The title pretty much sums up this post. I have a few 2D games that I will release soon (perhaps within the next two months) after refactoring/adding a few more features. The most ambitious game I've undertaken thus far is a 2D roguelike.

I want to eventually move into the realm of 3D game development. Because I am a solo developer, I'll have to make all of the assets myself for now (plus, I enjoy learning new things anyway ). I know how to use Blender for [extremely] basic rigging, modeling, and animation...so I came up with the bright idea of making short films (5-10 minute movies) for practice. What do you think?

Do you know of any particular resources that would help me improve my 3D modelling skills? I'm currently searching (you guessed it) YouTube for video tutorials related to modelling, camera movement, lighting, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. I'm also interested in hearing your recommendations for the art style. Should I start with cartoon or more realistic models?

so I came up with the bright idea of making short films (5-10 minute movies) for practice.

You learn a lot from making your own tutorials, it's the reason so many companies require their artist to make tutorials, that and it's a easy way to teach new artists.

Also most 3D artist watch hours of tutorials hoping to find some thing they missed, so we will be watching eagerly.

Do you know of any particular resources that would help me improve my 3D modelling skills?

What level are you at?

Can you make a complete replica of a Keyboard button, Worm, Coffee cup, Desk, Working cabinet, Bicycle, Rat, Motorcar, Cat, Cow, Horse, Old Man and finally a Young woman?

I can easier help you if I know what you need to learn next and what your end goal is.

For general 3D modeling tutorials and inspiration check http://www.3dtotal.com/

P.S. I'm also interested in hearing your recommendations for the art style. Should I start with cartoon or more realistic models?

Cartoon allows for mistakes but exercises creativity, for some things like exaggerated features you will need to learn about the original features first. Realistic is good for learning and there are a lot of image on the internet that you can use as reference.

For games it would depend on the game you're making.

In short: practise practise practise and afterwards practise

Blender for [extremely] basic rigging, modeling, and animation...so I came up with the bright idea of making short films (5-10 minute movies) for practice.

To be honest, I wouldn't try to make a short film. It would involve so many stuff you need to learn to do it, but which are not really necessary in game development or differs a lot (scene setup, lighting setup, animation differs, render setup etc.).

Which worked best for me was to learn a feature (e.g. model a creature) and then to re-do this for 30 other models, then rig it and re-do it 30 times, afterwards texture it and re-do it for all the 30 models. I seldomly used tutorials, often only for a quick start or to solve certain issues.

Nevertheless, here is a really good tutorial series of the creation of a game character and the complety workflow involved, thought not meant for blender, the concepts are the same.

short films

Ok, so I misinterpreted this.

Ashaman73 is right, Games and Films have different rules, if you're goal is only to make games then it's best to stay inside the field of game development.

It isn't like you can't learn from films to make games. Professionally I make 3D models for films, that is all I do, so I spend a lot of time learning and making 3D models.

Making a five to ten minute films is the equivalent of making a short indie games. A ten minute film is 14400 frames at the least, that is a lot for a single person to do.

I would recommend you make tutorials or short games instead, to learn how to make 3D models for games. However Part of using 3D software is using it to render your own films, so if you would like to make one then you should. There is no such thing as useless knowledge.

Ok. I get what you're saying about the differences between making a movie and a game.

To be honest, I wouldn't try to make a short film. It would involve so many stuff you need to learn to do it, but which are not really necessary in game development or differs a lot (scene setup, lighting setup, animation differs, render setup etc.).

Which worked best for me was to learn a feature (e.g. model a creature) and then to re-do this for 30 other models, then rig it and re-do it 30 times, afterwards texture it and re-do it for all the 30 models. I seldomly used tutorials, often only for a quick start or to solve certain issues.

Practice is for sure the absolute best way to improve! Making hundreds of sprites, deleting them, then starting over again is how I learned to draw 2D sprites when I was first learning how to make 2D games. But nowadays, I need to feel like I'm working toward something to find the motivation to keep at it. It's not I don't want to motivate myself, but the lack of recognition for/visibility of most of my work is definitely weighing down my psyche.

Anyway, I'll take your advice and just make 3D models of various things. Maybe I'll make something worthwhile eventually.

It isn't like you can't learn from films to make games. Professionally I make 3D models for films, that is all I do, so I spend a lot of time learning and making 3D models.
Making a five to ten minute films is the equivalent of making a short indie games. A ten minute film is 14400 frames at the least, that is a lot for a single person to do.

I would recommend you make tutorials or short games instead, to learn how to make 3D models for games. However Part of using 3D software is using it to render your own films, so if you would like to make one then you should. There is no such thing as useless knowledge.

I see. I'll try both methods and see what works for me. It's pretty cool that you make professional 3D models. Maybe one day I'll reach that point.

I like your music.

I like your music.

Thanks!

i'd cut to the chase and go for mirrored modeling of an organic object, such as a frog. model it, texture it, rig it, and animate it. then do a girl's head. then a body. once you can do that, you can do anything. then its just a case of practice makes perfect.

as mentioned above, only about half the stuff you do for rendering vs games is the same for both. so if you're planning on learning modeling for games, doing renders will mean learning and doing a lot of stuff you won't use except in a canned cut scene in a game. and most cut scenes today use the game's graphics engine, not a canned rendered animation (IE playing back a short rendered movie).

http://www.amazon.com/Maya-Games-Modeling-Texturing-Techniques/dp/0240810643/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&qid=1435521019&sr=8-34&keywords=3d+modeling+maya

http://www.amazon.com/ESSENTIAL-ZBRUSH-Wordware-Graphics-Library/dp/1598220594/ref=sr_1_41?ie=UTF8&qid=1435521211&sr=8-41&keywords=ZBrush

A couple books I liked. There is one other on aimation and rigging for maya that I liked, which I could not find.

There's a lot of books for maya and zbrush but most of them are not oriented towards game art, and many of them are too much beginner books.

I like your music.

Thanks!

Do you have any examples of 3d models you've already done?