Quote from Sniiki :

Hi Orion! why haven't you been online in ICQ recently?

I am online almost every day

Quote from Kryten :

Yes, they have split-screen and Quantel(r).

Quantel as the british hi-end video editing and composition machines?

No, Quantel as in the thing the writers made up in the Red Dwarf episode "DNA".

http://www.reddwarf.nildram.co.uk/txt/dna.txt

This thread is really cool to me. Didn't know we had so many skilled modelers here. I have to ask you guys for your help!

I've wanted to get into 3D modeling off and on for years now, but every time I install 3DSMAX and try to learn it, I just get turned off by the complexity and all the new concepts and terms to learn. I'm fairly good with 2D graphics programs, so I figure I can learn 3D semi-easily, but no dice.

So...could anyone reccomend some good tutorials that are actually helpful? I would really appreciate it!

what kinda tutorials are you looking for? modeling, you can find thousands by using google, but i have pretty much taught everything i know every so often i'll look things up to learn how to do things complex (ei: tires and wheels which are .. not at all easy to do)
but so far on the model im working on now (even as i type this) i really havent used any tutorials, some are good, but when i first tried to learn how to model... they all are advanced, meaning that from the instant you install whatever program you use.. you have to know a little about it, because when i tried to make that Fiat model that many people learn from... i had no idea how to do alot of the stuff because it didnt really explain it; it was like 'cut poly here like photo is shown' and has a poly cut... well... it didnt say HOW to cut polys, so i basically just gave up for a while, and about 2 months later i got into it, and now im into it... nearly full time you could say

Quote from XCNuse :

what kinda tutorials are you looking for? modeling, you can find thousands by using google, but i have pretty much taught everything i know every so often i'll look things up to learn how to do things complex (ei: tires and wheels which are .. not at all easy to do)
but so far on the model im working on now (even as i type this) i really havent used any tutorials, some are good, but when i first tried to learn how to model... they all are advanced, meaning that from the instant you install whatever program you use.. you have to know a little about it, because when i tried to make that Fiat model that many people learn from... i had no idea how to do alot of the stuff because it didnt really explain it; it was like 'cut poly here like photo is shown' and has a poly cut... well... it didnt say HOW to cut polys, so i basically just gave up for a while, and about 2 months later i got into it, and now im into it... nearly full time you could say

Yeah I guess that's similar to the problems I ran into. Too many things you needed to know already. I guess a good tutorial would be one in which you are guided step-by-step from modeling a simple object, to texturing, to lighting. Maybe one such as that doesn't exist and I should just involve myself in the damn program.

TaiFonq, I started modeling about 1 and ½ years ago so it won't take that long to learn stuff.
If you are going to model a car, here's maybe the best tutorial out there to start with:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=156460
and the same in pdf format:
http://www.abbys.hu/Tutorial-B ... ing/boxmodeling_a_car.pdf

good luck!

Well tutorials are really good for learning but yeah you kinda have to know how to use the program first. Your best bet is to find a book on the fundamentals of the prog you use and try to learn it abit first. I use Maya and there is just so much stufff to know and so many ways to do things. Like Nuse said, a tutorial will tell you to "extrude a face" or "circular fillet these two faces" or 1 of many other things, but you have to know how to do those things first b4 you start the tut.

I dont like books in general, because you tend to forget everything directly after reading. The best is to simply start experimenting for a couple of days, because when you find out yourself, you will very likely find the thing again if you are looking for the same.
This way you learn to understand how the program works and how it is arranged, and in the end you will find out new things even without any tutorials.

Damn this forum is awesome. Never have I seen a nicer bunch. Thanks.

The err..thing on the hood of the camaro looks a bit offset, or too big.

Heres another real quick job by me, about 2 hrs total, maybe closer to 3 playing with materials. Dunno if ima fix all thats wrong with it or just pull a Nuse(Im just as bad or worse) an move on to another project. I dont really like the brake calipers and had too many probs trying to bump the sidewall, but anyway.

bah.. strahd common your using maya, put some boolean cuts through that brake disk and make a real one not textured!
then get a bump map.. put that on it, get some specular maps to show some wear.. and bada bing bata boom