3d forums home Resources for 3d artists

Where to start off with 3D animation!?

Posted: February 23, 2012
GenesisRhapsodosff7
I want to become a 3d animator when I am older. I have 3 years until I graduate from high school but where do I go on from that. Will colleges accept me if I never had any 3d animation experience. There is a course at my school for animation but unfortunately I am moving to another state where they don't have science and tech high schools. I looked into Gnonom school in California to go to (after I graduate lol) but I don't know if they take unexperianced students. I am really lost on where to start off from once I graduate. I just want to find a college or program that takes unexperianced students and trains really good on 3d animation. I am interested in working for 3d film companies. Pixar, Dreamworks, etc.

1. Is there a way I could teach myself 3D animation? I only used adobe flash animation in my digital design class. But I want to try out a 3D software Shocked I tried using blender but it didn't work out.

2. What are good colleges with 3D animation.?

Please help Exclamation
Posted: February 24, 2012
baalnazzar
You absolutely can teach yourself everything but there is long way before you. The problem why it takes much time is that if you want to animate then you have to know more than someone who creates static scenes. Modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning, lighting, animating characters, particles, simulations, optimisation, troubleshooting... And it's good to know that preparing characters and scenes for animation is different than preparing static scene. It looks impossible when you read that maybe but it's all possible. You just have to find good sources of tutorials and be diligent and patient during your learning process.
Posted: February 25, 2012
GenesisRhapsodosff7
Yeah, I will try out blender again and at least figure out how to use it. Thank you for your advice.
Posted: February 25, 2012
baalnazzar
Blender is very good choice. It's free and now it's very competitive to paid soft. You just need patience to learn it's tools. When you start to understand your soft - work becomes pleasure. Good luck! Smile
Posted: February 25, 2012
GenesisRhapsodosff7
Thanks! You boosted my confidence!
Posted: February 28, 2012
Alex910
Try learning 3d drawing basics... i recomment download google sketchup where is very easy to understand what 3d is. And all the models you do there, can be then exported into 3ds max, maya or who know's what other softwares.

Use youtube for beginer tutorials; i needed no tutorial starting sketchup, so i think it will be simple for you too!

Be careful when drawing in sketchup, before texturing, the faces that the software gives to you, have a white side (seen side of the model) and a back side which is the unseen part of the model, which appears untextured (transparent) in video games or other softwares even if it it textured and is darker side. Select and right-click: "revers face" where needed, making sure that all the seen faces are white, and after, you can go for texturing;)

You will like drawing, starting like i did;)
Posted: July 05, 2012
taliatsur
For animation only you can check online schools, like
animation mentor
iAnimate
animschool (I think they teach modeling & rigging as well)

Good luck
Posted: July 21, 2012
ronnie
Check out The Online Animation School at www . animationmentor . com. Eighteen months of study will land you some new skills, a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Character Animation.
Posted: August 01, 2012
Justin
At first, you can make some easy text or logo 3d animation, then to learn more.
Posted: September 05, 2012
arunt
There are many online tutorials for learn 3D animation, you can refer that it will helpful for you.You started with the it's the good choice you choose,
or you can join online animation school.
Posted: September 11, 2012
petes117
I personally disliked Blender's animation tools. Sure its free, but its unintuitive.
If you're aiming to join the big boys like Pixar you need to learn the software they use (Max, Maya, Houdini etc.)
If its animation in particular you want to specialize in, get a dedicated animation program like MotionBuilder.
Also, learn the fundamentals of animation. Study classical animation. Buy, read, memorize "The Animator's Survival Kit" by Richard Williams. Good luck!
Posted: September 11, 2012
editableclips
Blender is affordable.. being free.
Another suggestion would be try out trials of all the well supported apps out there, see which one you feel most comfortable working with, then save up and invest in a full copy.

motion graphics
Posted: September 12, 2012
luca fattore
There are some awesome clips to download on "Getty Images" for studyng human and animal locomotion .
Posted: May 18, 2018
Visualmedia
For beginners, the right place is Visual Media Academy. Here you can learn the deep knowledge and find all the answers to any question related to 2D and 3D Animation. Thanks.
Posted: June 28, 2018
Lilia1996
01. Know your restrictions
One of the first things you should investigate before starting any game character is your set of working restrictions.
By this I don’t mean polygon and texture page limits – which are paramount to the success of your creation, of course – but rather the environment settings and how the character will be used and seen in the game.
Environment settings are variables such as working units. Are you going to work in centimetres or metres? This has to remain consistent throughout the game or you will end up with scale issues further down the line, especially when rigging and animation are involved.
Knowing how the character will be used and what they must be able to do can have a dramatic effect on the model itself.
Will it be animated, for example? If so, will individual fingers need to bend, or will the mouth need to open? If the character wears a hat, will you ever see underneath it? If not, there’s little point in building the top of its head.
Post created on quora by helping -
Tsymbals Design – High Quality 3D Service
ask us if you want to know somethig)