What to use for 2d/3d modeling/animation

I'm very very new to game design. Right now I'm learning java/c# and doing some of the walkerboys tutorials.
Coding is very easy for me, since i've done it for a while. However, I have no clue how to create worlds, characters, weapons, atmosphere for games and then animate them.

I've seen people use maya quite a bit for 3d modeling. But the only tutorials I can find for it are like $50 subscriptions just to watch them. And Idk if they'll even show me how to integrate all of that into Unity.

 

Maya, 3D Studio Max, Mudbox and so forth are all great products that you van build assets with, but for 2D stuff you might want to look into things like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. Asset production more relies on what you want to make and how you can make it.

 

How do you learn with things like photoshop and studio max?
Can't seem to find any tutorials relative to game design. Just modeling/movie type stuff.

 

If your games do not rely on super detailed 3D models and hyper definition textures then Blender should help you out! It's completely open source and free for both commercial and non-commercial uses!

FYI if you're looking for a free image editor you can use GIMP (also 100% opensource for commercial and non-commercial uses)!

Hope this will help you to get started!

Cheers

 

Blender is great, it's hotkey based so seems really hard until you "get" it...but then it's very easy to make nice buildings/terrains/etc. I don't know how to rig so can't say about that.

You can also use heightmaps in blender with the displacement modifier to generate a terrain much like you use in Unity with the built in terrain. And for reducing polygons it has a decimate modifier as well as the ability to dissolve faces/edges/vertices to create very low poly models.

Also modeling/texturing is time consuming, you might just want to buy stuff on the asset store and focus on coding.

 

I will agree with suggestions of Blender for anything 3d, including anything animated. I also agree with GIMP for 2d work, though you can use Inkscape as well if you want vector art.

If you understand 3d concepts in a general sense, things like how triangles make faces, are made of verts, what normals are, etc... then Blender isn't near as hard as it comes across as, especially if it is the first modeling software you learn because you aren't fighting a different workflow.

Imbarns also mentioned that modeling/texturing is time consuming. That is indeed the case, though depending on the style you are going for or could be more or less time consuming. For example, if you wanted a mid-90s style, low poly/no texture, it would likely take much less time than if you wanted a 2014AAA style(10,000 tri, normal-mapped, 2048x2048 texture size) kind of thing. There are also many different things in between.

A way to mitigate that problem, among others, is to go 2d. It doesn't fully erase the problem, because 2d asset creation also takes time, though in general it is less than most 3d styles. The programming also tends to be less complicated simply because 2d is less complicated than 3d. And it has advantages in that there are many different styles here as well, ranging from low res pixel art to "artsy" art like stick figures(or like that desktop crayon art game) to mid-def art(maybe like FEZ) to HD art(maybe like Shank). And then each of these resolutions could also have different styles and colors, including full vector art, limited 16 color pixel art, to full color range pixel art, and even 4 color pixel art(a la gameboy).

 

blender and gimp for me... cause, free lol

"first grade calculus" aka "scifi animator" videos on youtube helped me learn blender lol .. that dude has an immense amount of tutorials for blender

 

Hi Caelorum.
Try visiting the site CG tuts.
They have tons of free tutorials and a good bunch of them are for game design as well.
http://cgi.tutsplus.com/

This one is for creating a "Rocky Terrain for Games."
http://cgi.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-a-rocky-video-game-terrain-in-blender-part-1--cg-936

I'll post more if you want.

Bye.

 

that is completely wrong

 

I would suggest SCULPTRIS for modelling and Fragmotion for Animation. These are very good. I am a 3ds max user and I know it very well. I tried to use Blender but I couldnt get hang of it.

I like to start learning a software by using its menu system and UI. I learn shortcuts later when I feel comfortable with the software. Blenders UI is totally rubbish and I dont have time and energy to learn its shortcuts. Thats why I dont use zbrush, but I do use Mudbox.

I found Sculptris UI very easy. Even a kid can use it easily.