Novice in need of guidance, please

[Lanton]

I'm a complete novice, haven't done any modelling stuff before and i can't draw on paper that well either. However i'm hoping to get my idea for a HL2 mod off of the ground.

Fortunately though, I do know my way round photoshop so i've at least got some basic 'art' skills under my belt. I d/l'd the trial version of 3D Max 6 and am now working through some of the tutorials listed in the thread on this forum, creating boxes, chairs etc. However what i'd like to know is what's the process you guys go through, from picking an object to model, to rendering it, skinned and all.

If i wanted to model, say, a rocket launcher, ideally what real-life material (eg pictures, specs) would i need access to concerning the rocket launcher, what software would i need (free/purchase) and also what books on 3D modelling would i best off buying to guide me through the whole process?

E.g., if i were an experienced 3d modeller, in a general sense what steps would i go through from picking something to model (like a car), to getting the finished product on the screen?

 

[63]

You can usually find some good stuff in the stickies

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5957

 

[mindless_moder]

well the basics steps are

If ur subject is based of off real life

1) acquire a numerous amount of erference pictures of the subject in various angels but of the same model and type this will help u while modeling and texuring.
usualy to get the most accurate modeling results people use blue prints which they add on to planes in max

refs:

http://images.google.com this search engine helps you get images of the subject
http://www.altavista.com this is similar to the google one but is more advanced and lets u get movies aswell

and finally the blue print sites

http://www.suurland.com/
http://www.onnovanbraam.com/ on this site u get blueprints and in the tut section check out the tutorial for setting up the prints in max.

2) after u have the refs ready start choosing ur modeling method this ranges from box modeling to splining etc....choose something u know well.

3) after modeling is finished u may want to try and render it and post it on sites to obtain critique about the model. this helps you in ur observation skills as through doing this u develop the skills and find that later u wont even need to have to post a wip or render for crits because u can observe the details and problems urself.
often people who arent that close to the project will give u helpful insights

post on sites like

http://the 3dstudio.com

and the hl2 forums ur always welcome here

there are also many rendering tuts out there, one was made recently by a member called sidewinder

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25461

which shows the basics of lighting after which u just hit f10 and render it

4) steps 4 and 5 is where most people lack and where people should pay the most attention as it is an integral part of the model and i suggest u to no ignore it like the rest of the first time modelers.
this is unwrapping there are a huge host of unwrapping tuts out there they all detail on the same method you should go through these.
unwrapping is basically making ur 3d information in a 2d form so it can be painted.

tuts:
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showpost.php?p=203360&postcount=8
http://waylon-art.com/uvw_tutorial/uvwtut_01.html
http://merlin.zsnes.com/tutorials/mapping/
http://www.inicia.es/de/lorenmarti/tutorials_01.htm
http://www.gamedale.com/tutorials/details.php?id=20
http://www.mikesteven.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/text/ddtutorial01.htm

5) step 5 the horror of every modeler and artist out there where fear takes the from of the evil "TEXURE".
lol this in my opinion is the most hated step and my most loved as i am a texture artist. this tep can only be learnt if u are determined and altho there are a lot of "skinning" tuts out there u need to develop ur own style.

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25219&highlight=skin

http://www.planetquake.com/skindom/

i have more refs if needed pm me

i hope there arent any broken links and i hope this helps
oh yeah one last thing

the donts

1) dont photoskin
2) dont steal other work and claim it
3) dont waste time on snazzy gi renders for wips and crit posts.

 

[mindless_moder]

sorry i forgot the software needed bit

ok software needed
for modeling
3ds max

OR
maya, lightwave, xsi, cinema 4d

if ur looking for freestuff theres
wings 3d mdoeler, anim8tor, blender

for uvw mapping
3ds max

or
lithunwrap

for texturing
photoshop

OR
paint shop pro

free ones are
the gimp

 

[Corto]

There's also an free version of Softimage XSI for Half Life 2 at www.sotimage.com

 

[Lanton]

Thanks all, i'll go through the tutuorials that you guys posted and also look at XSI.