****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is one of the best books on modeling a 3D character, especially using Blender, out there. First of all, ignore the terrible picture on the front. Your first thought is likely that this is the end product. In fact, this is the reference drawing used to get the proportions of the model correct while working. The end product looks much more like what you would expect a game model to look like. And really, the author takes you through the steps necessary to go way beyond what the artist himself is capable of doing. The end product of your art is going to be highly dependent on your abilities as an artist. That should be a given.But the artist shows you how to start with a basic form to sculpt and shape. He walks you through all of the steps necessary to create the basic form of the model. Then he takes you to the next step where you sculpt even further to a normal map, which is essential technique for any model found in a modern game, and one I have not seen touched upon elsewhere. He also goes through the crucial steps of skinning and rigging the model so that it can be animated. He really takes you from nothing to finished/game-ready content.Now, I do have some previous experience which mostly consists of working through the "Modeling a Character in 3DS Max" by Paul Steed, which was also a good book but not written for Blender. I believe the Paul Steed book got a little bit more mathematically precise with the instructions as I recall. I also spent some time kind of developing my eye for proportion and color and such, which is no small task and one that you should maybe have before attempting this book.That's because the author leaves you "free" to your own artistic interpretations in places. I mean, honestly, to tell you precisely what to do he would have to tell you vertex by vertex "place the first one at 24.234,108.246,-0.234 and the second one at 24.234,122.875, -0.254 and..." about 1,000 times or so until you've placed every vertex in "exactly" the right spot. But then when you get into the normal map creation and free form sculpting, I don't think there IS any way to precisely tell you what to do. The author gives some good guidance, but at some point you're going to have to flap those wings and fly little bird. Once you're out of the nest, mama bird can't do the flying for you. You're going to have to take a chance and learn to be an artist. That means no certainty. That means making mistakes. That means trying things knowing you're going to get it wrong and then asking how you can make it better next time (or since it's digital you can go back and fix a lot without starting over much of the time).In short, there are some gaps where the author does not hold your hand and tell you EXACTLY how to do it. I'm no professional artist. My modeling is still on the 3D graphics level of "creating stick figures" although this book allowed me to make a model FAR above what I would have told you my skill level was. In short, the book did its job. But at times I had to kind of "wing it". I had to maybe place a vertex where I thought it should be since there was no specific instruction about where it should be. Or maybe I added one or two too many or had a couple too few vertices. It's art. By nature it's not precise. If you're a computer programmer like me, you probably like precision and being told the exact right way to do things. Such is not the way of the artist.I think the author does a good job of telling you "enough" of how to get it done although I had to make one or two slightly uncomfortable leaps of faith that turned out pretty well in the end. If you get stuck, try something. Look at what came before and what comes after and ask, "How can I get there?" Look at the example drawings and compare to your own work.I'm saying this as a highly technical programmer type person and not as an artistic type person. And yes, my "eye" is developed better than the average person walking down the street. And yes, I've spent maybe 50 hours in 3D Studio Max and Blender working through examples in books and tutorials mostly. But I am a LONG ways from being what you would call a sculptor or 3D modeler by any means. I'm pretty much a semi-experienced beginner.Also, feel free to jump around in this book. I needed to learn about skinning and rigging for a model I already had and jumped straight to that section of the book. You can download complete code and complete models for that stage of the book. So, I just jumped in straight to that point. Then I went back and started over from the beginning.Maybe this should not be your very first book to learn 3D modeling. There are quite a few good 3D Max books out there, but 3D Max is overly expensive. There are a couple other Blender books you can work through to get more practice working in Blender. But when it comes to doing 3D huminoids, this is really the best book I've seen for Blender or anything else. And the techniques you learn also will eventually apply to animals and monsters and other creatures you might create for video games.If you find it to difficult. Put it aside. Work on other models to get more experience. And come back to it later. I assure you it has what you need to make game characters in it. But it may require getting used to Blender and a feel for 3D modeling first.Of course you expect an artistic type to just tell you to "wing it" and "feel it". But I'm a tech type telling you that. You're in the world of art now; you have to start thinking like an artist and this book encourages that in its teaching style which can be a bit uncomfortable when you have to start flapping those fledgling wings on your own a bit.And here's my advice: Don't be afraid to hit the ground. You'll live. If you mess up this model beyond belief, A) no one is going to die from it, B) that's why you save every hour or so that you can go back to the version from 3 hours ago when you made the big mistake, C) you're not going to get it right until you spend a LOT of time getting it wrong, and D) worse case scenario you start again from the beginning and take another go at it with new found knowledge of what NOT to do. I think that when you get stuck with this book, if you'll just try and do what you "think" you should do you'll be very pleased with the results as long as you understand your results are not going to perfectly match another artist's results. And if you don't like it, ERASE by going back to a previous save. Nothing's set in stone here. This isn't stone carving 101 where you have to go buy a new stone when you mess up. Often you can correct the problem without going back to a previous save, but even if you have to go back to a previous save you can lock in your "successes" by saving them so that you are always moving forward and getting closer to what you want.
