How to learn 3D MAX quickly?

[Xilica]

practice, practice, practice

[rhode]

I think so,
But I want to get a royal road.
Do you have it?;)

[Icarus]

good book

3dsmax 5.0 - Fundimentals,

Little costly.. But well worth it, full of mini tuts, and well worth it, after 1 week reading, never knew i could do so much with 3dsmax, but yeah.. back on track, good books, another couple of good books are out of the "O-Riely" books, ive seen one or 2 maybe of a different owner, but yeah, definatly go for the 3dsmax fundiments, well worth it

*PLEASE EXCUSE MY POOR GRAMMER + SPELLING*

TyR-

[rhode]

Thanks
I will look for it .

[frye]

Step One: Kiss your social life good bye.
Step Two: Glue your back side to a chair and glue said chair down in front of your PC.

[Bobo]

Originally posted by rhode
Give me some advices?
thanks


The keyword is "quickly".
Unfortunately, there is no quick way. It's like asking "How do I finish medicine study is one week". It might be possible, but you would still suck as a doctor after the week ;)
I have seen books like "Teach yourself 3D Studio Max in 10 days". Believe me, this is not the way to go.
Read the manuals, do the tutorials (twice), buy *good* books, practice for a year or two, then look for more...

[rhode]

I think that what you said is very right. It is the good method of learning. I will try my best to learn it.
Thanks!

[Incitatus]

There's no such thing m8

[Stroker]

practice for a year or two
Even if you sit down to Max for an hour or two a day, that timeline sounds about right. You should be able to shave a few months off if you sit down 5-10 hours a day.

Don't try to go too fast. A learning experience needs time to sink in. If you go barreling from one thing to the next, you'll be forgetting things, and that's counter-productive.

A good idea is to take notes. Get yourself a notebook and scribble things down as you go. Review your notes every few days.

[CapnPanic]

yup i agree, there is no quick way. just practice practice and have patience to read alot. by the time you are more experienced those poor max manuals should be tattered and torn ;)

[Signal2Noise]

Wait for 3ds max 7. It'll feature a macro so when you hit the spacebar on your keyboard everything will be done for you. You won't even need to use your imagination. Hell, you could get your mom to look after max while you're out having a social life! Nifty, huh?

Seriously, though. Follow the other advice given. Do a search in this forum for book suggestions. There's lots around. The biggest factor in learning any CG app is: time.

[Iain McFadzen]

Depends what you mean by "learn Max".

You could learn to model to a pro standard inside a couple of months. You'd only know about 2% of the app, but you'd know enough to be employable, if that was your only concern.

[Signal2Noise]

Originally posted by Iain McFadzen
[Blah, blah, blah]...but you'd know enough to be employable, if that was your only concern.

That's pretty much everyone's concern:hmm:

CG=Dream Job for most.

[Iain McFadzen]

...in which case "a couple of years" would be wildly pessimistic :)

[eddy-3ddy]

cg is interest, cg is livestyle.

so if you want to learn it, you have to live it. No social life, have some friends with lot of patience, a room with roomservice and maybe you can make it in one year...:wip:

[LFShade]

I originally learned how to find most of the buttons and stuff in a little less than a month. I guess in a sense you could call that "learning Max quickly." It's taken me years, though, to learn how to effectively use perhaps as much as 25% of those buttons. There's probably another 25-40% that I have some idea about how to use, but have not put into practice (yet!). That leaves, conservatively, 35% of Max that I have at most a vague awareness of, after nearly 6 years of regular use!

There's a vast difference between learning how to get around an application and learning how to really use it;)


RH

[Ryno]

Buy my book! 3ds Max Illuminated: Foundation, by me, Ryan Greene.

It's available through amazon.com, and www.mesmer.com (the publisher, where it's cheaper)

[Six Black Roses]

Well, I myself am just starting with 3ds max, but I'm going to try an approach that seemed to work for me elsewhere:

Have something in mind--a final picture, or just the basic sketch and models. Keeping my online reference open, I'll look for ways to complete what I have in mind. If the reference doesn't suffice, I'll go post on several 3ds forums, asking specific questions, to see if somebody knows. Hell, I might even write a few tutorials as I go along.

What I won't try to do is learn everything, despite that I may never need to know those little details. I'll still quickly rush my eyes through the written material, but only to have an idea of what can be done (so that later I'll know exactly what to look for should I need to carry out that function, or whatever).

My distractions are my problems. Aside from 3D art, I'm trying to squeeze in music.

I suppose I should start a mini portfolio and render little things despite how crappy they may be, only so that I may monitor my progress. If I notice that I'm not accelerating faster than the average CG guy, I'll probably drop it--considering that I generally learn things quickly anyway.

Blah, blah, this and that, and I have nothing left to say.

[Transform Gizmo]

my advice would be that if you start a project with max, finish it. no matter how much you think it might suck make sure you finish it. then when your done you can pick it apart until you find ways to improve and then move on to the next thing.

If I notice that I'm not accelerating faster than the average CG guy, I'll probably drop it
as for dropping 3d, there really isnt a need to give up just because some one is learning faster than you. Personally i have seen quite a few people who have not been doing 3d very long and already have exceptional skills. they are developing faster than me but that doesnt mean theres no hope for me to enjoy 3d or even possibly be employed in the industry some day. you just have to realize that every one learns at a different rate. if anything you should use that as motivation to work harder. ;)

[ivo D]

well for one.. you cant be nearly .. near pro style modelling texturing in a few months.. (3-4)..

its just learning ,and trying.. spend many late hours at it.


*stay a lot at cgtalk , suck up as much as you can.

*store peoples whire frames..(to look how stuff is been done, caus many things are the same in every thing.. youjust have to see it)

*do lots of tutorials..

*do not only model, but lighting..texturing etc..

* and the most important one i think..stay dedicated..
dont worry if your working a month on one thing.. thats allmost normall.. it takes time.. you will get faster i nthe future ,but than i can still take a month.. your standard groes.. cg gets bigger.. and more complex..with extra stuff every day.. stay up to date.. and also try things.. that dont interest you so much.. but ar important do..


have funn :D..

[ivo D]

about the learning .. the time it takes.. it doesnt matter..

lot of people.. get noticed.. caus they have a different style.. and have creaive cool things.. ,

if you can do good modelling ,texturing etc..doesnt mean you will be seen better as someone else..

for one.. , simple.. cool looking stuff.. is much more apreciated.


the creative part.. is a thing.. you just have.. and cant really learn..


at the end everyone can model.. exture.. , light.. allmostperfect..

but does that make you instantly good at it.. ? dont think so..

[rhode]

Many thanks for you.
You gave me much valuable expensive.
Experience teaches. Experience does it.
You are my teachers.

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