Why write the articles and record the video?
I have wanted to write this article for several years and for several
reasons. Firstly, when I started modeling finding answers to my
questions was extremely difficult. I could always get an answer
but it took time to find a tutorial that helped me or an artist
that could explain the issue at the level I needed to hear it.
Also, I have spent a small fortune on buying books that don't actually
explain what I need to know at the time I need to know it. My thoughts
on this are that as a new user you don't actually know what you
don’t know.
Some examples of these issues would be:
Generally speaking artists/modelers are happy to help out someone
new. Especially if that new user is using the same program. However,
when you have been modeling for years it is very difficult to go
back and see through the eyes of a new user which can often lead
to frustration for both parties. As a new user you may not even
know some of the terminology: What is an N-gon? Where will I encounter
a Pole?
Software Blinkers: Some modelers only ever use one program either
because the studio/house they work for requires it or they have
been using it for so long that it would seem pointless to change.
Or they were introduced to a free modeler like Blender or Wings
and have an unshakable loyalty to it.
Someone very early on in your modeling career will say to you
'There is no substitute for practice` or `Create
as many models as you can and you will pick up the skills as you
go along'. Whilst I agree with both these statements
there is nothing more frustrating than to hear it when you are just
getting started.
You DO need practice but it helps to understand
how to achieve something by having it explained to you or even better
seeing it done. Likewise, you do need to create lots of models to
try out new techniques but it helps to have someone tell you why
your meshes don’t smooth well.
Incidental Information
Littered throughout the webpages
are incidental information
paragraphs (In Italics and
Orange). Please feel free to ignore these as they are,
by their very nature, incidental. They are snippets of information
I have added for interest but are not essential to the modeling
process.
I have used a lot of reference from the Wikipedia
online encyclopedia as I find it invaluable as a source of information.
1.0
Introduction (Section 1)
