Need help with 3D project ideas

marcukmarcuk
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
OK, I don't like admitting this, but I think there might be others who experienced the same thing.



For the past 2 years, Ive been learning 3D modelling, animation etc. My background is in mechanical engineering, and from 3D Autocad I got interested in the 'artistic' side of 3d. As far as the technical side of operating Cinema4d goes, I'll boast that Im very competent, I can model, animate and render just about anything including Character Animation etc. But I have a HD full of experimental projects that really I have just done to learn how to do it, there is nothing of good quality 'artistically' that I can show off, because as soon as I have found a solution to a problem I move on to another and rarely complete a scene/animation past the 'solution' phase.



What I'd like to do now is put together a short animation of say 5 minutes, something to do over the next 6 months etc. But what I admit Im useless at is thinking of ideas for this project. To be frank, I am not a story writer or artistic genius.



I actually have a great idea/script, but that animation would be more like 1hr long, so I think the timescale to completion would be unrealistic at the moment, as I only get limited time each week to do this, as Im employed full time in unrelated work.



So what do I do. I've been considering



a) the 5 minute original animation

b) making an animation of a well known short story

c) a portfolio of 'stills' to show off my general range of skills in 3D.

d) a portfolio of 'stills' that outline my idea for the 1hr animtion. A storyboard so called.

e) giving up completely!



The end goal, apart from personal satisfaction, is to achieve a jump into a 3D career, but in the back of my mind, my lack of 'imagination' my come to haunt me if I do achieve this. Ouch that hurts!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    Here I am



    Well. If you are interested getting yourself in there field. You will have to have no more than 2 "focus"



    I learn a big lesson out from this. Two years ago when I was thinking to get into that field I made a BIG mistake - showed everything I know.



    As the result I was totally "failed" and after that I decided to forget about getting in this field.



    Now two years later....I am goint to try again...but with are more "focused" stuff to show



    Honestly, 3D isn't my biggest interested. But there are some areas in this field require 2D skills...these are the places I will be trying



    [ 04-06-2002: Message edited by: Leonis ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 6
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Good 3d does require 2d skills. Namely for image mapping.



    Aside from that, I don't know what you should do. I can't tell you what to do: you need to figure it out yourself. Since I have a closet aerospace interest, I like to do a lot of sci-fi, aircraft, etc. But all in all I stick to stills, since my main use for 3d skill involves magazines.



    The only other thing that I should mention is that a 5 minute animatio will take a while to render. I made a 90 sec animation a few years ago that took 2 weeks to render on the g3 400 I was using. A render box is a good thing to have.



    [ 04-06-2002: Message edited by: Splinemodel ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 6
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    Also....a 5 minute animation can take up to a year to finish



    Never underestimate the time you would need to spend. Not just on rendering, but also the time to model, fine tuning, animating, post, etc etc etc.....
  • Reply 4 of 6
    marcukmarcuk Posts: 4,442member
    cheers, but the question at hand is that I am technically gifted, but an artistic moron. How does one go about creating ideas for a short movie?



    Im not bothered about 'the industry' at the moment, though that might be an end goal when I have something to show, but realistically I don't think I'd get a job where you need to be highly artistic. So Im wondering what areas I could use my skills. Ive been thinking about architectural visualization etc, where there are more rigid boundarys and technical discliplines, but I still want to make my 'artistic movie' really for my own pleasure. Perhaps I do myself a bit of injustice, but once I have an idea, I can develop it, and things just keep flowing easily, Its just the original Idea in the first place that kills me.



    So whats the best way to get the original idea?
  • Reply 5 of 6
    marcukmarcuk Posts: 4,442member
    [quote]Originally posted by Splinemodel:

    <strong>



    The only other thing that I should mention is that a 5 minute animatio will take a while to render. I made a 90 sec animation a few years ago that took 2 weeks to render on the g3 400 I was using. A render box is a good thing to have.



    [ 04-06-2002: Message edited by: Splinemodel ]</strong><hr></blockquote>





    I'm buying a new computer in July/August, really Im waiting for MWNY to see what Apple have to offer, as Im in no great need for it until I have a definate idea of where im going. If Apple gets within 25% performance/price of whatever Dual XP Athlon I can buy at the time, I'll bite, if not it will be a Dual Athlon xp2200



    edit&gt; somehow I kind of know what the choice will be!



    [ 04-07-2002: Message edited by: MarcUK ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 6
    apocalypseapocalypse Posts: 25member
    to me it sounds like you dont want to be too creative (no offense intended) so\tan idea would be to just try to animate reality something as mundane as waking up or driving a car offer the opportunity to be highly technical in executing/animating/rendering such scenes. ultimately if you can animate something from reality very well chances are you can do it again. if you can light/texture/render something really well chances are you can do it again. in saying all of that it really depends on what you are best at and would like to do. I have seen kids with generic models in their portfolios (many not their own) that are really well textured and rendered. sometimes they get hired just on that basis. (because thats what the studio wants/needs) alternatively you can have something really well animated but not too well lit, etc. but you have to remember very often in a studio environment it is rare that one person should get to do the whole job (modeling/animating/texturing). infact at places like digital domain they have whole 3d production lines (like at a car factory) and very often one person will not even get to build the whole model. so ultimately its up to you. i know the industry in the UK is different you can go to places like cinesite or the mill and their 3d departments are pretty small (a couple of people minimum -- depends weather they have a big project going) so be ware its not easy to get in to. finally versatility, i believe you mentioned that you were using c4d, its not a bad app but its not very widely used try to learn a couple of others so at least you can add those to your resume (maya of course lightwave -both availabe for the mac one way or the other- =] ) if you are good at c4d chances are you can get in to maya i would recommend reading Maya Visual Quick Start Guide v4 for windoz and v3.5 for mac if you are interested



    hope this helps
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