Good Intro to Animation/Graphics Material? 48
An anonymous reader asks: "My wife, who is not at all a computer geek, wants to get more into computer graphics, with a desire to get into 3D and animation. She knows Photoshop well, but doesn't have much in the way of a computer background. I keep our computers running, but am graphics- and art-challenged.
I'd like some recommendations on how to get her started: Books, URLs, software packages. For software, Linux or Windows doesn't matter to me, but I'd prefer free or relatively inexpensive. Please, help me turn my wife into a graphics geek!"
blender (Score:1, Informative)
uh (Score:2, Informative)
BTW: google.com is your friend.
Inexpensive hmmm… (Score:5, Informative)
If she is really "serious" about this I would suggest Lightwave 3d [http://www.newtek.com] and the book Inside Lightwave 7 by Dan Ablan. Overall Lightwave has an excellent rendering engine an easy to pick up interface, isn't over prices for this level of computer graphics software, and she can create anything her imagination can come up with.
But in the area of free, or very cheap, 3d modellers (particularly ones with nice UI's).
Aztec
Cost: Free (opensource)
Features: Mesh-based modelling tools w/ subd's, Full UV support, Skeletal animation, Ray-Traced render engine via Povray.
Interface: Very Max-Like, not hugely intuative, but good enough.
Usability: I picked it up pretty quickly, but I've had experience with max, those who haven't may find it a little confusing initially.
Rating: 8/10
Comments: Support for other render engines coming soon, continually developed, so expect new features to keep cropping up
Wings3d
Version: 0.97.5
Cost: Free (opensource)
Features: Good mesh-based modelling tools w/ subd's, simple render thru OpenGL. There are a lot of features I'd like to see yet (edge/poly creation, ability to do things without having to rightclick up a menu every 5 seconds), but as it's pre-1.0 I won't count this towards it.
Interface: Fairly intuative, not the best overall, but second only to anim8or.
Usability: Easy as hell, everythings pretty clearly labelled. I picked it up straight away.
Rating: 7/10
Comments: Single-pane view can get irritating occasionally, but overall a nice app. Purely for modelling, you won't get any pretty renders out of this, and the UV is limited. No animation capabilities. A lot more features expected before 1.0
Anim8or
Version: 0.8
Cost: Free
Features: Mesh-based modelling tools w/subd's, scan-line render engine, skeletal animation and full UV texturing capabilities.
Interface: Very nice, no tooltips, so can be a little tricky to get used to, but overall - good.
Usability: Odd. The interface doesn't lend itself to good workflow, but not very easy to figure out intially.
Rating: 9/10
Comments: I'd say the best I found overall, espcially for pre-1.0 . Let down slightly by its render engine, but its enough to get the job done.
Metasequoia
Version: 2.1
Cost: Freeware/Shareware
Features: Mesh-based modelling tools w/subd's, no render engine (?), no animation, limited texturing capabilites.
Interface: Can be confusing initially, due to it's extremely high ability for UI customisation. By default it's UI is a turn-off to say the least, but see dhromed's post a few down for information on customising, and a pic showing the possibilities.
Usability: Lots of buttons, quite confusing, but not that hard to pick up.
Rating: 6/10
Comments: Quite difficult to figure out, tools appear to be very unstable (splitting a polygon caused all sorts of havok). Very customisable, which is a plus, but still lacking somewhat in features and stability.
Blender
Version: 2.25
Cost: Freeware (opensource)
Features: Probably the most feature rich of the group. You'll find pretty much anything you'd expect from a commercial program, especially considering the amount of user-created plugins availble for cloth dynamics, fur etc etc. The exception to this is the apparent lack of edge, or polygon modelling. Vertex only, it would appear. You can perform any function you could perform on an edge or polygon, such as extrude, bevel, edge-bevel etc...but it's still one of its biggest downsides. Especially if you're from a box-modelling background, and can't do without your polygons, like me . Another one of its short comings is the render engine, even the best blender3d work, still has that "1995 computer graphics" looks to it. Shame.
Interface: Many peoples first thoughts are "WTF??". Quite rightly so. It's pretty horrendous at first, you can't figure out what in the hell does what, when all you want to do is make a damn box. Bad blender, BAD!
Usability: Despite the above, once you've spent a week or so learning it (it would be a lot quicker if there was actually any decent documentation available without having to buy the manual), things start clicking into place, and the interface is actually very efficient.
Rating: 8/10
Comments: Would be excellent if it wasn't for the steep learning curve. It's really not for anyone who hasn't got good experience in 3d, and a fair amount of time on their hands. However, it's extremely feature rich, and once you've learnt the interface, the speed of work-flow you can achieve is phenominal.
MilkShape3d
Version: 1.6.4
Cost: $20
Features: Your basic box-modeller, no subd's, no render engine. skeletal-based animation, and full UV support. Amazing import/export list.
Interface: Horrible. Confusing to even 3d veterans. Not at all intuative, its click click click every 3 seconds.
Usability: Limited severely. The UI needs a total overhaul, the features are there, but it's just too irritating for my tastes. I use it purely as a format conversion tool.
Rating:7/10
Comments: Good for what its designed for - games. But let down by its interface, makes everything such a chore.
AC3D
Version: 3.4
Cost: $39.95
Features: Mesh based modelling tools. Full UV texturing capabilities.
Interface: Quite bad, menu elements are in odd places, overall - not very intuiative.
Usability: Average. Things were easy-ish to find, but took some searching in odd places.
Rating: 7/10
Comments: Like milkshape, this is intended for low-poly model creation. Also like milkshape, let down by its interface, but has the tools to do the job.
Nurbana
Version: 1.03 (aplha)
Cost: Free
Features: A fully featured nurbs editor (supposadly). Custom-coded raytracing render engine. Support for materials, not sure about UV texturing. No animation.
Interface: Very simple looking, don't be decieved, there are a million keyboard shortcuts. Very confusing overall, despite its apparent simplicity.
Usability: Easy once you get to grips with it, everything is nicely organised for fast workflow, and everything is kept beautifully simple, while still providing nice results.
Rating: 8/10
Comments: It has its problems, I'd say for one that it's too simple. So simple it can be confusing. The interface didn't look like the screenshots for me, so I think it may be customisable, but no idea how. There are a few bugs, but it's only in Alpha, so that's be be expected.
Softy3d
Version: 1.0
Price: $34
Features: Where to begin? Certainly not a conventional modelling tool, but certainly one of my favourite, the results you can obtain are fantastic. let me explain.... this program works in a similar way to "meta-balls". You "sketch" out your object in spheres, and lines (with thickness references at each point you click), then you generate a mesh, which smooths over all these. Imagine the human body, all the muscles underneath, with a "skin" ontop. That's exactly what this program does. No render engine, no texturing, it's purely a modeller, to export into other programs.
Interface: Fantastic; nicely laid out, everything easily accessable. The only thing I didn't like was the white background for the 3d windows.
Usability: I hovered over a few tooltips, and I'd learned the program. It's that simple. Amazing little ap.
Rating: 9/10
Comments: It's certainly not usable for low poly work, its texturing capabilities are none, it doesn't have a render engine...BUT this is one of the most unique, original little programs I've come accross. Try it. TRY IT.
I used to do this for a living (Score:3, Informative)
1. Static image creation / editing.
2. 3D modeling / animation.
3. Video compositing / editing.
Don't, don't, don't neglect any of these categories. Specifics within the categories are not as important as the categories themselves.
However...
1. Static image creation / editing:
Photoshop is the 800 pound gorilla. If you don't photoshop (yes, I used it as a verb) you're starting with a disadvantage. If you want, though, you can use CorelDraw / PhotoPaint or even PaintShop Pro if you're feeling stingy.
2. 3D modeling / animation
Two entirely different skills that often use the same software. 3D Studio Max or Lightwave are the biggies here. SoftImage is good but expensive. Don't even think about character animation at this stage. By the time she's ready for it, she'll know what to do. The cheap products in this category aren't worth considering.
3. Video compositing, editing
Adobe AfterEffects for compositing / 2D animation is the heavy hitter in this category. Video editing software has really opened up lately, so it doesn't matter so much what you use now. Different people have different preferences. Premiere, VegasVideo, etc. will work just fine.
Things not to use: Gimp, Linux, Macs
Getting started (Score:3, Informative)
You can use software like Hash Animation Master [sharbor.com] (hash site seems to be down - linking to a vendor) or Truespace [caligari.com] (older versions) as a way of getting some easier-to-use tools for only a couple hundred dollars. This will allow her to get her feet wet and see how much work is really involved in putting together even the simplest animation - which is a good way to tell if this is something for her or not.
If she likes it, both of these programs can turn out decent output, though she probably won't be making feature length films. The concepts learned will translate to more sophisticated packages in the future. Even though the interfaces change, the skill in learning how to model, light, and convincingly move your characters is not application specific.
As someone else has mentioned, if she wants to learn on pro software, Maya is available for free download, but it is a crippled version. Everything will be watermarked. OK for learning, but often the best way to learn is in producing things for others, which you wouldn't do with watermarked output.
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Browse your local bookstore. Many 3d books come with CDs with trial versions of software.
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Much of what she'll need to know doesn't involve the computer. Like I said earlier, knowing how to do things like light a scene is essential.
I don't have the ISBNs handy (so no links, sorry) but look into books like:
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Also, look at local colleges. They may offer a course in animation. This is good if she'd rather learn in an instructor-led environment.
Re:I used to do this for a living (Score:3, Informative)
OK, first, there is no point in discussing image editing programs since we've already established that she had good photoshop skills, and presumably a copy of photoshop.
As to modeling animation, there is no reason not to consider cheap programs and also no reason not to launch right into character animation. In particular, if character animation is really what she wants to do, Hash's Animation Master is an excellent choice. Unfortunately, it lacks certain things needed for a lot of professional work (like a renderer that is slow and not particularly good). Also Blender used to be fairly good until the corporate collapse. I expect that now that it is opensourced, it will get back to and exceed where it was. In the mean time, the old versions are still available. This program isn't a good for character animation though as some higher end offerings or A:M.
While I have little expertise here, there are a wide range of 3D program that appeal to still designers. Carrera Studio is one. Pixels3D seems to be another.
Also, a pair of fun programs are Poser and Bryce.
BTW, Lightwave and Max aren't really the biggies in the modelling and animation. The biggies are Maya and Softimage, followed not so closely by Houdini, Lightwave, and Max. Of those programs, I think Lightwave is the easiest to use, but Maya is the cheapest. Max is powerfull, but not as much as Maya, so I can't really see choosing it at this point, though lots of people do.
I would explore using cheaper programs before really committing to something like Maya or Lightwave. They are expensive and take dedication. And the important thing is artistic ability, not what software used, so use something fun and affordable for now.
Finally, compositing wasn't really brought up, but since you mentioned it, After Effects is not the heavy hitter. The heavy hitter would be Inferno or something from Quantel. After Effects is merely the cheapest program that can usually get the job done. Buy it if you need it and it's what you can afford. Otherwise skip it if you don't need it, or look else where if you can afford more. Like Combustion (from the the people who make Inferno).
Finally, using Macs are fine. Using linux is likely to be headache fraught, especially for video editing. And for free software, in this case linux is expensive because you generally have few choices for good cheap software, with notable exceptions (wings3d and gimp, mainly). I suppose you can use Windows, but I'd strongly encourage a nice Mac instead.
Give her Hash (Score:3, Informative)
WinImages [blackbeltsystems.com] is a "must have' program, especially since it's on sale. It includes a 3D render [blackbeltsystems.com] program.
Besides Blender, there's another open source program at www.openfx.com which has its roots in the old Sculpt 3D program.
Spend a few days looking at the sites in the dmoz.org 3D sections. When looking at which program to buy or put your time into, read through the discussion groups devoted to the program. For example, Caligari was mentioned, but if you read the sites forums, it doesen't seem to be a program worth dealing with.
Maya, Softimage, Lightwave are often mentioned as the top programs, but you may not need that sort of power, and expense, if she's not planning to work for a company using those programs.
New Riders publishes some execllent books, especially Digital Cinematography & Directing, Digital Lighting & Rendering, and Digital Texturing and Painting.
DVD's are also a great source of "behind the scenes" info. Movie FX Mag [moviefxmag.com] has some good sections on CGI.