CGI Tutorials & Forums

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DreadStarX

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Joined
Sep 30, 2013
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Central/Southern Washington State
Hey Guys,

Like the title says, I'm very interested in CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and what entails with creating something.

As you guys know, I play EVE Online quite avidly. In terms of levels (Comparison to WoW), I'd be somewhere near Level 500. :p But that isn't the point of this topic.


I want to know; is there anyone else here who knows about it, and how to create it? Where I might find tutorials?


My Goal: To become good enough to create a 2 hour long film, about one of the largest battle is in EVE Online history. It sparked major ingenunity, and creativness from the developers behind the game. I've always wanted to do something like this, and create movies about each expansion of EVE Online. Currently, I believe there is 9 Expansions + the original install, so a total of 10.

Thanks in Advance,

- Thomas
 
I've found a few good sites that have been recommended by friends. The hardest part for me, is finding out where to begin.

I have a massive goal of converting a game from 2D to 3D, and create movies to go along with it, as well as my EVE Online project. I know these are life time goals, but anything can be done when you set your mind to it.
 
I would suggest searching for CGI Graphics Common Topics or something along those lines, so you get an idea of what you should be learning.
 
What program are you hoping to use? Have you even picked one yet?

CGI is an outdated term these days, but decent modelling programs cost anywhere between 0 - thousands. Are you planning on spending money buying industry standard software, or are you only going to learn open source? What about your budget for learning - any paid courses/books or all online tutorials?

I use Blender - it's free, open source and industry level 3D design, modelling and animation software.
blender.org - Home of the Blender project - Free and Open 3D Creation Software

Examples of what can be done with Blender:



Those four videos are all open source projects made by the Blender Foundation. AKA - if you have a team of expert designers/animators who are so proficient with the software they designed half of it, then you can make something like that reasonably quickly. Sintel, their third film, cost 400,000 euros and took over a year and a half to make a 15 minute film.

Here's an example of a non-professional film, by which I mean one that wasn't made by a paid team/the blender foundation.

Pigeon: Impossible - YouTube

That short film took someone over 5 years to produce, dedicating a significant amount of time to the project. If you're only having ships involved in your film, and no people, the animation time will be reduced (people/animals are a lot harder to animate), but a 2 hour film is way too ambitious. Even if you spend a lot of time learning the software and become good enough to theoretically make the film, you're looking at a significant investment in time just to make a much shorter film. It's not impossible, and if you're interested I'd encourage you to learn, but there is a reason why professional animation studios have large teams working on films.

There are plenty of resources for learning Blender - if you want to learn a different tool such as Maya or Poser, then you might have to pay a bit more for books/courses on learning. The best way to learn is to just do it - follow a couple of tutorials to learn the interface of whichever program and get a grasp of the basics, then try making gradually more details models/animations and set yourself short challenges. E.g., model and animate one moving part on the ship (aka a main gun or whatever) - make it look realistic and move realistically.

As a first goal? Aim to design, model and rig (not animate, just rig - aka adding moving parts to your model which can then be animated) a ship that could then be used in an animation. After that? Make another one and animate a short fight sequence between them. If that goes well, try and create an impressive wallpaper/photo of your two ships in battle - think about the lighting and textures, and try and make it look as detailed/realistic (or stylised) as possible.

Here's the Blender Artists community:
Blender Artists Community

Lots of examples there of modelling and animation.
 

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