A 3D Hobbyist's Lament
lukon100
Posts: 809
I’ll never make truly inspiring 3D models or renders. My work will always by mediocre.
I feel sad knowing this.
But this is the price I pay for not taking the time (and money) to FULLY learn how 3D modeling and rendering works before jumping in and trying to learn it all in ad-hoc, out-of-context chunks.
And here I just feel sad knowing I don’t have, and never had, the discipline to properly learn it.
If I had been able to focus on proper and adequate learning when I first got into this about 10 years ago, I’d be able to make models and renders 5 times as captivating, 5 times as quickly as I can now.
I suppose I’d like to warn those of you who do have the discipline, to avoid ending up like me. If you can stay focused, then take the time (and money) to learn the craft from professional teachers before venturing out into the endless mine-field that is 3D modeling and rendering. Learn both the theory and practice; learn the workflows and the principles of lighting (take photography courses) from the pros. Do not try to make a car before making the donut and the coffee mug exactly as the instructors tell you to.
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Comments
... or just use generative AI like everyone else is now
you can start here
I feel that DAZ AI Studio is to the 3D picture creation experience what the Google self driving cars are to the driving experience. You're simply handing over instructions to something else and hoping you like what you get. Most often, it's far from what you expected.
Don't forget that there is also something beyond money & learning that's also needed. And it's talent. Without talent, no amount of learning is really going to help. I know I don't have an atistic bone in my body, so I make do with what I am able to do, and try to concentrate on the few things I can create. Every now & again I break out all rash & try to make an image, and having confirmed to myself that I still qualify for the 'Not terribly good club of Great Britain', I have a bash at doing something else for a while.
Looking at your galleries in DA, I suspect you have rather more talent than I. So.. simply enjoy yourself, enjoy the results of your work, and do something else for a while when it stops being fun.
Regards,
Richard
It's never really too late to get started. - barring the onset of some sort of debilitating physical or mental issue.
My renders are mediocre too mostly, but with the new fast nVidia RTX GPUs and improvement in iRay and DAZ products it's never been faster to go to DAZ's YouTube tutorials and learn all the material newly present by WP50 and Colm Jackson, mostly. I'm currently clearing brush in my back yard though but it will be good for winter to work through.
what renders? I just collect cool products. Its a pretty expensive hobby
Yeah, that's pretty much where I am.
But I will lament along with OP. I honestly seem to remember feeling more confident with Daz after three months of using it than I do after three years of using it.
Er... Do you think that everyone who works on those big animated films from Pixar etc. knows how to do everything to make a complete 3D production all by themselves? No, quite a few of them are specialists who do one particular aspect very well and have a more general grasp of everything else... for that matter, when I was an art major, I had one painting instructor who claimed that you weren't a real artist unless you framed and primed your own canvases, and refused to let students use pre-built canvases or canvas boards. (And yes, she got "shuffled off" after that one semester once the rest of the department realized what a kook she was.) For many years you weren't considered a "real" photographer unless you developed and printed everything yourself... and now film and darkrooms aren't even part of the process for most photographers. Don't confuse not being able to make your own materials with not being able to create somethng of value with DS or Poser.
I totally get the frustration and the slump. I think it probably happens in all artistic mediums because oh man is it hard to get what's in your head to manifest in the material plane.
I too am not one for being good about starting small and working up. But you know what? I think that's okay, too. I'm discovering what I need to learn as I go, and theory without immediate practical application doesn't tend to stick for me anyway.
In one of my super frustrated moments a few months ago, someone on the forums told me (paraphrased) that making Daz art is basically solving a bunch of puzzles, and once I looked at it that way, it all seemed a lot less overwhelming. Sure, sometimes the puzzles are bigger thn what I have the time/resources/brainpower to tackle, but I've also learned to give myself permission to make the imperfect render, knowing I can go back and get it closer to my liking later when my skills (or asset inventory) catch up to what's necessary to solve those puzzles.
I don't know... maybe that'll help you, too. I wanted to learn this sort of art for years, but circumstance (and largely my abusive ex husband) prevented me. If I'd been able to start back then, I'd be so far ahead of where I am now! But also... I'm here now, learning because it's never too late to start, and I'll get that good eventually. So will you if you keep working at it. :)
in actuality, I am in same boat, but for a very long time. I felt so much advancement was back when I started with Poser 1. I think it was P4 though before I really felt like I was getting somewhere. In there someplace DAZ Studio was born, anbd I tried it but stuck with Poser. It wasn't too far back that I tried DS again ans stuck with it, but I've never felt that same EUREKA! feeling with DS. I think it much more advanced overall than Poser but I've never really felt totally comfortable with it, and I feel like my creativity has just gone bye-bye. It might be that I have become more a buyer than a user though. I often feel guilty of how much I've spent over the years.
I solved that problem. Now I just collect the free ones. Although I do have great fun expanding my wishlist. But yeah, purchasing, and rendering has sorta' petered out.
I propose that when a wishlist gets to a certain length , the the items at the far end of the list should be free, because I'll never get around to using them anyway.
LOL this... I lament the sales because then my free time is shopping instead of rendering. But then I go and do it anyways, and pick up stuff I think I might use later.
I utterly reject this premise. Talent makes acquiring a certain skill easier, but it's not a necessary requirement for acquiring that skill. You can learn how to do something to a high degree of proficiency without having innate talent. I have talent for music and languages, but not particularly for 3D or other visual arts, yet I've still made renders I'm very proud of, that I do think are pretty good.
That's called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. The difference between then and now is that you know a lot more than you did then, so you are more capable of accurately assessing your skills.
This reminds me of when one of my father figures made an elogy and I thought it was a eulogy.
Thank ***** for ZBrush, I'm glad I bought it before Maxon got their greedy mitts on it!
I use ZBrush for many of my own morphs though I have yet to finish a full sculpted character, but I definitely let my drawing skills atrophy a bit too much as DS is an incredibly effective distraction!
Me too ! bought ZB before, haha ~ and I agree with Gordig I used to be an IT guy, an SAP consult but I have no or very limited talents in 3D world but I'm a serious hobbyist. Then I respected learning curve, and tried to do my best, then I'm able to make pretty good stuff and make my clients satisfied.
I think you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it..however, the so called "industry standard" modeling software is so outrageously priced-no matter what your ambition.. who could afford to get started at $3K a month? I do use ZBrush Core for 10$ a month.. pretty reasonable, and there's always Blender or Milkshape... I found some free classes out there, or those you can buy on the cheap--my problem is that I can get lazy to sit through courses.. I am more of a jump in and get my hands dirty..go find a tutorial how to do that thingy.. then I get frustrated, leave it for a while, and go back to Bryce.. spend $$ on DAZ sales..
And when I'm frustrated, need encouragement/inspiration and chill, I just go turn on Bob Ross.. because "Its your world" "you can do anything you want in it" and just love how he "beats the devil
out of it" .. cleaning his brush, lol
I don't know what I'm doing but I have a ton of wacky fun in Carrara finding out
What software is $3K a MONTH? There are plenty that cost around that much per YEAR, but several of them also have more affordable options available. Maya is $1875/yr, but Maya Indie is only $305/yr. Houdini costs as much as $6995 per license for the first year depending on which package you need, but I recently bought a two-year license for Houdini Indie for $400.
$3k/month?! @rasberri, what are we talking about?
I can only hope they're being hyperbolic.
So, I'm spitballing here. I guess my point is, it's not really $3k/mo to get started. And informtion sharing!
One can get a Maya indie license for around $300/yr. That's industry standard, isn't it? Houdini has a similar deal, along with a free apprentice version. A seat of Rhino is about $1k, perpetual license. It's not usually discussed with respect to Daz. Can it be for hobbyists? It has very rich nurbs, sub-d, and curves-based modeling. It also has fantastic automated shrink-wrap quad-meshing retopo. Those folks are really into 3d printing! That's very prominent in their overview videos. It's a slightly overwhelming program, though it seems aimed as much at hobbyists as design professionals. 3D-Coat is ~$300 when on sale and upgrades are ~$90/yr. People say Blender has a weird interface...
@stezza will say "the box" in Carrara is enough. He might be right, too. Many folks will tout Blender - That's free, though they're looking for donations. They say only .1% of users donate - Probably because they always tell everyone it's free. O_o.Anyway, iif using it, they probably deserve a donation.
Again, that's $305 a YEAR for Maya Indie, roughly $25/mo, while my $400 2-year Houdini Indie license equates to $16.67/mo.
Houdini, at least, still has perpetual licenses available.
Oh look... Cross-posting.
...before everything went subscription I recall that a perpetual licence for 3DS Max was something like 3,400 or 3,600 USD
Back then a Photoshop perpetual licence was 699USD.
DAZ has only cost me $10,000 or something so its a real steal.
Those are true. Lightwave was usually available on sale for about $900, now perpetual license is $1068 .
Haha! Not really a bargain, is it? But did you get $10k enjoyment out of it?
I never took any classes or paid for any online courses, I learned more or less on my own by checking youtube video's and asking questions on Daz forums, as well as being part of discord servers set up for those who use Daz. It's a little slower, but not by a whole lot.
Re:OP: I'd say take it easy and first and foremost try to have fun with whatever you're doing. You could also try to phrase what do you find inspiring and cool on the pics of your favorite artists and try to reproduce those things or something similar on your art. ^^
Yes, or embrace the mediocre and uninspiring...