from where should i start ?
 

Hi all.i am new in 3d world and i don't know from where should i first start to learn 3d creation tools.and if i have 15 months to create 3d movee clip about 10 mins as my graduation project ,is this time enough or what ??
plz just give me an idea

Hi doc313, I recommend working through the tutorials in your Maya Help file, and reading lots of threads in this Maya Basics & Newbie Forum. Once you're familiar with the basics, start doing the tutorials on this site.

As far as 15 months being enough time to learn and create a 10 minute animation. Well, I think that depends on how simple your animation is and how quickly you learn but if you're determined enough, then yeah, you can do it.

I'm doin' a similar thing at the moment. My final year degree film is made using Maya and this is the first time I've used it!! Sounds crazy, I know.

I would advise working out how you best learn things.

For example, do you like reading about it, then doing it? Do you prefer reading then doing it for yourself?

Or maybe you prefer seeing how it's done and do it for yourself.

There's a ton of stuff to help you learn Maya.

Personally, the videos are the best options. There's some great ones on here, on Digital tutors and from Gnomon.

There's some good books too. The Maya foundation is a good base to start from - but so too are the videos and a set of your own notes.

Use the many forums out there. But don't post every problem you get, otherwise you won't get the satisfaction and confidence building by trying to solve something yourself.

As for the length, I don't want to sound negative, but I think it may be a little ambitious. Try aiming for 5-7 tops. Think carefully about no. of characters and settings as these have all got to be modelled/textured and more importantly, animated. You need to answer these questions before embarking on an ambitious project, otherwise you'll set yourself up to fail.

Try doing a couple of 'dummy' runs. Model a character, get him to walk. Then maybe get him to interact with an object. Iti'll give you a sense what good/bad workflow is and resolve any issues before you start the big project. It'll also give you an idea of how long rendering takes as well as compositing.

Good luck