angus1965
06-26-2003, 06:07 PM
So you want to learn Lightwave. Outstanding. However there are somethings you should consider as you start down the path of adventure.
“Cuttin' the Mustard”
I'll be blunt. You may want to learn Lightwave (or any other 3D app) but some people just can't get it. Not everyone's brain is the the same. Many people cannot visualize in the third dimension. This is not a bad thing, unless of course you feel that it is your life calling to work in the world of 3D. Then you are going to have to train yourself to be able to do so. Can you view a 3-view drawing of something and in your “mind's eye” see the object? Can you rotate it around to view it however you like? If you cannot I would highly recommend working on trying to do so.
There is a lot of hard work ahead of you if you want to learn 3D. Now, I don't mean the type of 3D where people post a render of a poorly made object and state, “Look what I did in 10 minutes!” I am talking about wanting to make something that people will look at and be inspired. This will take an assload of work. Blood, sweat, and tears are ahead of you. You can buy all the books, all the videos, attend all the seminars, go to a 3D school, and buy online training you want; but if you are not willing to but you butt then give it up. Seriously. But, more on that later.
Can you see the difference between something somebody did on the web in 30 minutes and something from “Finding Nemo” or “xXx”? If you see some make a post that they did something in 30 minutes and are comparing it to something that was done in a feature film I hope you can see the difference between the two. If you can't, please do not waste your money. Take all the money you are going to spend and go on a nice tropical vacation. Seriously. You'll get a lot more out of that. Yea, the drinks are expensive but you'll have a hell of a lot more fun. People who do 3D for a living usually spend weeks, if not months, developing what ever they are working on. So don;t expect something to look great after 30 minutes (including render time!). If you do. Please stop now.
“HAL - Will I dream?”
Probably one of the best investments you can make towards your education is macing sure you have a decent workstation to work on. At the beginning of the learning process an older and slower machine may be acceptable, but (hopefully) as you learn it will become more of an issue. While there are ways to speed up system performance while in Modeler and Layout those will soon become even ineffective.
So, your first investment should be to make sure that you have a system that will allow you to grow as an artist. PC's are pretty cheap these days and Apple has some decently priced systems as well. While I have a preference for what system I like (PC or Mac) it is not my intention to tell you which way to go. It is up to you to talk to various users and decide which system best suits your needs.
“Software – It's not just for breakfast anymore!”
Purchasing the required software will, probably, be the largest investment you should make. There are demo versions available of Lightwave, The program itself will run in Demo mode if you do not have the proper authorization to use it. This is a very limited way to learn.
Pick up and old copy from someone in one of the forums. There are ways to get the software at a reasonable rate. Even if you have use an older revision that is not running in Demo mode it is better.
If buying from a third party on the web – buyer beware. There are a lot of nasty people out there trying to take your money.
“I WANNA LEARN!”
Learning is great. It is very rewarding to learn something that you are very passionate about. However, it is going to have to come from within.
There are more ways to learn Lightwave these days than ever before. Books (some of which I have contributed too), videos, DVD's, seminars, online training, and schools. Everyone one is willing to take your money. Some of these can cost a fortune!
The best bang for you buck will be book and videos (including DVD's). They are, relatively speaking, cheaper than anything else available to you (speaking of things that cost you money – not the free tutorials on the Internet. The freebies are the best, hands down). The other methods are very costly in comparison. So if you choose those there should be some things you need to consider:
*How many of the people in attendance, that chose to do so to get training to enter the world of 3D as a profession, are currently working in the industry?
*How many of the ex-students have positive things to say about what they got out of the experience? How many say negative things?
*How many of the people that paid they money feel they got what they wanted?
*Is there example work presented by the people doing the training? Is it any good?
*Is there example work by people who have completed the courses? Is it any good?
*What kind of background does the instructors have?
*Have the instructors been doing it for a long time?
*Are the instructor(s) reputable?
*Ask other students, in public forums and in private, what they got out of the training and if they would recommend it. If the courseware is something that they felt was sub-par they may be reluctant to post it in a public forum – so make sure to include a way for them to get in touch with you privately.
*What other work(s) has the author(s) produced? If there are others, how are they? Chances are if you are purchasing a courseware from someone that has experience in creating instructional material in different form, and it is done well, then there is a very good chance you are getting a quality “product.”
*Price shop. If you can get something that is similar for a cheaper price then do it! Refer to the above statement(s) about quality though. Cheap does not mean better – it can mean worse – however cheaper may mean that the author(s) have a wider circulation or sell more product enabling them to reduce the cost.
Those are some serious questions you should ask yourself and others. But, you are thinking about spending some serious cash! Would you be better off taking the money spent on the course(s) and buying a kick-ass, state of the art, system, the software, and a boat load of books and still have money left over to feed yourself for a couple o' months!
“It's up from here!”
However you choose to learn keep one thing in mind.
When you get done with a book, video, seminar, or a full on school, it is all just the foundation in which you are starting. Hopefully, while you were learning you decided to work on a project to push your newly learned skills to their limits. What you have learned is nothing more than the starting point for you to really learn.
You need to keep going with these skills and push then in direction that you had not thought you would when you started this journey.
Learning 3D is not an easy task – all of the previously mentioned ways of learning do pretty much one thing – they help you learn the basics faster than if you were to lock yourself in a room for weeks on end.
So – get out there and learn. And please don't be lazy about it.
“Cuttin' the Mustard”
I'll be blunt. You may want to learn Lightwave (or any other 3D app) but some people just can't get it. Not everyone's brain is the the same. Many people cannot visualize in the third dimension. This is not a bad thing, unless of course you feel that it is your life calling to work in the world of 3D. Then you are going to have to train yourself to be able to do so. Can you view a 3-view drawing of something and in your “mind's eye” see the object? Can you rotate it around to view it however you like? If you cannot I would highly recommend working on trying to do so.
There is a lot of hard work ahead of you if you want to learn 3D. Now, I don't mean the type of 3D where people post a render of a poorly made object and state, “Look what I did in 10 minutes!” I am talking about wanting to make something that people will look at and be inspired. This will take an assload of work. Blood, sweat, and tears are ahead of you. You can buy all the books, all the videos, attend all the seminars, go to a 3D school, and buy online training you want; but if you are not willing to but you butt then give it up. Seriously. But, more on that later.
Can you see the difference between something somebody did on the web in 30 minutes and something from “Finding Nemo” or “xXx”? If you see some make a post that they did something in 30 minutes and are comparing it to something that was done in a feature film I hope you can see the difference between the two. If you can't, please do not waste your money. Take all the money you are going to spend and go on a nice tropical vacation. Seriously. You'll get a lot more out of that. Yea, the drinks are expensive but you'll have a hell of a lot more fun. People who do 3D for a living usually spend weeks, if not months, developing what ever they are working on. So don;t expect something to look great after 30 minutes (including render time!). If you do. Please stop now.
“HAL - Will I dream?”
Probably one of the best investments you can make towards your education is macing sure you have a decent workstation to work on. At the beginning of the learning process an older and slower machine may be acceptable, but (hopefully) as you learn it will become more of an issue. While there are ways to speed up system performance while in Modeler and Layout those will soon become even ineffective.
So, your first investment should be to make sure that you have a system that will allow you to grow as an artist. PC's are pretty cheap these days and Apple has some decently priced systems as well. While I have a preference for what system I like (PC or Mac) it is not my intention to tell you which way to go. It is up to you to talk to various users and decide which system best suits your needs.
“Software – It's not just for breakfast anymore!”
Purchasing the required software will, probably, be the largest investment you should make. There are demo versions available of Lightwave, The program itself will run in Demo mode if you do not have the proper authorization to use it. This is a very limited way to learn.
Pick up and old copy from someone in one of the forums. There are ways to get the software at a reasonable rate. Even if you have use an older revision that is not running in Demo mode it is better.
If buying from a third party on the web – buyer beware. There are a lot of nasty people out there trying to take your money.
“I WANNA LEARN!”
Learning is great. It is very rewarding to learn something that you are very passionate about. However, it is going to have to come from within.
There are more ways to learn Lightwave these days than ever before. Books (some of which I have contributed too), videos, DVD's, seminars, online training, and schools. Everyone one is willing to take your money. Some of these can cost a fortune!
The best bang for you buck will be book and videos (including DVD's). They are, relatively speaking, cheaper than anything else available to you (speaking of things that cost you money – not the free tutorials on the Internet. The freebies are the best, hands down). The other methods are very costly in comparison. So if you choose those there should be some things you need to consider:
*How many of the people in attendance, that chose to do so to get training to enter the world of 3D as a profession, are currently working in the industry?
*How many of the ex-students have positive things to say about what they got out of the experience? How many say negative things?
*How many of the people that paid they money feel they got what they wanted?
*Is there example work presented by the people doing the training? Is it any good?
*Is there example work by people who have completed the courses? Is it any good?
*What kind of background does the instructors have?
*Have the instructors been doing it for a long time?
*Are the instructor(s) reputable?
*Ask other students, in public forums and in private, what they got out of the training and if they would recommend it. If the courseware is something that they felt was sub-par they may be reluctant to post it in a public forum – so make sure to include a way for them to get in touch with you privately.
*What other work(s) has the author(s) produced? If there are others, how are they? Chances are if you are purchasing a courseware from someone that has experience in creating instructional material in different form, and it is done well, then there is a very good chance you are getting a quality “product.”
*Price shop. If you can get something that is similar for a cheaper price then do it! Refer to the above statement(s) about quality though. Cheap does not mean better – it can mean worse – however cheaper may mean that the author(s) have a wider circulation or sell more product enabling them to reduce the cost.
Those are some serious questions you should ask yourself and others. But, you are thinking about spending some serious cash! Would you be better off taking the money spent on the course(s) and buying a kick-ass, state of the art, system, the software, and a boat load of books and still have money left over to feed yourself for a couple o' months!
“It's up from here!”
However you choose to learn keep one thing in mind.
When you get done with a book, video, seminar, or a full on school, it is all just the foundation in which you are starting. Hopefully, while you were learning you decided to work on a project to push your newly learned skills to their limits. What you have learned is nothing more than the starting point for you to really learn.
You need to keep going with these skills and push then in direction that you had not thought you would when you started this journey.
Learning 3D is not an easy task – all of the previously mentioned ways of learning do pretty much one thing – they help you learn the basics faster than if you were to lock yourself in a room for weeks on end.
So – get out there and learn. And please don't be lazy about it.