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I think the difficulty in 3D polygon modelling is partially a tooling problem, and also a learning curve problem. The usual workflows I've seen/used that didn't

by Tobba_ 9y ago

I think the difficulty in 3D polygon modelling is partially a tooling problem, and also a learning curve problem. The usual workflows I've seen/used that didn't involve sculpting (which requires being good at that too) all involve blocking out the model in several steps and applying semi-irreversible transformations, making it really hard to go back and fix a dumb mistake. Some editors like Blender are also notorious for having completely impenetreble interfaces, and even 3ds max and similar probably aren't too straightforward either. Ontop of all that, you're required to know a ton of technical details (skinning, normal smoothing, etc) that aren't explained properly for modellers anywhere I know of (building an engine/renderer is a fairly direct way to pick up that knowledge though). 3D sculpting and CAD modelling are entirely different beasts however (I've never actually seen CAD tools involved in a game asset workflow, but it could be done and would be fairly useful for inorganic assets). Sculpting is dead simple in principle, in the same sense that drawing is; meaning you don't need to worry about the tools in the same way. CAD is a different beast, but still works on some pretty simple principles (constraint-driven CSG). I think the only real "hard" part right now is getting low-poly versions of assets that can be used inside of your engine. Making the high-poly assets might require more actual work (and 3D scanning could help there), but it's nonetheless fairly straightforward. edit: "low-poly" here meaning "reasonable number of polygons", not visibly low-poly.

bpicolo 9y ago
VR might make waves here (and there are some interesting VR demos out there) though that's a long way out. Creating 3D structures on a 2D surface is always going to be a fundamentally difficult problem.
pasabagi 9y ago
I'm from an art background - and honestly, I couldn't disagree more. The reason why most people are bad at 3d modeling is that most people are bad at art. Reproducing shapes from real life to any medium, if it's charcoal, or clay, or 3d, is very difficult. People who are good at it typically spent tens of thousands of hours practicing. Part of what you learn in this practice is patience. Part of what you learn is a good eye. However, unless you're fundamentally allergic to tech - tools like Blender are simply way faster and more powerful than any other medium. Consider an 'art' skill like making woodcuts. There's no 'undo'. Mistakes are very easy to make, and often involve stabbing yourself through the web of your thumb with a chisel. It takes days of painful, physically tiring work, that is very bad for your hands, to simply make the lines. It's like that because real material processes don't care about user-friendliness. For me, learning Blender as an interface was enjoyable because I could see how much easier it was going to make my life. It's neither large, nor unduly complicated - I'd consider it similar to learning vim, or photoshop. The real problems - the hard problems, are art problems.

by Tobba_ 9y ago

bpicolo 9y ago

VR might make waves here (and there are some interesting VR demos out there) though that's a long way out. Creating 3D structures on a 2D surface is always going to be a fundamentally difficult problem.

pasabagi 9y ago

I'm from an art background - and honestly, I couldn't disagree more. The reason why most people are bad at 3d modeling is that most people are bad at art. Reproducing shapes from real life to any medium, if it's charcoal, or clay, or 3d, is very difficult. People who are good at it typically spent tens of thousands of hours practicing. Part of what you learn in this practice is patience. Part of what you learn is a good eye. However, unless you're fundamentally allergic to tech - tools like Blender are simply way faster and more powerful than any other medium. Consider an 'art' skill like making woodcuts. There's no 'undo'. Mistakes are very easy to make, and often involve stabbing yourself through the web of your thumb with a chisel. It takes days of painful, physically tiring work, that is very bad for your hands, to simply make the lines. It's like that because real material processes don't care about user-friendliness. For me, learning Blender as an interface was enjoyable because I could see how much easier it was going to make my life. It's neither large, nor unduly complicated - I'd consider it similar to learning vim, or photoshop. The real problems - the hard problems, are art problems.