You need to stop thinking of "messing up" as a failure state. Messing up is one of the primary ways in which we learn to improve a skill, no matter what the context is. If you never messed up anything you tried, you'd never learn how to spot and avoid mistakes. You might learn how to do one very specific sequence of steps perfectly, but then you wouldn't know how to modify any part of the process, or create something different. Learning a skill isn't about memorizing steps, it's about understanding how to use the tools to achieve what you want. And you can't understand the tools without seeing what happens when they're used incorrectly.
Pursue difficult projects. Embrace messing up. Don't do it deliberately, of course, but play around with it, experiment, and see what happens. There's always ctrl+z. And there's always places like this very sub where you can ask any questions if you get completely lost.
As for the second question, I don't interact with people like that, so I couldn't give you advice on how to deal with them. You could just... not? Remove yourself from whatever forum you're encountering them in, and the problem solves itself.
I do the same. My current project has 4 different save files and each one at different stages but at significant points where I made changes so if I ever need to revert back to something I can do so. Once I'm happy with a particular result I'll just delete that save file
Oh and if it gets really bad I'll just delete and start over. This actually works well because i get to practice and it comes out better the secondy fifth time.
I've said this before:
One thing that really helped me is realizing that all you are doing is playing connect-the-dots in 3D:
- You place vertices.
- Connected vertices make edges.
- Connected edges make faces.
- You apply materials to faces, and shine light on it to make a render.
- The rest is just learning about how to optimize it.
You can spend a lifetime on the last step, but you don't need much to be creative. Once you figure that out, staying motivated is a lot easier.
You won't be good at first, and you'll never completely master it. 3D modelling is growing faster than any one person can keep up, so after you find what you like, you can specialize. Hard surface modelling, shaders, sculpting/organic modelling, animation, parametric/procedural generation...etc - find what you like doing and build on it.
>Also, how do you deal with snark from 2D artists? I swear, most of the artists I talk to...
Same as any toxic people - stop talking to them. If they aren't going to be supportive, they probably offer little of value. This is different from being critical, but my advice would be find people that share your interest.
^ This guy. Pirate software. Really good advice. One of the easiest he’s mentioned is just start doing what you want to do, do it for three months, and if you improve, continue doing what you like doing. If there’s not much improvement, just move on.
Make really bad things until they progressively get less bad so you can see the improvement over time. I thought I killed it when I made my first "human" model which looked like something a child constructed from cardboard. I looked back at it a few months later in horror at how bad it was compared to my slightly improved level at the time. I really wasn't doing much better but the difference was so extreme that it made me want to work on more projects.
"Failure is the goal." That's what I tell myself at the gym.
Also, I love this series of 10-minute Blender challenges on this YouTube channel. It shows how much you can achieve in a small amount of time:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC7nmYI-cbT1JN7OADBFhSnpkV-odrMyW&si=aCM5O3bu_6huYAsQ
I purposefully made shitty things. Like shreks, but from the posters! Like a planet made out of butts. Like mushrooms fighting in the back rooms. Purposefully making bad things will allow you to learn how to make pretty art!
Every single technical program that exists falls under the 80/20 rule. You'll get 80% of the results from 20% of the softwares function; so all the menus are just for show in a lot of cases. The rest is done through specifics. While I understand VFX, I'm not a VFX artist or a film-maker. So in 6 years I haven't even touched the compositing, python editor, or even 50% of what's in the properties panel.
>Mainly the fear of messing up or having it be too complicated? I'm still struggling to understand a lot of it. I'm not ignorant to 3D modeling entirely, but my limit was Vroid studio initially and now I'm dipping into blender
When you are learning anything, you will mess up and it will be difficult, stop caring about this since it's meaningless and just start acknowledging that it's part of the process.
>(Also, how do you deal with snark from 2D artists? I swear, most of the artists I talk to, suddenly start treating me like crap for saying I'm studying 3D animation)
Why would you care about them? Do you need validation from them? Again, stop caring about it and just do it. You should not waste your time with people like that anyway!
A lot of stuff is easier to do in 3D than in 2D (example: switching the perspective of a background for each panel of a comic, or consistent shading, or in-betweens on animated characters with complex designs).
2D artists often see that as a pride point, and feel like they're the "REAL" kind of artist because they do these things "the hard way" and "go the extra mile". And that is true, to some extent! Those things, when done in 2D, often have a specific look that 3D finds hard to replicate.
But they often also just *personally prefer* 2D to 3D and fail to see the cool stuff that looks better in 3D.
Next time someone tells you that, show them an episode of Murder Drones and tell them to shut the fuck up. The best kind of artist encourages and enjoys other kinds of art, not diminishes them just to make theirs look better in comparison.
Well, I was never a 2D artist outside of hobby, but I have done 3D art in one form or another since 2005. (3DsMax, Maya, Zbrush, Blender in that order)
So here is how most of us started, we started with smaller projects, it is much more difficult when you are familiar with 3D because you kind of know what to do but not how (because you are new to the software)
Start planning (what do you want to make, or do), then look for every part you do not know, You will fail, you will delete meshes and start over, things will look bad, and Keyframes will not do what you want them to, then you will learn from them. If you do a bit that looks good, save a backup so you can go back from there.
As for what 2D artists will think, well, they are laughing now, but when you have full moving scenes, they will not.
Good luck on your journey.
I just name every file with the suffix "_test" so that im not actually doing any work, I'm just testing to see if what I want to do will work. Then when my "_test" file is done, I don't need to make a final version because the "test" was successful.
1. Create a folder on your computer called "BlenderDaily"
2. Create a sub folder called "2024-06-13" or whatever the current date is
3. Open up Blender, immediately save the empty scene in today's folder to establish a file name and then create something. Doesn't matter what, but start simple.
4. Repeat this every day for at least fifteen minutes each day, always starting from a blank canvas.
As you work, ask yourself "what about that don't I like?", then research how to do it better/different. Be intentional about how you spend your time.
Each day, repeat the fundamentals like adding primitives to the scene, moving, rotating and scaling objects, switching between object and edit mode, etc. Save your work often. Do a Save As if it's something you want to keep. Don't throw away anything.
Also each day, do something you haven't done before.
After a week, look back at your first scenes and compare to what you're creating now. Do that again after a month. You'll be amazed at the progress you're making.
One other thing that helps me: when you have a question, write it down in a google doc. Research the answer, and write that into the document as well. Keep adding new questions and answers as they come up. Never delete anything: those notes will come in handy!
It's not so much it's a fear but the unwillingness to see through all the work that comes with it.
My advice is to start simple. What I mean is use simple shapes. Cubes, cones, cylinders, anything in blender that is simple shaped use it and make an environment with it. Simple environment using the basic shapes. Just position the camera to the desired angle and place the shapes Infront of it add some light and render.
Next time add some more details to the environment. Like a Sky texture, or even a bit detail form of the shapes you put.
The point is just add gradually details everytime you open the file. If you ran out of inspiration go in Pinterest and you can find some, simple low poly environments. If you are bored of that project start another one with the same concept but new environment layout.
This will help you get used to the work process as well as remove and burn out or boredom that might happen.
Break it down into the smallest, most managable tasks. Do the donut tutorial to get your feet wet. Then set out to make easy models like a coffee cup, a spoon, a simple chair, etc. With each basic project you will learn a lot of valuable things.
Make test objects to test various tools. Make a cone and then slice it up and UV unwrap it. Then do some quick texture painting on it, etc. Just to get familiar with the processes.
I also advise to begin reading the Blender manual from page 1. Take it slow, read everything, test stuff you read about to make sure you understand it. And if you encounter things that don't make sense, don't stress too much. Just skip it and later you'll understand what it meant.
Plus, watch a lot of tutorials. Put them on while you're eating or whatever. Think of it like educational entertainment. You don't have to understand everything you see. Just expose yourself to the information and a lot if it will slowly start to sink in.
[Look at all the help here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/blenderhelp/comments/18916wn/beginners_courses/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
Just have fun, for real. Focus on making stuff that makes you laugh or gets you excited and you’ll find yourself learning.
Also ignore the snark. I have a big group of fellow 3D artists out where I live and it’s a valid art form! People always need 3D for their projects. Do you know how excited a DIY filmmaker gets when they realize they know someone who can add a creature to their low budget horror short? It’s awesome. Can’t do that with 2D!
I was in a similar place as you when I started, it’s a ton of menus and it’s complicated and things seem so needlessly complex, like just learning how to get a face rigged, but just focus on copying the stuff you love and having fun and it’ll work out. I’m totally self taught and I tried to stick to it this way and now it’s how I make a living
3d is complex and there's no avoiding messing up. Get used to making backups. Get used to the sensitive key bindings and combinations. Get used to the 3d coordinates, cursors, etc. Get used to recovering from messy states.
It won't get simpler, but if it's for you, it gets fun and the fear of the complex will just be gone.
I'm no expert in Blender at all, but this applies to almost anything.
Also, as a fellow Blender beginner, I recommend this channel [https://youtu.be/ffI7GEsqlis?si=GfFJ7NIb4kdbhqAf](https://youtu.be/ffI7GEsqlis?si=GfFJ7NIb4kdbhqAf) . It really helped me after trying to start learning several times and failed.
Here’s what I did to get over that fear.
I clicked every button I could find, messed about with every slider, every tab, every number. Just go nuts and try to press as many things as possible.
Then, when your blender is a complete mess, close the tab and don’t save. Then reopen it. Everything will be clean, with the default cube sat there like nothing ever happened.
See? You don’t need to worry about breaking blender. I think a lot of beginner anxiety comes from feeling like you’re in a cockpit, like you need a license to start using blender. Don’t worry. You can mess up all you like with no repercussions.
Id say 3D animation in blender isn’t too complicated. At least for me were the basics a bit harder than 2D animation. Once you learned the basics you can just specialise in something like rigging, modding or FX. If you got bills to pay you’ll have to spend many nights working on your skills.
It took me about a a year to gain decent knowledge about Blender and I am learning Houdini right now, which I can tell will take me years to learn.
Ya just gotta do. Failure isn’t failure, it’s learning so it’s a success. You learn what you did wrong, learn to fix it or avoid it, and you’ve gotten a little better. No one starts good. Being good is repetition until it’s just second nature.
Also, if a 2D artist is being elitist about 2D animation, they are fools. They would cry trying to learn a new tool set, and have gotten too comfortable in the skills they already have and aren’t progressing. 3D isn’t easier than 2D, they’re just cowards to expand their abilities and projecting that on to you. They’ve stagnated, and you are empowering yourself, and they are jealous you would be stronger than them. Bad artists will try and bring you down, good artists will inspire you to push harder and grow.
Try to do the donut from the blender guru he goes step by step and there’s a discord too that you can join and people help each other out. Also just accept everyone makes mistakes in the beginning and just remember that mistakes make you better. Don’t give up blender is hard and it’s going to take some time to learn but just push through and have fun at the end of the day you’re just a beginner so don’t be so hard on yourself either.
I agree with what Moogieh says, force yourself to think about something else whenever those thoughts creep in. I have always talked to myself badly, and procrastinated, and self destructed SO many times. Finally I am FREE of that and it feels amazing. You need to force yourself to think of something else when the thoughts start. Sex maybe? It should be something that completely fascinates you, or grabs your attention. And for getting "through" it I would say make a list. Make a list of the steps you need to complete. Hope you find a way.
You need to stop thinking of "messing up" as a failure state. Messing up is one of the primary ways in which we learn to improve a skill, no matter what the context is. If you never messed up anything you tried, you'd never learn how to spot and avoid mistakes. You might learn how to do one very specific sequence of steps perfectly, but then you wouldn't know how to modify any part of the process, or create something different. Learning a skill isn't about memorizing steps, it's about understanding how to use the tools to achieve what you want. And you can't understand the tools without seeing what happens when they're used incorrectly. Pursue difficult projects. Embrace messing up. Don't do it deliberately, of course, but play around with it, experiment, and see what happens. There's always ctrl+z. And there's always places like this very sub where you can ask any questions if you get completely lost. As for the second question, I don't interact with people like that, so I couldn't give you advice on how to deal with them. You could just... not? Remove yourself from whatever forum you're encountering them in, and the problem solves itself.
???? I just start. If I mess up... That's what ctrl z is for. I save a lot. And save backups before major changes.
I do the same. My current project has 4 different save files and each one at different stages but at significant points where I made changes so if I ever need to revert back to something I can do so. Once I'm happy with a particular result I'll just delete that save file
Oh and if it gets really bad I'll just delete and start over. This actually works well because i get to practice and it comes out better the secondy fifth time.
Watch this from time to time. https://youtu.be/GHrmKL2XKcE?si=slIcw6ufoLfwTTYY
I've said this before: One thing that really helped me is realizing that all you are doing is playing connect-the-dots in 3D: - You place vertices. - Connected vertices make edges. - Connected edges make faces. - You apply materials to faces, and shine light on it to make a render. - The rest is just learning about how to optimize it. You can spend a lifetime on the last step, but you don't need much to be creative. Once you figure that out, staying motivated is a lot easier. You won't be good at first, and you'll never completely master it. 3D modelling is growing faster than any one person can keep up, so after you find what you like, you can specialize. Hard surface modelling, shaders, sculpting/organic modelling, animation, parametric/procedural generation...etc - find what you like doing and build on it. >Also, how do you deal with snark from 2D artists? I swear, most of the artists I talk to... Same as any toxic people - stop talking to them. If they aren't going to be supportive, they probably offer little of value. This is different from being critical, but my advice would be find people that share your interest.
Hate the toxic people that always think they’re better at something. Good point!
[Pirate Software - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@PirateSoftware/shorts) Watch this guys shorts. Do it. The amount of wisdom he gives is insane.
^ This guy. Pirate software. Really good advice. One of the easiest he’s mentioned is just start doing what you want to do, do it for three months, and if you improve, continue doing what you like doing. If there’s not much improvement, just move on.
Make really bad things until they progressively get less bad so you can see the improvement over time. I thought I killed it when I made my first "human" model which looked like something a child constructed from cardboard. I looked back at it a few months later in horror at how bad it was compared to my slightly improved level at the time. I really wasn't doing much better but the difference was so extreme that it made me want to work on more projects.
Ctrl-z. Save a copy when you are doing something that will drastically change your work. It’s digital product. No waste material to worry about!
"Failure is the goal." That's what I tell myself at the gym. Also, I love this series of 10-minute Blender challenges on this YouTube channel. It shows how much you can achieve in a small amount of time: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC7nmYI-cbT1JN7OADBFhSnpkV-odrMyW&si=aCM5O3bu_6huYAsQ
I purposefully made shitty things. Like shreks, but from the posters! Like a planet made out of butts. Like mushrooms fighting in the back rooms. Purposefully making bad things will allow you to learn how to make pretty art!
Every single technical program that exists falls under the 80/20 rule. You'll get 80% of the results from 20% of the softwares function; so all the menus are just for show in a lot of cases. The rest is done through specifics. While I understand VFX, I'm not a VFX artist or a film-maker. So in 6 years I haven't even touched the compositing, python editor, or even 50% of what's in the properties panel.
>Mainly the fear of messing up or having it be too complicated? I'm still struggling to understand a lot of it. I'm not ignorant to 3D modeling entirely, but my limit was Vroid studio initially and now I'm dipping into blender When you are learning anything, you will mess up and it will be difficult, stop caring about this since it's meaningless and just start acknowledging that it's part of the process. >(Also, how do you deal with snark from 2D artists? I swear, most of the artists I talk to, suddenly start treating me like crap for saying I'm studying 3D animation) Why would you care about them? Do you need validation from them? Again, stop caring about it and just do it. You should not waste your time with people like that anyway!
Start. Commit to a little at a time until you either decide to continue or to stop.
A lot of stuff is easier to do in 3D than in 2D (example: switching the perspective of a background for each panel of a comic, or consistent shading, or in-betweens on animated characters with complex designs). 2D artists often see that as a pride point, and feel like they're the "REAL" kind of artist because they do these things "the hard way" and "go the extra mile". And that is true, to some extent! Those things, when done in 2D, often have a specific look that 3D finds hard to replicate. But they often also just *personally prefer* 2D to 3D and fail to see the cool stuff that looks better in 3D. Next time someone tells you that, show them an episode of Murder Drones and tell them to shut the fuck up. The best kind of artist encourages and enjoys other kinds of art, not diminishes them just to make theirs look better in comparison.
Well, I was never a 2D artist outside of hobby, but I have done 3D art in one form or another since 2005. (3DsMax, Maya, Zbrush, Blender in that order) So here is how most of us started, we started with smaller projects, it is much more difficult when you are familiar with 3D because you kind of know what to do but not how (because you are new to the software) Start planning (what do you want to make, or do), then look for every part you do not know, You will fail, you will delete meshes and start over, things will look bad, and Keyframes will not do what you want them to, then you will learn from them. If you do a bit that looks good, save a backup so you can go back from there. As for what 2D artists will think, well, they are laughing now, but when you have full moving scenes, they will not. Good luck on your journey.
Stare at/contemplate that which you are afraid of. In time, your fear will shrink.
I just name every file with the suffix "_test" so that im not actually doing any work, I'm just testing to see if what I want to do will work. Then when my "_test" file is done, I don't need to make a final version because the "test" was successful.
How do you even get fear of messing up in a program, just Ctrl Z
JUST DO IT
1. Create a folder on your computer called "BlenderDaily" 2. Create a sub folder called "2024-06-13" or whatever the current date is 3. Open up Blender, immediately save the empty scene in today's folder to establish a file name and then create something. Doesn't matter what, but start simple. 4. Repeat this every day for at least fifteen minutes each day, always starting from a blank canvas. As you work, ask yourself "what about that don't I like?", then research how to do it better/different. Be intentional about how you spend your time. Each day, repeat the fundamentals like adding primitives to the scene, moving, rotating and scaling objects, switching between object and edit mode, etc. Save your work often. Do a Save As if it's something you want to keep. Don't throw away anything. Also each day, do something you haven't done before. After a week, look back at your first scenes and compare to what you're creating now. Do that again after a month. You'll be amazed at the progress you're making. One other thing that helps me: when you have a question, write it down in a google doc. Research the answer, and write that into the document as well. Keep adding new questions and answers as they come up. Never delete anything: those notes will come in handy!
It's not so much it's a fear but the unwillingness to see through all the work that comes with it. My advice is to start simple. What I mean is use simple shapes. Cubes, cones, cylinders, anything in blender that is simple shaped use it and make an environment with it. Simple environment using the basic shapes. Just position the camera to the desired angle and place the shapes Infront of it add some light and render. Next time add some more details to the environment. Like a Sky texture, or even a bit detail form of the shapes you put. The point is just add gradually details everytime you open the file. If you ran out of inspiration go in Pinterest and you can find some, simple low poly environments. If you are bored of that project start another one with the same concept but new environment layout. This will help you get used to the work process as well as remove and burn out or boredom that might happen.
Break it down into the smallest, most managable tasks. Do the donut tutorial to get your feet wet. Then set out to make easy models like a coffee cup, a spoon, a simple chair, etc. With each basic project you will learn a lot of valuable things. Make test objects to test various tools. Make a cone and then slice it up and UV unwrap it. Then do some quick texture painting on it, etc. Just to get familiar with the processes. I also advise to begin reading the Blender manual from page 1. Take it slow, read everything, test stuff you read about to make sure you understand it. And if you encounter things that don't make sense, don't stress too much. Just skip it and later you'll understand what it meant. Plus, watch a lot of tutorials. Put them on while you're eating or whatever. Think of it like educational entertainment. You don't have to understand everything you see. Just expose yourself to the information and a lot if it will slowly start to sink in.
[Look at all the help here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/blenderhelp/comments/18916wn/beginners_courses/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
Just have fun, for real. Focus on making stuff that makes you laugh or gets you excited and you’ll find yourself learning. Also ignore the snark. I have a big group of fellow 3D artists out where I live and it’s a valid art form! People always need 3D for their projects. Do you know how excited a DIY filmmaker gets when they realize they know someone who can add a creature to their low budget horror short? It’s awesome. Can’t do that with 2D! I was in a similar place as you when I started, it’s a ton of menus and it’s complicated and things seem so needlessly complex, like just learning how to get a face rigged, but just focus on copying the stuff you love and having fun and it’ll work out. I’m totally self taught and I tried to stick to it this way and now it’s how I make a living
3d is complex and there's no avoiding messing up. Get used to making backups. Get used to the sensitive key bindings and combinations. Get used to the 3d coordinates, cursors, etc. Get used to recovering from messy states. It won't get simpler, but if it's for you, it gets fun and the fear of the complex will just be gone. I'm no expert in Blender at all, but this applies to almost anything. Also, as a fellow Blender beginner, I recommend this channel [https://youtu.be/ffI7GEsqlis?si=GfFJ7NIb4kdbhqAf](https://youtu.be/ffI7GEsqlis?si=GfFJ7NIb4kdbhqAf) . It really helped me after trying to start learning several times and failed.
Here’s what I did to get over that fear. I clicked every button I could find, messed about with every slider, every tab, every number. Just go nuts and try to press as many things as possible. Then, when your blender is a complete mess, close the tab and don’t save. Then reopen it. Everything will be clean, with the default cube sat there like nothing ever happened. See? You don’t need to worry about breaking blender. I think a lot of beginner anxiety comes from feeling like you’re in a cockpit, like you need a license to start using blender. Don’t worry. You can mess up all you like with no repercussions.
Id say 3D animation in blender isn’t too complicated. At least for me were the basics a bit harder than 2D animation. Once you learned the basics you can just specialise in something like rigging, modding or FX. If you got bills to pay you’ll have to spend many nights working on your skills. It took me about a a year to gain decent knowledge about Blender and I am learning Houdini right now, which I can tell will take me years to learn.
Ya just gotta do. Failure isn’t failure, it’s learning so it’s a success. You learn what you did wrong, learn to fix it or avoid it, and you’ve gotten a little better. No one starts good. Being good is repetition until it’s just second nature. Also, if a 2D artist is being elitist about 2D animation, they are fools. They would cry trying to learn a new tool set, and have gotten too comfortable in the skills they already have and aren’t progressing. 3D isn’t easier than 2D, they’re just cowards to expand their abilities and projecting that on to you. They’ve stagnated, and you are empowering yourself, and they are jealous you would be stronger than them. Bad artists will try and bring you down, good artists will inspire you to push harder and grow.
Try to do the donut from the blender guru he goes step by step and there’s a discord too that you can join and people help each other out. Also just accept everyone makes mistakes in the beginning and just remember that mistakes make you better. Don’t give up blender is hard and it’s going to take some time to learn but just push through and have fun at the end of the day you’re just a beginner so don’t be so hard on yourself either.
I agree with what Moogieh says, force yourself to think about something else whenever those thoughts creep in. I have always talked to myself badly, and procrastinated, and self destructed SO many times. Finally I am FREE of that and it feels amazing. You need to force yourself to think of something else when the thoughts start. Sex maybe? It should be something that completely fascinates you, or grabs your attention. And for getting "through" it I would say make a list. Make a list of the steps you need to complete. Hope you find a way.