Hello?

Hello! I am new here... just joined recently and I am looking for something. I am looking for a tool or something that I can use to create realistic 3D (or 2D) characters, mainly dragons and other mythical creatures for artistic beginners like me? Has to be free and suitable for windows 10 too. This is all for personal artistic reasons as I suck at drawing (especially 3D objects) and I am a beginner at this, I would love to get into this sort of thing though


I shall introduce myself now. My name is Taylor, I have Autism and Dyspraxia (not to be confused with Dyslexia) and I can be rather sensitive but I am willing to be friends with anyone, I don't care where you are from or what you look like, everyone can be friends

 

You could try out magicavoxel if you want a minecraft looking game, it's fairly easy to use and free and open source:

https://voxel.codeplex.com/

 

Hello Taylor,
Blender is probably the best bet for free modelling software. There is also Mudbox/ZBrush for sculpting(which would make a high quality dragon much easier), but those are paid products. However, almost every software suite offers student licenses for those in school.

 

I am not in school, the reason behind it is that I am writing my own novel and I don't want to end up paying some pro to do the artwork if it ever becomes big, the cover for it has been sorted but character creating would be nice you can see this is more personal rather than gaming or media or whatever.


My novel has a lot of mythical creatures in it (it is fantasy after all) so this would be great. Paid products as in I have to pay for them?

 

You could try using Sculptris
http://pixologic.com/sculptris/

 

I'd recommend learning blender as it's free and has all the tutorials. If you want to animate as well, it's better to just focus on one application, and blender enables this well.

 

I would just mention that....if it does become big(which is a good problem to have), you would likely be able to find the money to pay someone to do it for you, so you could concentrate on the writing.

Also, it isn't for everybody, but you could find a few artists, check out prices, and set up a kickstarter or similar thing. Asking for money generally works best when you already have something to show though so it appears that you are capable of finishing.

 

+1 for Blender.
DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone has a Dolly Zoom feature. Mavic 2 Pro has 1" CMOS Hasselblad camera. What's better? Find out here.

 

This link might be interesting for book-illustrations based on 3D models:
https://blendernpr.org/classic-ink-shader/

 

Blender is the tool.

But I would challenge needing it for a book cover. You might well be better off using old fashioned paint media.

Its also worth noting that most publishers take responsibility for the cover themselves. So if you get an agent and a publisher you likely won't get much say on whats on the cover. A books cover is a major marketing tool. Its what people use to judge the book.

 

Never judge an app by it's icon.

 

Never judge an engine by it's bugs.... .... . .

 

Bugs? Don't you mean hidden features?

 

Interesting... thank you guys

I checked out that Blender and there is A BIG problem, I live in the UK, the laws here are funny with some sites and it says I need to click on a relative mirror (or something like that) and there is no UK thing ?

I will check again and I will check out the others too. Yeah I could probably afford it if it does become big but I am wanting to do my own artwork (in case) and also a lot of artists are greedy pigs and want all the credit....

And yes, you don't judge something from the outside, you don't judge a book by its cover and I have the cover sorted already... I haven't finished my novel yet, it is still in the works

 

It's basically just asking you to pick the closest server for the best download speeds. If you're in the UK you would want to pick "DE" (aka Germany) or one of the two "NL" (Netherlands).

If you're worried about legalities the Blender Foundation is a Dutch public-benefit corporation.

https://www.blender.org/foundation/

 

Welcome to the forums

 

Oh okay then, I will try it then thank you so much

I was told it would be too tricky to do though by several people, did someone mention tutorials?There are usually tutorials for things like this...

 

Blender is completely legal in UK
Blender takes while to learn but if youre willing to put in the time it will be fine
Yeah theres a ton of tutorials, Andrew price makes some more intermediate level ones, never watched a beginner level one because that isnt how i learn

 

Oh man this is more complicated that I thought... I saw some of the tutorials, I did what they said to do and NOTHING happened!! Drawing? Nope.... nothing is showing up, it is either me or this thing hates me. And there is so many things to it.... so many options, maybe this wasn't meant for me

And one of the tutorials said about zooming, I can't do that cuz it requires a wheel (for computers, this is my laptop, it doesn't have that!!!) and everything else is confusing, I will just keep working on my normal drawing skills which will never improve.....

I have been trying to improve my own art skills for years and nothing! I can't do it, very little improvements in the space of 2-3 years! I tried my best, I tried so hard and nothing! Oh well... back to the old drawing board

 

Thanks for your help anyway, I am not usually one to give up so easily but with all those problems and things... I don't think I'm going to go anywhere with it. I will just stick with good old hand drawing and figure out how to improve when you have been trying for ages and nothing has improved. It will probably take me a lot longer to improve my art skills even a little than to actually write my novel

 

If you want to learn to draw anyway as a hobby that's fine. Just to make the art for your book I think it's overkill and you'd be better served with partnering up or hiring an illustrator.
If you are invested into learning how to draw and paint I can recommend you a few good books:

Betty Edwards: Drawing on the right side of the brain
James Gurney: Color and light
Gregg Kreutz: Problem solving for oil painters
Ian Roberts: Mastering composition
James Gurney: Imaginative Realism

I would suggest reading them in this order, one after the other, and follow along with your practice to better absorb the knowledge from the books. I'm not too big a fan of the last one personally, it may or may not be for you, depending on how you like to work. He uses a lot of analog model making to prepare references for fantasy stuff. That might close a gap if you find 3D software to overwhelming.
Also some anatomy books are always good to study along the way, mandatory even. For that I suggest to get in the habbit of doing a bit of research and reference hunting before each bigger project, including looking up anatomy of humans and animals, depending on what you want to draw. Even weird fantasy creatures will benefit greatly from using plausible anatomy. Good luck!

 

0_o

 

No one said it wouldnt be hard work
I put in months of hardwork, failures and frustration into blender before i could start making nice images. Another two years before i could fool friends my art was a photograph

 

Side note: laptop/notebook touch pads usually allow scroll wheel functionality by doing two finger gestures (almost always two finger sliding up or down scrolls up and down). Some models (older usually) have a small area to the right of the pad which acts like a scroll wheel as well.

Do yourself a huge favor. Use a usb mouse.

 

@WarriorOfEden

Try this website if you want to do 2d illustrations for your book. http://www.ctrlpaint.com/library

Honestly, I wonder if Blender and 3d is overkill for a book. 2d art would be easier for you to learn, most likely, and you could create your own style that worked with your level of expertise.

I have two daughters who are artists. Both love the above link. Start at the beginning and work your way through.

A drawing pad is really a good idea. The Wacom Intuit is nice.

However, start with a pencil on paper and then get Photoshop. It is $10 a month for a full commercial version.

 

I think it might be best to go with hand illustrations and scan them, your avatar is pretty cute.

 

Wow! Is this still around? I bought that book 25 years or more ago when I was very interested in art. I still remember doing that onion drawing exercise. Actually I think I still have that in a box out in the garage. I agree it is an excellent book.

 

A true classic . Imho it's the best entry point to demystify drawing and set a foundation to better understand and deal with the lessons that other books teach. Afaik the newer editions of the book added some weird "technical crutches" that I don't think are a good idea. I think it was a transparent plastic frame that you look through to find your motive and then draw the basic landmarks with an erasable felt-pen on it and copy that to the paper before you start drawing. But you can just skip that step and focus on learning to eyeball proportions correctly. Imho that's the highroad that you learn more from.
Here's a photo of what I'm talking about:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0ikINBSEvQI/UZMTFEkMPKI/AAAAAAAANJY/Hvz4DD6-QxI/s1600/02.jpg

 

Oh thank you everyone! I don't have a scanner and cannot afford one (they are really expensive around here) and I don't mind if it is 2D or not, as long as I get to draw them and have fun

I am trying to avoid having to pay illustrators and people like that as they can be rather greedy when it is comes to money and credit and I have even heard some of them might demand for more than just that. I don't want to have that kind of problem.... I will check those books you mentioned out, I don't get a lot of time for reading and I can only really do it if it is peaceful (and that is rare, I have 2 mischievous sisters in the house and a dad who never turns down the volume when he is watching movies)

My profile picture? I got this from Google images... it is not my own creation. I will keep trying my best guys

 

An old scanner shouldnt cost too much, but if you cant get one, im sure your parents will know someone with a scanner that you could use. If all else fails you could get it done at a library for a small fee

 

check out SciFi Animator on youtube,
those videos helped me get up and running in Blender super fast and easy.

tutorials for new users 2.6 - the newest blender wont be much different! especially not for beginning
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMYtDzby1wdabgVKnq8RSyrTZJbvs13N9

all his playlists
https://www.youtube.com/user/FirstGradeCalculus/playlists?view=1&sort=dd

BLENDER IS AMAZING!!!

- yeah 2d art might be better for you? .. to make a beautiful 3d scene takes ALOT of work, talent, knowledge

 

What's with all the negativity towards artists.

I am an artist and I'm not greedy when it comes to money and credit. Maybe you tried to low ball some art offers to artist and they laughed at your offer. But classifying all artist as greedy is kinda an insult; especially when there is large amount of artist on these forums.

 

Absolutely agree. I watch my daughter get offered pennies for work she spends hours on and it makes me sad that people do not value artists more. Fortunately, my daughter values her own work and time enough not to accept those who do not.

 

See that's sad. And after she refuses the offer that's when she gets called a greedy artist.

I'm glad your daughter values her hard work and not to just give it away for pennies.

 

install sculptris and enjoy, two clicks will make you happy..... and if you feel you need to go with a more complex tool, spend time on max or maya or blender

 

Well, pennies was an exaggeration. lol But they offer her a very low price for something that was worth a lot more! Not everyone does though.

 

He's probably only heard the horror stories. For every artist who tries to screw you over there's a dozen more who are completely fair and reasonable but the bad one is the only one you'll heard about.
Artists can get the same way about their commissioners when starting out.

 

I didn't say all artists were greedy, there are plenty of good ones out there yes but also plenty of greedy ones. I will try that 2D one someone mentioned

Thanks

 

However...this is not limited to artists. It is true of any freelancer type or really anyone who sells stuff. So the comments were really biased.

Sometimes people try to contract with those whose work is advanced because it is so fantastic and looks great. The artist has no problem getting the fees he wants for his work. He has set a price and people pay it so that is his price. He is worth that much because his work is good, he is pleasant to work with, and produces on time.

The so called "good" ones you mention might be artists who are starting out, who are still trying to get customers, or live in an area with a low standard of living. They are not "good" artists, in the sense that they are not any better or worse than the artist I mentioned above. They are "good" to you because you see their prices as reasonable.

However....someday, they will also be popular and will draw a bigger price for their goods.

Prices are what a market will bear. So...if Joe is a great artist, has a spectacular portfolio, has worked for big studios, etc., his art will draw a bigger price. It is not greed...it is the value of his art in the market.

Bob is a beginning artist whose portfolio is mostly stuff from his art school or indie games. It is great stuff...because Bob is talented. But he has not yet been discovered. So...in the market, he cannot get work if he charges too high of a price.

Sara lives in a country where the cost of living is low. She does not require the income one might need in Europe or the US. So she can afford to charge less for her work and still make enough money to pay for her living costs. Bob and Joe cannot do that as their rent and supplies cost a great deal more than it does for Sara.

You, as the consumer can choose....in most cases, as an indie developer, Bob and Sara are your best bet, cost-wise.

However, listing Joe on your Kickstarter page or on your website could get you noticed and give a boost above the other games out there.

It all depends on you and your budget. But..Joe is not greedy. His services are just more valuable on the market. I would argue that folks not willing to pay the market price for goods are actually the greedy ones.

When you have a business, or make a game...you need to keep the freelancers as your friends. Attaching emotionally charged labels on them really isn't fair.

 

Yes that is true....you have a good point. But I have heard stories about artists who are not beginners but are just greedy pigs...

Such as one story I heard, a young woman wanted to have some paintings done for a special event so she found some guys who were experienced and offered their work for good prices. They made a deal, she paid full in cash and they did what they needed to do, seems to be normal so far but then the guys keep asking for more money and threatening to go to the police cuz she wouldn't pay them more..... they had portfolios and everything experience artists would have but they were greedy pigs, that was what I meant..... there are plenty of these low-lives around

 

Photoshop sucks and I am not willing to pay £15 (or more, British currency...online things here tend to cost more...) I cannot find Wacom Intuit... did find something similar but it was only for Mac computers. And that site is just videos, no tool or anything and when I went to see downloads... there were just a bunch of random stuff..

 

That is totally different and has more to do with his personal ethics than his greed. Your comments above were about the prices, not about someone cheating you. Yes, there are people who will scam you out there. I worked for a team that was scammed by a programmer. They exist...in all flavors, including those not related to game development.

Get references, check those references, use artists recommended by people you trust, such as some of the experienced people here. Accepting only the cheapest rates probably put you at more risk than paying a bit more for someone known to the community.

 

PS does not "suck". Try GIMP. It is free. If that also "sucks", then I guess you are out of luck.

 

Mischief is pretty rad, I more use it for technical drawings during meetings and stuff but it's really cool! You can zoom in and out as much as you want without loosing significant detail(It's vector based).
With painting on a computer you really need a tablet though.

 

Yep, which is one reason hiring an artist is not cheap. Not only do they pay for Photoshop and/or Illustrator, Maya or 3dMax, but they most likely have a tablet. They spend money to make money.

Anyway you get around it, you have to spend money to make a game...unless you are using primitives and hand drawn art...which is not a bad idea. Build something without fancy art and then buy things you need as you save up the money from your day job....or mow the lawn for the neighbors.

 

If I'm not mistaken she meant the Intuos. It's one of the more affordable tablets.

http://www.wacom.com/en-hk/products/pen-tablets/intuos
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacom-CTL-490DW-S-Intuos-Graphics-Tablet/dp/B013ATUR46/

 

Yes. One of my daughters has an Intuos and she loves it.

 

It does suck if you know everything about it.... people have used PS for a variety of different things and I have tried using it many times.....I had one problem with it, it NEVER saved my work!! And PS is mainly editing already created photos and stuff.... not create from scratch sort of thing.


Yeah.... none of my friends really knows anybody, they are all writers and a few of are artists too but they are like on a student level rather than professional.



I will see that GIMP, no idea what that means.

 

One has to ask if the problem lies in the tool, or in the tool user...

 

3D:
Blender 3d and/or sculptris.
Sculptris does sculpting. Blender does sculpting and everything else.

2D:
Gimp, pretty much.
MyPaint, if you find that old version that works on windows.

Inkscape for vector art... I think someone mentioned "mischief", I tried it but didn't like the feel of it.

For non-free tools:
Clip studio paint (aka Manga Studio)

You'll ABSOLUTELY need a wacom tablet if you want to draw anything and a flatbed scanner if you want to draw on paper and finish drawing on computer.

Betty Edwards: Drawing at the right side of the brain, Andrew Loomis books (Fun with Pencil, figure drawing).

Also head to quickposes.com and start gesture drawing for a few months. You'll see improvement. Drawing a lot helps more than reading books.

Of course it is. Every tool needs time to study it. Head to blenderartists.org for help with blender 3d. Youtube also has plenty of video tutorials for it. I started using blender years ago, so In your case going to youtube will be probably the best idea.

clip studio/manga studio should be relatively decently priced. It is not photoshop, but it is good for drawing.

 

I use a Wacom bamboo with GIMP and Blender - If i recall correctly Intuos is the line that replaced the Bamboos so if it is you'll definitely be fine with an Intuos