# How do I begin with 3D Modelling? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276 "2006-04-11T21:57:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bashta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Bashta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashta)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276/1 "2006-04-11T21:57:40Z")
Hey, I’ve recently found myself with a great deal of spare time after work. This is because of a great amount of things, not the least of which being kicking the World of Warcraft habit. I’ve retaken quite a few old hobbies I had - black and white photography and development, offline computer games, freelance journalism, helping my father build a 17’ coast-hopper - but I’m on the prowl for new and cool things to do. I’ve always had a certain interest in digital animation. Though I’m no drawing wizard, I can create a straight line and have had a penchant for it that’s probably more work than talent. But the thing is, pen-and-paper drawing doesn’t interest me any more. What I’d like to try is 3D modelling; to that end, I’ve bought, on recommendations from friends, a copy of Bryce 5.5 and have downloaded a simple 3D wireframe editor called Wings 3D. I understand that it’s old, but I’ve been told it’s a good starting point. So, modellers out there, where do I begin? I would appreciate advice being given and resources found online, as importing books to Norway takes a while and is more expensive than it should be 🙂 But, that said, any advice is appreciated! Thanks for your time, Andreas ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276/2 "2006-04-11T22:12:30Z")
Hey Bashta, I do a bit of modelling with 3DS Max. There are a lot of good sites out there with 3D tutorials. [This guy](http://www.onnovanbraam.com/) has some nice stuff, have a look in his links section. [3D Cafe](http://www.3dcafe.com/) also has a nice selection of both tutorials & free models. Grab a few for your software type & have a look at how they’ve been put together. Also, [Gmax](http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax) is a nice free 3D modelling program to have a play around with. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276/3 "2006-04-11T23:00:15Z")
And you can Download Daz Studio for Free: [http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio/1\_0index.php](http://www.daz3d.com/program/studio/1_0index.php) It is pretty nice! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276/4 "2006-04-11T23:16:17Z")
I recommend Maya: [http://www.youtube.com/results?search=maya+tutorials&search\_type=search\_videos&search=Search](http://www.youtube.com/results?search=maya+tutorials&search_type=search_videos&search=Search) [http://www.highend3d.com/maya/](http://www.highend3d.com/maya/) Basically 3d studio Max is preferred by the 3d game developers, Maya for animation, but since the 3d max owners acquired Maya recently, future versions are bound to be more compatible or will eventually merge, both packages have a huge base so even though Alias was bought by Autodesk, new releases and support for both packages is expected for a while. ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276/5 "2006-04-12T00:32:10Z")
My advice is to play with Bryce for awhile until you hit its limitations. Then learn 3ds or maya or cinema 4d (the easiest). Renderosity has some good tutorials and free stuff such as materials for bryce: [http://www.renderosity.com](http://www.renderosity.com) ---
**Author:** ![gerb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3bc359/32.png) [@gerb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gerb)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-begin-with-3d-modelling/352276/6 "2006-04-12T06:40:09Z")
I suggest [Pov Ray](http://www.povray.org/) . It has a surprising amount of features and renders some great images and animations. And its freeware. Although its not really necessay I like to use the [Moray](http://www.stmuc.com/moray/) front end modeler for povray. Its not quite as user friendly as some of the commercial programs but its not as resource intensive either. It will yield [pro results](http://hof.povray.org/)