3a) Max and Maya are great industry standard apps. I never used either, due to being on the Mac platform. I use Cinema 4D which is a very intuitive and easy to learn app. Before investing in a particular 3d app, think about your long-term goals in the 3d arena before buying based on immediate needs. Again most studios use Max or Maya. Will you be doing animation or strictly illustrating, etc. are a couple questions you need to answer.
3b) My oil paintings were done before I owned a computer. I used loads of photo reference that I shot myself and collected from print sources. I compose and sketch the images based on what I want the image to look like (from imagination) and use the reference to gain needed accuracy as usual.
Thanks for the answers, you have been such a great help
I see your avatar that says you’re doing Freelance, that would be my ideal goal too. I have decided that the furtherst i would go into 3D would be 3d Modelling as i have no interest in Animation. most importantly using the 3d software as a composition tool & reference for 2d drawing from imagination. I was thinking about the company compatibility with MAX & Maya too as i may need to find a job first to hone my skills & pay my bills till i can do fulltime freelance like you !! Just curious, does full-time freelancing pay well? i mean what if in that month i don’t get so many jobs & my bills arrive the same. lol
Your values handling are really great, i draw alot from imagination and thanks to LP system i can draw them quite convincingly, the shadows can be plotted too. but the Values rendering part of complex forms is more ‘tricky’. Sometimes i’m not sure how light, cause different values on different parts of the same object. like different values for both parts in shade due to the angle it makes with the light. lol, any tips for me?
It takes a while to accrue a client pool that you can rely on year after year to make a decent average annual income as a freelancer. I have a reliable client pool and do make a nice income as a freelancer. It took years to get to this point. As a freelancer you usually have too much work on your plate or not enough. Happy mediums are rare. And yes, the bills are consistent and never late. I don’t want to be overly encouraging; it requires a lot of work and hardheaded perseverance. I’m psychologically geared to be a freelancer and loathe the in-house office environment. I find most people have the opposite attitude. Plus at this point a studio wouldn’t pay me what I’m making annually for the same work load. I also work much more efficiently in my own office on my own system, on my own time schedule (which starts very early in the morning and includes a lot of Saturdays).
I’m geared towards the freelancer mentality as well, never did like office jobs but now, i’ll have to stick to it till i get really recognised for my works i guess. a "nice’ income as a freelancer sounds really attractive… :eek: If only bills are late sometimes… haha
btw, which method/tool do you use in PS to achieve the smooth gradations of colors & values?
also, do you calculate the viewing distance of the final output format and do the mathematical circle of view calcuation when you plan the ‘numerical Scale’ before you start your drawings (ie using the scale for measuring point method) or how do you determine what scale to use for your drawing.
The most important tool I have for working in PS is my Wacom tablet. I couldn’t do much without a digital pen. Most of what I do in shading is pretty much intuitive. There are a lot of good PS technique tutes out there.
I don’t use manual perspective methods, well sometimes in quick rough sketches. Most of my illustrations are built, to some degree (if not mostly), in Cinema 4D and may have elements created in ZBrush, Modo, Vue, etc. I usually work out perspective issues and angles of view via camera focal lengths in a C4D. It makes life much easier. Time IS money.
lol, i can’t agree more with. Time IS money, anything that gets the job done the fastest is a good method. thanks for sharing your experience. :applause:
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