Roadmap

3d ARTIST
GAME DEVELOPMENT

01 Shape 02 ANATOMY 03 COLOR THEORY

COMPOSITION HUMAN ANATOMY COLOR WHEEL

STORYTElLING ANIMAL ANATOMY COLOR HARMONY

THE CONTEXT OF HOW

DYNAMISM FORMS & PROPORTIONS
COLORS ARE USED

SILHOUETTE CHARACTER COMPOSITION

GESTURE DRAWING

DIGITAL SPLINE POLYGONAL

06 SCULPTING 05 MODELING 04
MODELING

CHOOSE A 3D DIGITAL CHOOSE A 3D MODELING

CHOOSE A 3D MODELING
SCULPTING SOFTWARE SOFTWARE (MOI3D,
SOFTWARE (Blender,
(zBRUsh, SCulptris, AutoCAD, Fusion 360,
Maya, 3DS Max, etc.)
Blender, etc.) etc.)

STUDY The interaction of NURBS 3D shapes structure

forms and volumes
during movement and in
pose
Boolean operations TOPOLOGY
STUDY The concept of
flow, sihlouette and
gesture Subdivision workflow

start with simple shapes LOW POLY/HIGH POLY

for defininG the primary workflow
forms and volumes

UVW unrap
correct forms,
proportions and gestures

Explore a wide range of

sculpting subjects

Find a mentor (if

available)

Take actual clay

sculpting classes (if
available)

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Roadmap

3d ARTIST
GAME DEVELOPMENT

Texture &
07 Materials 08 SIMULATIONS

UVW Unrap PHYSICS SIMULATIONS

PBR texturing PARTICLE SYSTEMS

METALNES & SPECULAR

FLUID DYNAMICS
WORKFLOW

3D Artist

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GAME DEVELOPMENT

Before you begin your journey as a 3D artist, ask yourself what was it that drew
you to this exciting and expansive field in the 1st place:

• Was it awesome and intricate transformer-type robots with equally impressive

futuristic weapons and gadgets?

• Colorful stylized game characters inhabiting fantastic worlds filled with magic
and mythic beasts or scifi cityscapes populated by all-manner of quirky aliens (fill
in the blank with any of the major triple A game franchises)?

• How about creepy creatures inhabiting the horror genre or rather cuter and less
deadlier ones as seen in the great CG films of Pixar, Disney, etc.?

• Or maybe you’re an aspiring artist interested above all else in the human and
animal form and all their fascinating intricacies?

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3D Artist

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Whatever the case may be (and the list is virtually endless), your career as a 3D
artist should, to some extent, include all of the above (including environment and
prop design `cause why not?) and ultimately landing and focusing on your true
„calling”, as a fully blossomed 3D artist.

In terms of character creation and digital sculpting (which is what we will briefly
be adressing here) nothing is more important than studying the human form and
anatomy (notice how even the most impressive robots and digital creatures are
heavily inspired by human anatomy whereas digital doubles replace human actors
alltogether).

Specifically, you will have to assimilate notions such as volume, proportions,

rythm, gesture, pose, light and shadow as related to the human form and, of
course, actual artistic human anatomy (notice the word artistic, you needn’t be a
certified anatomist) and, in that regard, the journey is endless - and that should
excite and indeed comfort you (knowing there is always something new and
fascinating to learn!).

And, while you delve even deeper in the study of this amazing discipline, it is
imperative that you get your hands dirty too by experimenting with various
software that can allow you to sculpt digitally, as that is the end goal – to produce
ART and express your artistic vision!

The most pertinent ones in this regard are, in my opinion, ZBrush (the industry
standard and for a good reason!) and Blender (very powerful and, get this, totally
FREE!).

Luckily, nowadays there are inumerable resources available online (free and
otherwise) as well as countless modern masters (not to mention the Grand
Masters of the olden days, which should be studied rigorously) to aid you in your
journey.

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3D Artist

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Let’s start with a few pertinent books:

• Human Anatomy for Artists – Eliot Goldfinger
• Anatomy for the Artist – Sarah Simblet
• Anatomy for Sculptors – Understanding the Human Figure
• Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist - Stephen Rogers Peck

Two phenomenal teachers of human anatomy for artists you MUST check out that
have released very comprehensive training courses: Scott Eaton & Rey Bustos.

Websites where you can find reference for your anatomical studies:

• www.boneclones.com
• www.posemaniacs.com
• www.characterdesigns.com
• www.zygotebody.com
• www.anatomytools.com

In terms of modern digital anatomy and digital characters masters (to name but
a few), check out the work (and often tutorials) of the following (on platforms
such as Artstation, CGSociety or their own website): Hossein Diba, Kris
„Antropus” Costa, Frank Tzeng, Kubisi art, Alessandro Baldasseroni, Daniel Bel,
Raf Grassetti, Glauco Longhi, Jerad Marantz, Steve Lord, etc...

Some of the most pertinent platforms that offer excellent tutorials on 3D

character art (and on most CG disciplines, really) are:

• www.thegnomonworkshop.com
• www.characterartworkshop.com
• www.learnsquared.com
• www.cgmasteracademy.com
• www.udemy.com

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3D Artist

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...and, of course, YouTube. You can find lectures, tutorials, live demos, podcasts
and plenty other visual gems to get you inspired and motivated to follow the path
of artistic righteousness!

As for the software you ultimately choose to be your bread and butter, the same
platforms offer countless tutorials on how to „tackle” them, be it ZBrush or
Blender. As a starting point, for ZBrush, check out:

• www.thegnomonworkshop.com/tutorials/introduction-to-zbrush-2020
• as well as Michael Pavlovich’s YouTube channel

When starting to work with Blender, look no further than The Blender 2.8
Encyclopedia as well as Blender Guru’s and Josh Gambrell’s YouTube channels,
among many others.

For those of you that are drawn to the more technical (yet equally rewarding)
hard-surface modeling (be it weapons, cars, robots, military vehicles, etc.), the
fundamentals are, needless to say, equally important. So take your time and
thoroughlly study how the things you’re interested in actually work (be it a gun’s
firing mechanism or the various types of joints offering various degrees of
movement – again mimiking the human body, in the case of humanoid robots,
etc.).

As far as software is concerned, check out Autodesk 3dsMax, Autodesk Maya,

again Blender and CAD software such as Autodesk Fusion360 and MoI 3D.

The same platforms mentioned above (and, of course, YouTube) offer dozens of
tutorials on how to use these software so watch, learn and, more importantly,
practice!

And to see what can be accomplished at the higher echelons of the discipline,
study the work of masters such as: Vitaly Bulgarov, Andrew Hodgson, Amin
Akhshi, Edon Guraziu, Paul Pepera, etc.

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How to become a

powerful learner!

• Your attitude influences your brain's ability to process and understand

information. Give your brain a positive attitude!

• Your motivation is the fuel for your learning. Find your WHY with Simon Sinek!

• You have to focus in order to understand. Learn how to focus with Christina
Bengtsson!

• Your brain needs a certain pace to learn optimally. Give your brain 25 minutes
of learning!

• Take notes like a pro! Learn to take notes with Ed Developer!

• There are lots and lots of tricks and tips. Listen to Marty Lobdel talking about learning!

• Use Learning Games!

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3D Artist

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REMEMBER: Stay passionate, focused, ceaslessly curios and inspired while

exploring the infinite wealth of knowledge and talent out there and, with that in
mind, as well as being both passionate and consistent, set out and become the
best 3D artist you can!

Learn, expand your mind and skills, have fun and create great works of art in the
process!

3D Character Artist, Concept

Artist, Environment Artist,
VFX Artist ...what will you be?

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