Beyond3D Forum

megaman · 12-Jan-2009, 23:06

Hello

I am a new comer to yhis forum. I hope you bear me.

last year I met a person who is an expert in his field. He was an animator making animated cartoons. I saw some of his works that was fascinating. I was surprised to find out that he is self-taught. This encourages me to think about the same thing: not only animated cartoons but also modeling for games.

There are three content tools that are very famous: Maya, 3ds max, and XSI. My question is: which one to choose to study?

digitalwanderer · 13-Jan-2009, 01:26

Maya.

megaman · 13-Jan-2009, 10:36

Why Maya?

Dominik D · 13-Jan-2009, 12:19

It doesn't matter. Quality comes from your experience, the ability to catch the intricacies of motion. Tool is just that: a tool. If you know how to produce quality art in tool A, your employer can easily pay for tool-B-related training (you'll need a training anyway since most studios use tools+plugins, and chances that you're familiar with given selection of plugins are tiny anyway).

If you have no universal art skills, no training is going to help and nobody is going to hire you anyway. No tool is going to help either. 3DS and XSI have free versions of their applications, which may be a good start. You may also look at stuff like Blender, Modo, Lightwave, Cinema or for box modelling/texturing Silo. A lot of artists use one tool for modelling (e.g. Silo), another for sculpting (e.g. Mudbox) and another for animating/composition (e.g. 3DS).

The bottom line is: tool is irrelevant, you need tool-invariant skills first and foremost.

Sonic · 13-Jan-2009, 18:36

Agreed with ConayR.

It is best to have some sort of foundations when entering this industry. Once you get down some basics then it will be easier to begin modeling or animating if that's what you want to do. If you do pursuse this then may I suggest you learn rigging the models.

http://www.rigging101.com/

That's a link I just found over the web and the main page does a decent job of explaining what rigging is. If you learn this as well as just making a good looking model then it will open you up for more jobs.

Bludd · 13-Jan-2009, 18:48

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=51431

Shifty Geezer · 14-Jan-2009, 17:14

I think you'd be better off asking this in a dedicated graphics forum like CGTalk. But then I dare say the responses will be as fanboy driven as 'which console should I get' answers!

As there are trials available for all apps now, you can just give them a go and find the one you like most.

12-Jan-2009, 23:06	#1
megaman Registered Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1	which one to choose? Hello I am a new comer to yhis forum. I hope you bear me. last year I met a person who is an expert in his field. He was an animator making animated cartoons. I saw some of his works that was fascinating. I was surprised to find out that he is self-taught. This encourages me to think about the same thing: not only animated cartoons but also modeling for games. There are three content tools that are very famous: Maya, 3ds max, and XSI. My question is: which one to choose to study?

13-Jan-2009, 01:26	#2
digitalwanderer Dangerously Mirthful Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Winfield, IN USA Posts: 15,292	Maya. __________________ Elite Bastards - Adminish “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” - General James N. Mattis

13-Jan-2009, 12:19	#4
Dominik D Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wroclaw, Poland Posts: 578	It doesn't matter. Quality comes from your experience, the ability to catch the intricacies of motion. Tool is just that: a tool. If you know how to produce quality art in tool A, your employer can easily pay for tool-B-related training (you'll need a training anyway since most studios use tools+plugins, and chances that you're familiar with given selection of plugins are tiny anyway). If you have no universal art skills, no training is going to help and nobody is going to hire you anyway. No tool is going to help either. 3DS and XSI have free versions of their applications, which may be a good start. You may also look at stuff like Blender, Modo, Lightwave, Cinema or for box modelling/texturing Silo. A lot of artists use one tool for modelling (e.g. Silo), another for sculpting (e.g. Mudbox) and another for animating/composition (e.g. 3DS). The bottom line is: tool is irrelevant, you need tool-invariant skills first and foremost. __________________ Shifty Geezer: I don't think the guy really understands the subject. PARANOiA: To be honest, Shifty, what you've described is 95% of Beyond3D - armchair experts spouting fact based on the low-level knowledge of a few. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

14-Jan-2009, 17:14	#7
Shifty Geezer Grumpy Mod Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a pretty pink padded cell Posts: 26,064	I think you'd be better off asking this in a dedicated graphics forum like CGTalk. But then I dare say the responses will be as fanboy driven as 'which console should I get' answers! As there are trials available for all apps now, you can just give them a go and find the one you like most. __________________ Shifty Geezer ... Tolerance for internet moronism is exhausted. Anyone talking about people's attitudes in the Console fora, rather than games and technology, will feel my wrath. Read the FAQ to remind yourself how to behave and avoid unsightly incidents.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

13-Jan-2009, 10:36	#3
megaman Registered Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1	Why Maya?

13-Jan-2009, 18:36	#5
Sonic Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 1,571	Agreed with ConayR. It is best to have some sort of foundations when entering this industry. Once you get down some basics then it will be easier to begin modeling or animating if that's what you want to do. If you do pursuse this then may I suggest you learn rigging the models. http://www.rigging101.com/ That's a link I just found over the web and the main page does a decent job of explaining what rigging is. If you learn this as well as just making a good looking model then it will open you up for more jobs.

13-Jan-2009, 18:48	#6
Bludd Eric the Half-a-bee Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: The cat detector van from the Ministry of Housinge Posts: 2,050	http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=51431

Beyond3D Forum

Welcome, Unregistered.