Designing as you model

[accesskb]

i don't blame you... I think even the pro's don't start out directly on a 3D program... Its so much faster to draw sketches on a paper, experiment with forms, test out ideas before even opening the 3D software.

everyone goes through this frustrating stage when they start out. Its best to keep practicing the traditional/classical arts like drawing... Don't avoid drawing because you think you suck

[Karnageddon]

Started off this way in 3d and i know exactly what you mean. I would say references would be very important for something like this and save you a lot of frustration when creating whatever you want come up with in 3d.

Now for the issue of coming up with something:argh:
When i cant come up with anything, i visit Google and start brainstorming. I think of the first word that comes into mind and look up images then move on to the next word..."cow, chicken, tuna...hm maybe I'm hungry, technology, sci-fi, reptile, spider, octoped, robot...BOOM Robot spider" i either go from there or try that process again and brainstorm starting with something similar to spider "insect, macro, leaves, plant, carnivorous plants, venus fly trap...hmm" . The resulting idea is creating something similar to a "robot spider desperately trying to escape a venus flytrap".

As corny as this sounds, it really does work for me. When i left my job recently to go to school for animation, i was completely depressed because I was unable to think creatively at all; after 4 years of working a dead end job. I remember prior to that; back when i was in school , i would be working on one project and would be unable to finish it because a better idea just kept popping into mind.
Between spending time outside, brainstorming and keeping an open mind to everything, i was able to get into that creative thinking phase that i have missed for quite some time. :)
Hopefully this gets you started.

[Raziaar]

Some of my biggest challenges are how I want to add detail into the already terrible mesh I have already constructed.

Like, I'll start off experimenting with a shape and make a shape... and then I try adding in detail surrounding that, and it makes for a very poor final result in my opinion.

For the leg especially, I'm having incredible difficulty. I am planning on creating an exaggerated chicken style walker with reverse leg... and I worked on the bottom part with the foot but how I can branch out into the other parts of the leg working my way up to the torso I already have built is simply... frustrating!

Things don't end up looking very good when you start with a shape that was unplanned to begin with and you just start adding detail onto that.

These are some very basic renders(I don't know how to render properly yet) to demonstrate what kind of lack of vision I have had when developing my mech. Any colors you see were just temporarily applied colors during my modeling for me to have some better contrast.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/593/frustrating1.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/5206/frustrating2.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/6890/frustrating3.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/3250/frustrating4.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/3492/frustrating5.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2077/frustrating6.jpg

[MrMint]

Like this?

http://www.actionhq.com/store/images/Robocop_ED209BattleDamaged.jpg

[sanguinewolf]

allo allo, .. im glad that someone else has the same problems that i find im facing...

i have been dabbling in the 3d world since about 1999 and im still struggling... lol mostly cause im just a keen amature, i have a lot of ideas in my head but seem to lack the creativity to put on paper whats in my head, (be it music, art, 3d, writing photography you name it) the path between my head and my hands seems a bit bumpy at the best of times lol

i have recently gotten back into 3d again updated max to 2009 and looking into getting some better hardware when i move back to my own country (currently a guess here) ...

and reading your posts in this thread has kinda open my eyes a little to how others do thier work.. having looked through say the "challenges" here and the WIP my work always seems shabby in compairson to others even in thier raw state..

I have always started designing while modeling.. and perhaps this isnt the way to go.. for me i too get frustrated on my lack of abilty to draw whats in my head so i can translate it to the pc and give it life Or even to paper for that matter.. i also go through periods where i have no creativity at all and what ever i seem to try becomes slapdash and scrappy...which leads to very low selfesteem kinda like a vicious circle..

for the last few projects i worked on (none ever got finished, i will say) i started looking for reference matterial ...
and the latest WIP (featured in the wip 3d section here) i have been using a lot of photos of real bikes to get reference points scaling ect..

As for coming up with idea's i tend to find things in Audio format and visualise them.. this at the moment is where most of my insperation is coming from. I spend a lot of time listening to audio dramas and books.. also i tend to think about updating things from the past .. from simple things like old cars - how can i take this car shape and give it a new lease of life... or take something how would i redisign the batmobile or whatever you interest lays in.. taking somthing dated and making it more uptodate.. just as a way of practicing skills and keeping your mind working...

I think the hardest thing is to get passionate about somthing you have no interest in.. so look at what you have interest in and work within that area..

[ErikSvensson]

Don't avoid drawing because you think you suck

So true! You will "suck" until you practise what you "suck" at to get good at it. The only hard thing is to realize that skill comes with practise and not just magically appear from no-where. :)

Erik

[accesskb]

So true! You will "suck" until you practise what you "suck" at to get good at it. The only hard thing is to realize that skill comes with practise and not just magically appear from no-where. :)

Erik

haha yes skill comes with practice... Mozart did not become who he is without work.. I heard he practiced so much everyday that all of his fingers were badly deformed :D So yes... Razziar, keep drawing until you can draw well even with your eyes closed, then you'll be able to translate anything in your mind to the paper accurately :D



Some of my biggest challenges are how I want to add detail into the already terrible mesh I have already constructed.

Like, I'll start off experimenting with a shape and make a shape... and then I try adding in detail surrounding that, and it makes for a very poor final result in my opinion.



spend more time on the classical education and on design theory etc. Study design.. what is good design? How to make good design? what are the elements of good design? etc... A good design theory/understanding is like your tool. If you know it well, you can produce good work.

Like they say, details are like the icing on the cake... If the main work/idea/shape is bad, adding details will not make it better but just be a waste of time... Don't spend too much time adding or working on the details first.... Spend more time improving the main idea or shape first, then when you think you've got something really good, add the details to make it pop. These are simple design principles that you should know. So its clear where you need to work on first.