Hi, So i've been using Maya and learning for a few months now, and it seems to me that you can do so much with textures and in the hypershade than i first thought!

I wonder whether i'm getting too hung up on modeling and spending too much time making everything perfect in the modeling stage of the process - like deforming bricks and modeling each roof tile (well not quite but you know what i mean), or for example modeling cobblestones (which took me ages) whereas i could have done it much quicker with displacement/bump map.

Would you say it would be better to spend less time on the modeling, i.e just get everything in the right position but stick to simple polygon shapes like cubes/spheres etc - and spend more time in the texturing stages where you can quickly impart the illusion of roof tiles/cobblestones, dirt, debris etc?

Up to now i've been spending a lot of time learning modeling, but now wonder whether i have spent too much time on this and neglected learning the texturing/lighting/rendering skills that really bring a scene to life?