Koray wrote:
This place is going down lately.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Peano wrote:

As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

we just need a few more killer threads like why high pass sucks or lets talk carving or even decomposition X's work for new life....

Julian Marsalis wrote:
we just need a few more killer threads like why high pass sucks or lets talk carving or even decomposition X's work for new life....

The point of my little quotation: Rather than grouse about the dearth of threads on topics that you prefer, why not start some of those threads yourself?

Koray wrote:
This place is going down lately.

Is there anywhere else to go and hang out online?

I consider a site that lets you have a thread like this one discussing where would be a better place to go to be far superior to most likely anywhere else you'd end up.

Eastfist wrote:
Someone's got to start incorporating 3D compositing into their retouching.  Blender's up to no good.  Project Mango might be pretty bad-ass.  This could be a new trend to reinvigorate things.

I've wanted to do this for a while. I actually think I will use my spare time this summer "vacation" to start learning either Maya or 3Ds Max, they are free to use as a student for non-commercial use Also read good things about Modo, but I'm not sure if I want to invest any money in it yet. Ideally I want to be able to model, texture, light and render my own different scenes or objects to use in composites with my own photography. The learning curve seems very overwhelming though... It wont be the first project I have shelved because I didn't commit enough.

Jostein Roalkvam wrote:
The learning curve seems very overwhelming though... It wont be the first project I have shelved because I didn't commit enough.

I hear ya, the learning process is tough.  But I think it'll be worth it.  Blender's free, the ones you listed aren't. I'm thinking more of going the cheap route.  Say I can't afford to shoot in a luxurious, exotic location, I just download free hi-rez 3D models from Google Sketchup and composite them with the model.  Something like that.  Hopefully it's seamless and I save money in the process.  Of course, this is all theory.

Jostein Roalkvam wrote:

I've wanted to do this for a while. I actually think I will use my spare time this summer "vacation" to start learning either Maya or 3Ds Max, they are free to use as a student for non-commercial use Also read good things about Modo, but I'm not sure if I want to invest any money in it yet. Ideally I want to be able to model, texture, light and render my own different scenes or objects to use in composites with my own photography. The learning curve seems very overwhelming though... It wont be the first project I have shelved because I didn't commit enough.

You aint kidding! A year or so ago I started looking into Vue 9 and Cinema 4d because I was interested in matte paintings (still interested actually). But damn that learning curve is steep! Maybe one of these days though...

Koray wrote:
This place is going down lately.

Is there anywhere else to go and hang out online?

I stopped commenting on this side of the forum when I notice that things around the DAR were either a question about the same subject as first topic on the page, and/or having "Re-shoot" or "get it out of the camera" as the answer for a lot of questions.

My grammar is sooo bad that I'm not sure if what I just wrote is understandable! =P

Ruben Vasquez wrote:
Maybe one of these days though...

Exactly This is how it was with Photoshop for me as well, you just need to get to that point where the fundamentals are down, so you don't need to rely on a bunch of youtube tutorials etc. to remind you of what this and that does. I feel that 3D CG is a very different beast though, with so many more aspects to learn and master; llamaling, texturing, lighting, rendering etc etc.

The Art of Churchwell wrote:
looks around. Seems fine to me. No different since 2009.

Exactly nothing much has changed same old stuff ...high end pass blah, blah.
Same handful of contributors.
There are probably many more retouches on MM but don't wish to share their knowledge or just find DA&R Forums NOT that interesting.
plug ins rule a lot simpler and easier than going through the motions of physical retouching. The quick fix.

c_h_r_i_s wrote:

Exactly nothing much has changed same old stuff ...high end pass blah, blah.
Same handful of contributors.
There are probably many more retouches on MM but don't wish to share their knowledge or just find DA&R Forums NOT that interesting.
plug ins rule a lot simpler and easier than going through the motions of physical retouching. The quick fix.

Plus those 'high end" magazines ain't so high end anymore but don't mention that around here. but it is always the same thing, "how do I get this look?" and usually the best answer never given is "instagram"

start learning either Maya or 3Ds Max (...) The learning curve seems very overwhelming though...

Maya and 3ds Max are really amazing but if you want to make some organic stuff which you can add to the photos you should learn ZBrush/Mudbox (Sculptris if you want free sculpting software). 3ds Max is good for architecture and hard-surface modeling. Also Vue is a good addition for creating digital landscape.

And as you noticed, there is a huge amount of things to learn - modeling, texturing, making shaders, lighting, rendering, sculpting, rigging etc. All of these make 3d a bit hard to learn but if someone has motivation and patience I think that there will be no problem with learning process.

araielpl wrote:

Maya and 3ds Max are really amazing but if you want to make some organic stuff which you can add to the photos you should learn ZBrush/Mudbox (Sculptris if you want free sculpting software). 3ds Max is good for architecture and hard-surface modeling. Also Vue is a good addition for creating digital landscape.

And as you noticed, there is a huge amount of things to learn - modeling, texturing, making shaders, lighting, rendering, sculpting, rigging etc. All of these make 3d a bit hard to learn but if someone has motivation and patience I think that there will be no problem with learning process.

Bryce is free and I think so is Terragen

araielpl wrote:

Maya and 3ds Max are really amazing but if you want to make some organic stuff which you can add to the photos you should learn ZBrush/Mudbox (Sculptris if you want free sculpting software). 3ds Max is good for architecture and hard-surface modeling. Also Vue is a good addition for creating digital landscape.

And as you noticed, there is a huge amount of things to learn - modeling, texturing, making shaders, lighting, rendering, sculpting, rigging etc. All of these make 3d a bit hard to learn but if someone has motivation and patience I think that there will be no problem with learning process.

Your avatar, THAT is exactly what I want to be able to achieve. I've also seen some amazing architectural (both exterior and interior) renders while browsing different CG forums, and I feel that is the way to go for my intended use. Any suggestions to where i should start would be very welcome

Jostein Roalkvam wrote:
Any suggestions to where i should start would be very welcome

Free tutorials:
http://www.onnovanbraam.com/index.php?tutorials/ - Polygonal Modeling tutorials
http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial.php
http://cg.tutsplus.com/sessions/best-of … ax-part-1/
http://cg.tutsplus.com/sessions/best-of … ax-part-2/
http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/
http://www.3d-sphere.com/3d-tutorials

Non-free:
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/
http://eat3d.com/
http://www.zbrushworkshops.com/

Forums:
http://www.cgsociety.org/
http://cghub.com/
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/forum.php
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/forum.php

araielpl wrote:

Free tutorials:
http://www.onnovanbraam.com/index.php?tutorials/ - Polygonal Modeling tutorials
http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial.php
http://cg.tutsplus.com/sessions/best-of … ax-part-1/
http://cg.tutsplus.com/sessions/best-of … ax-part-2/
http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/
http://www.3d-sphere.com/3d-tutorials

Non-free:
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/
http://eat3d.com/
http://www.zbrushworkshops.com/

Forums:
http://www.cgsociety.org/
http://cghub.com/
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/forum.php
http://www.ronenbekerman.com/forums/forum.php

Thank you very much! A lot to dig into

The Art of Churchwell wrote:

"how do I get this look?"

Cross processing seems to be the answer to all 'how do I get this look'.

Jostein Roalkvam wrote:
Your avatar, THAT is exactly what I want to be able to achieve. I've also seen some amazing architectural (both exterior and interior) renders while browsing different CG forums, and I feel that is the way to go for my intended use. Any suggestions to where i should start would be very welcome

I do all my work using The Maxwell Renderer

I recommend you start with Blender, and maybe add Sculptris into the mix, since it's free. Blender alone is capable of a lot, since Blender now has a 'Maxwell-like' renderer called The Cycles Renderer.

http://cgcookie.com/blender/2011/09/16/ … er-engine/

Jostein Roalkvam wrote:

I feel that 3D CG is a very different beast though, with so many more aspects to learn and master; modelling, texturing, lighting, rendering etc etc.

I don't think people realize how much there is to learn in CGI; friend who's working 7 years in CGI, text me ' tutorial 65 done, 4 hrs and now moving onto a 2 hour tutorial'.