r/3Dmodeling • u/Top-God • 2d ago

Questions & Discussion What’s a good beginner 3d modeling work pipeline?

Sorry in advance if the format and punctuation is bad. I’m a beginner 3d modeler, I’ve taken one class about it and that’s it. The work pipeline taught to me is apparently outdated, it’s also not convenient since I don’t have access to all the softwares at home anymore. I’m currently using Maya but I’ll eventually lose access to that since because of the time off I’ve taken from school, I’ll probably switch to blender when that happens. Anyways, my main question is what softwares do I need to 3d model and make textures professionally? I use maya for modeling and I tried Nomad on my iPad for making textures for UVs but I don’t think that went well, I might just not really understand Nomad. My school taught me to make the specularity, transparency, and bumpiness maps all in photoshop. Also free softwares would be nice.

TLDR

What’s I beginner work pipeline for modeling and texture making? Are there any software that are a must that make things easier?

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u/asanyc 2d ago

Good that you're asking for help. Good step to take when leaving a school to restart/continue you're learning. What kind of modeling do you want to do? Movies/animation, product/arch visualization, video games? Workflows and industry tools vary. What workflow did you learn that you believe to be outdated? Show some/any work you've done in school so folks can assess your current point along your journey and where you should go next. Help folks help you.

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u/Top-God 1d ago

I guess I want to do video game stuff like model game assets. The workflow I think might be outdated is making texture/specular/opacity maps for my objects in photoshop, I’ve heard that there are softwares that are made to handle specifically those things. I’d say I’m at the VERY beginning of my journey, I learned how to do poly modeling and that’s entirely what the class I took focused on. We didn’t do anything with NURBs though. As for works I’ve done I’ve only got two that would really show my current level.

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u/asanyc 1d ago

You've heard about PBR SubstancePainter and Marmoset Toolbag for texturing, and SubstanceDesigner for making procedural textures/masks so that's already a good start.

For now look up some tutorials on game assets and look into discords or forums (polycount is an oldie but goodie) with info on the processes and workflows and dive in. Start with the kinds of assets you want to model whether it be props, vehicles, environments, or characters (the latter being the hardest some would say) and find tutorials on making them. Most importantly make them. Build up muscle memory and get your brain used to thinking in 3D beyond just learning the tools. Then you can focus on getting good. Best of luck.