Autodesk 3dsMax ... future?

ahal

Hi all,

I was tempted to post this in the gaming forums, but it's not strictly relevant to that. Long story short, I come from a background in graphics and have spent the past 6 months studying Java. I'm not hopeless at it, but I'm not a natural coder either.

In the midst of studying same I happened upon a youtube video of a guy talking about 3dsMax. He sounded pretty buzzed up about it: as though being good at this would ensure that you get a job where the boss offers to make you tea. Well, maybe not, but you get the idea.

I had a look at the tutorials for this software and at every turn I was thinking "oh yeah, that". Years ago I messed with Amapi 3d and Caligari Truespace. Between that and the graphics, it felt like 'home'. I fancy my chances of getting certified in 3dsMax, but my knowledge of the gaming industry isn't huge. I definately feel that this is my 'calling' ... it's fun to me rather than work.

There's a company in Dublin (two actually) that are licensed to certify. God knows what it costs (must ring tomorrow actually) but my questions can be defined, I guess, as follows:

1/ Is there a place in games development for people who do concepts / rendering as opposed to being good at the 'engine' / code side of it too?

2/ Is this certification worth taking? ( a broad question I'll admit, but I'd really welcome thoughts and opinions )

Thanks in advance,

Tony.

al28283

3ds MAX is an awesome program. I've been using it for the last few years and come a long way. There are so many tutorials online that it is quite possible to learn a huge amount of youtube and other sites alone. After that you can start paying for dvd downloads from experts on specific areas.
A 3d package like Max includes a huge amount of areas and at a professional level it is normal for someone to specialise i.e modellers only model, riggers only build rigs. But at a beginners level it is good to learn as much about everything. Not much coding, programming is needed unless you want to work that way.

There is a magazine out this month called 3ds MAX Essentials, its a good one to buy and I think its a once. But there are a few monthly magazine that are similar, but they are about 3d in general and not specific to max.

You can download 3ds trial versions from Autodesk directly or from other places


Also, you'd want to look carefully into it and see if MAX is definatley the package you want to learn. There are many programs like it and they all have there strengths. Maya is owned by Autodesk aswell and is the industry standard 3d package for now. I believe is a little harder to learn at first but you might be better off in the long run.



For now, download the software and use the massive amounts of tutorial and youtube videos to learn what you can. Eventhe help files included with Max will teach you alot.


PM me with any specific questions


Here are some sites I like, the WIP forums and tutorials are great





http://www.cgsociety.org/

http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=43

http://www.3dtotal.com/

DesperateDan

al28283 wrote: »

Also, you'd want to look carefully into it and see if MAX is definatley the package you want to learn. There are many programs like it and they all have there strengths. Maya is owned by Autodesk aswell and is the industry standard 3d package for now. I believe is a little harder to learn at first but you might be better off in the long run.

Hi there, as a graduate of a games development degree with a keen interest in modelling, texturing, animating and lighting effects I'd like to share my experience. 3DS Max is what could be described as an "all-round" tool. This is the reason it costs so much, it is used as an industry standard for modelling, animating, physics/particle effects, lighting, cloth, hair and fur, weather systems etc. I have done 4 semesters in 3DS Max, but every important thing I know about the program came from 3DBuzz.com. If you choose to get into Max, for the love of God don't spend a penny on any certified course other than 3DS Max Fundamentals on this site. They have years of experience in teaching, are genuinely cool people, and provide the best value for money course material I have ever seen.

So no, your certificate course is not worth taking, unless its 140 hours long and costs €60, which is what you'll get out of the fundamentals class on 3D Buzz. There is most certainly a place in games development for non-programming areas of expertise. Modellers, animators, animation rig creators, texture artists, sculpting artists, concept artists, level design, character design etc. Most of these areas have nothing to do with code. The important thing to remember is that at the end of the day, it's the artists portfolio and skill that counts, not some crappy little expensive certificate.

Regarding other products, I would learn Max. It is the most complex and in depth program out there, and once you learn Max, Maya, Blender, XSI, MilkShape and others will seem much easier to pick up should they be necessary. Maya is the easiest industry standard tool to learn, but if an employer sees you know Max, he will realise it shouldn't be difficult for you to pick up Maya in the slightest.

Finally if you do get into Max (and to reiterate myself), do the course I mentioned, it covers every field to an intermediate level and you'll soon discover what you enjoy and which areas you'd rather stay away from. Download Adobe Photoshop, another important tool they cover the fundamentals of. If you are an artistic person, check out Pixologic's ZBrush aswell. It is a digital sculpting program that is also used when modelling assets for every major game out there, and may well be your forté.

Good Luck,

Dan

ahal

Thanks a lot guys.

Yes, the certification course costs about €400 for 3 days ... mind you it's possible to get it through FAS so needless to say that was an attraction! By the sound of it then it's not the most comprehensive. My own area of interest is in industrial design type design, so to speak. I love automotive stuff and buildings design etc.

I'm still happiest with pen and paper, though this is a part of the whole scene anyway from what I can gather ... at least in the early stages of concepts. I learned CorelDraw / Photopaint back in the day rather than Adobe, mind you Adobe is not a million miles away from it (although annoyingly some things have different names!)

Here's a good overview of what I've done so far (and yes, I've bigged myself up in the intro ) http://www.ahalpin.com/

I have to agree on the youtube tutorials ... I'd been following this guy on the Java and liked his style, then happened to click on his talk about 3dsMax: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL5VYkRI4wM

It's great to get some pointers from people who know what they're talking about, obviously our youtube friend Bucky isn't overstating the program then, which is good to know because I can't get enough of it

Thanks again.

Regards,

Tony.

DesperateDan

Well if you can get the course for free through FAS and you have the time then you have nothing to lose really, but yeah I can't recommend 3DBuzz enough.

Nice website, making cars in Max is great fun, I recently modelled a nice 1920's Austin coincidentally. Inorganic shapes such as buildings/cars etc. are what a user would learn first when modelling in Max, as organic shapes (humans, plants, creatures) are more advanced as you can imagine. I have a pretty strong interest in fighter jets myself, (one of my fave video games is called Ace Combat, a jet fighter sim), and the second major project you do in the Fundamentals class I keep hammering on about is model, texture and animate from scratch an F14 Jet, aswell as an incredible air craft carrier. This sort of thing will probably appeal to you too.

ahal

Well, we're 6 months on

I took the exam for 3ds Max 2011 back in October ... thought I was doing the 3ds Max 2011 Design exam and had prepared for same, but it dawned on me about 10 minutes in that I was doing the standard Max 2011 exam :rolleyes: I didn't manage to pass.

It went a bit like this:

A certain place in Dundrum told me that 3dsMax Design and 3dsMax are "the same thing". Not quite. 3dsMax Design has architecture leanings and despite having everything that standard 3dsMax has, it's set up completely differently. Basically they'd have told me anything to get the money out of FAS. The same guy who told me they were the "same thing" recently said to me "oh no, they're completely different" :rolleyes:

Long story short, I wanted to do 3ds Max with them, was told I couldn't, studied 3ds Max Design and then ended up doing the 3dsMax exam ffs. Anyway the attitude with these people was basically that they 'might' re-run the exams in the new year. Their attitude to everything seems to be "we might do you a favour".

I decided screw that, so after a bit of googling I came up with ArcDox in Sandyford. Hell, what a difference! Those guys are actually enthusiastic about the product, on the ball, friendly, professional. They got me in for a re-sit of the exam within a week. I managed to pass the 2011 Associate exam (just about) a few days ago with them

I've certainly learned that not only is the centre you deal with important, but so is the study material. The book I worked from was the official Sybex 'Mastering 3dsMax Design 2011' ... about 1,000 pages. It's frightening for a learner, but believe me, it's the best book for a decent grounding. It took buying '3ds Max 2012 Essentials' to send me back to the original book ... the latter is rubbishy (written by a married couple and laced with utter b.s. like "Go Wild!" :rolleyes:)

I'm not half blathering on here, but just to conclude, the Associate exams in Max are no bloody joke! Next up I want to try for 2012 Associate then 'Models to Motion' Professional. If I'm lucky, I might be ready to tackle the pro. one by summer. There's no fast way to learn this stuff and no easy way, but it sure is fun!

blatantrereg

Maya is owned by Autodesk aswell and is the industry standard 3d package for now. I believe is a little harder to learn at first but you might be better off in the long run.

Yes, I think Maya is very much the most in demand.

Your portfolio will be much much more important than certifications for getting this kind of work.

ahal

blatantrereg wrote: »

Your portfolio will be much much more important than certifications for getting this kind of work.

Quite possibly, but then again getting certified does show that one's bothered to work towards a goal. Self - taught is all very well but having gone that route with several graphics programs I quickly discovered that it takes far longer.