW after burning my fingers like that for months.