How long did it take you...

I am a new member and new to Maya. I am trying to teach myself through dvd's and tutorials. But this is the toughest thing I have ever tried learning. I am paying off a useless bachelor's degree which is why I cannot go back to school to learn how do do this. (Which is what I should have went to college for originally).

So what I am asking, is if anyone else is self taught, how long did it take you to fully feel like you knew what you were doing and could model and animate?

For me, Iam hoping by the end of 2013 I can create a hockey goalie and animate him to make a few saves.

This is what I have so far:




They at least look what I was trying to model lol. But I changed the pattern on the paddle of the stick.



And that is what they actually look like.

I have taught myself guitar, drums, goalie, photoshop and after fx. But holy cow Maya is soooo hard to learn!

It's like asking how long is a bit of string.

if you spent every waking moment living breathing maya, you could learn how to do what you would like to acheive in a few months, well to a certain level. an hour in the evening twice a week it could take you years.

Just keep going and you will get there!

I usually go 4-6 hours a night. Like i did w/ guitar. It's just weird though I hate going back to the beginner stage of anything. But It's the whole walk before you can run type of thing i guess. I just wish I knew if it was one of the things I can learn on my own or not.

Like piano. We had a piano room where I went to college. I practiced so much and i just couldnt get it. So something like piano I know I need lessons to learn. I'm just wondering if Maya is the same thing

Hey man,

I've been at it for around 6 years now, and I'm still not happy with the quality of my work, nor do I feel I know Maya very well. Theres always something new to learn. If your struggling with the DVDs and tutorial videos, try picking up one of the books. Go to Amazon, and type "Maya" in the search box.

If your looking for some feedback on your goalie pads, try posting in the 3D WIP forum. There are lots of people there who would be happy to help.

-AJ

Thanks for the replies I replyed a while ago and it never showed up. But maya is the toughest thing I have ever tried to learn. Well aside from piano which I gave up on. Once i sit down for Maya I spend around 6 hrs on it or until I get frustrated. I'm just hoping Maya isnt like piano. When I was in school I had a few books on it and we had a piano room, so every break in between classes I was there. I learned my way around the C and D scales in 3 years lol.

So hopefully I can do something in maya

Those baseball renders indicate you might be doing better at Maya than you think.

Those are hockey goalie pads.

I would try to disconnect yourself from the software, and just focus on making your goalie pads. The software is just a tool to achieve your vision. Maybe you failed at piano because you didn't have a song in your head.

For starters, your base mesh is wrong, and your textures don't line up. Try to get the model right before you go to far with the texturing. Try using the crease tool on your edges to make the seams between the fabric cuts.

-AJ

I think that it takes a long time to get going as a 3D artist in any application. It is just a matter of how much time you spend everyday. In the last 7 years I have learned LightWave. Blender, Messiah, Softimage and now learning Maya. Toss in Photoshop as well.

On an average it takes me about a month to get a program under my belt with quite a bit of time spent every day. After that it is a matter of learning the actual skills, for example, animation, modeling, etc. And that can be something that takes longer for some people than others.

One thing I have learned to do and works very efficiently for me, it to not worry about an actual project to start off. That usually adds a bit of stress to it for me. I'd rather just take the time to learn the interface and the tools first. Then take on tutorials, and finally personal projects. It is a great way to keep yourself happy. Because it sets up an easy simple route and you spend less time fishing around during tutorials looking for that tool or menu the guy pulled up so fast you missed it. When you are familiar fist with the program often you find you even know faster ways than what the guy is using. And you can focus on the result rather than fixated on his/her particular choices.

As for personal projects, the last thing I like to be doing is fumbling around in a program I am not familiar with. That just kills creativity and motivation. I like to know what I am doing technically first, so I don't have to think about it. To do that I first practice on things I don't care about so I am not attached and I rarely ever save anything. Just poke around and destroy objects in the process of figuring it all out. Once I do that, and I feel I am not spending time fumbling about, I go at something that means something. Or take on a more serious tutorial project I want to save.

The skills to 3D are another thing. Once you learn how to model it applies to any tools for the most part.

Good luck.

You're pretty good for someone who is self-thought. I'm a novice myself but I'm also a student of the trade if, I go to Collin College and I've taken both 3d Modeling 1 & 2, and Animation 1. My pc broke (faulty motherboard), so I wasn't able to hone my skills for about 3 worth of semesters. So now I'm dusting and cleaning the cobwebs. I can tell you that you're pretty good, there's tons of Youtube videos about Maya out there

Whoops, thanks AJ.

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