I have been working on 3D graphics for... maybe 2 weeks. I just cant catch the hang of it :( I need to learn how to make atleast decent models so i can use them in some indie games i want to start developing. I was wondering if someone can give me a links to some good tutorals. Characters and splines are what i really need to work on. edit: forgot to say that i am using 3ds max :P Thanks, Brandon

it takes time and practice, just like drawing or any other skill most people who work with 3d spend years learning it I've been toying with it for about 9 years now and i just beginning to get to the point where i think I'm decent (by toying I've basically have had no training in it besides what I've picked up on my own)
try out a few different applications to see what fits you and go from there and read tutorials and different modeling techniques and procedures for your application.

i personally use blender, was never happy with 3ds max. cheers

Oh great, haha, never was to good at drawing xD.
Thanks though. I have blender, but never really used it. My friend's dad has been designing 3D graphics for 10+ years and he recommended 3Ds max to me. But i will have to try out blender :).
Thanks.

3D modeling is an art like any other. As such, there's no secret to making good models; any "tricks" that an expert can teach you are only useful when you already have a solid grounding, because otherwise you won't be able to apply those tricks properly.

Above all, you need practice. Practice making models. Practice observing real-life creatures as they move. Practice drawing, because drawing is always useful -- you can get a sketch down in five minutes that gives the feel of your project, when it'd take you many hours to do the same with a model (though the model is more useful in the end).

Wait so you said your practicing with splines? I sure hope your not trying to make game models using NURBS.

Here is a good site with tutorials for game modeling in 3ds max.

http://poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm

Now I know splines can be used for some purposes. But I remember the first training tutorials that came with 3ds max started with NURBS and messed me up until I saw some online tutorials that make a lot of sense. And while a background in art is good you don't have to be good at drawing to be good with 3d modeling, it helps, but I would be lieing if I said that I haven't seen amazing 3d models come from people who aren't very good at drawing.

Just like anything else practice makes perfect. Studying anatomy will help with making characters and once you get the basics of using the controls and tools you can go into the deeper stuff like edge flow and whatnot.

Also about the comments for Blender, the main issue people seem to have with it is the interface, 3ds max is very similar to most other 3d modeling programs. But with the upcoming version of Blender the interface will be a lot more friendly. So if 3ds max doesn't work out and you don't want to waste money on the license to use it you can always practice with Blender for free whenever you need to.

thanks for the replys guys :)
I am probably going to use blender because 3ds max is like $3600 :(.
But i have been looking at some online tuts for bledner on youtube, some are useless, bet ever now and again you will come by a good one.

I will take all that you guys said into acount and think it over.

Thanks,
brandon

My best advice for learning to use Blender is to log onto the #blender IRC channel on irc.freenode.net. It's an excellent resource for learning to use the program.

Another cool thing about 3d programs is the basics are still the same. No matter what program your using, good topology is always the same. So if you learn the tools you could look at basic tutorials for the other programs and just translate it from the tool of that program to the tools of the program you decide to go with.

Quote: Original post by Shadownami92
Another cool thing about 3d programs is the basics are still the same. No matter what program your using, good topology is always the same. So if you learn the tools you could look at basic tutorials for the other programs and just translate it from the tool of that program to the tools of the program you decide to go with.

Unless you use blender ofcourse, its just ... different ;) (I actually had to use the manual to get started with that one)

3dtotal.com has a bunch of good free tutorials, I thought the Joan of Arc process was pretty helpful.