2D to 3D - need Direction
 

I have downloaded the Maya PLE a while back (getting watermarked through my skull) Before this I have used blender, but after a bit of research found that although it is a good program (being open source), it seems to be a far cry from investing in a commercial package.

I have been in Design (from Graphic Designer to Goldsmith) for a number of years (about 8). But lately, the market is trending toward 3D graphics.

Software I use: Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Painter, Blender(also Dreamweaver, Flash, In Design etc. )

My question is simple. Maya is a monster. Is my time and money going to be wasted on a program that ends up being a 2000k hobby? It takes up to a decade of your life to get reasonably proficient. It's almost a better idea to get back to university, study medicine for 7 years and... well, I'll feel more sure of a job than a portfolio full of poly-houses and sub-div creatures (Demo Reel included). Time is money.

Also, it's competitive... to the extreme. Young kids in school take advantage of their free time to develop the skills neccesary to get a good job early on. I still have a full time job (which I love, but still).

Oh yes, an idea came up to me. What about using Maya for architectural presentations. The whole South Cape region in my country is exploding into a city scape. I know they use CAD but if someone is willing to invest money on presentations for clients that would give them a VERY good preview of what the building would look like, inside and out... then make changes as they see fit - use the 'render' as a billboard preview on-site... dunno.

Basically I need a little direction in crossing over to 3D... I am 30 years old (not married) and with reasonably good artistic skills (sculpturing to drawing)...

Hi... I'm new to Maya, and this is the first time i'm going to post an answer (I've found your dilemma to be really interesting). What you point out is true... the time you need to learn said program is enormous. I have only just started, and am gobbling up all the info i find, and even so, the amount of knowledge you need to achieve something decent is overwhelming... there is loads of competition out there.

I'm 22, a Media Studies student at university, and have discovered recently a passion for this program. Like you say, it may take me 10 years to be good at it, but I know it's something that I really enjoy (don't think i'd get much kick out of being a doctor), and I'd love to have a job where I could channel my creativity through 3D.

My opinion isn't very valuable, I'm only a newbie, but I would recommend you to try it a little more, do some tutorials to get a hang of the basic tools, and see if you find yourself at night trying to sleep...thinking about that damn "Maya"! Then I'm sure you'll know the answer.

:) Good luck whatever you decide.

i dunno just do what you like.. if you wanna be a doctor go be a doctor, if you wanna do 3d go do 3d. But don't do it because there is the most work there and you will make money, you will only be succesfull if you have a passion for it.

The doctor reference in my question seems a bit confusing... I'll never want to be a doctor! It was merely a very bad comparison.

It seems I was a bit overwhelmed with the idea of a major career change in the near future. Which was a bit silly. It's true, you need a passion for it and forget about all the other nonsense. Thanx.

Anyway, I'm still scratching my head quite a bit around the program. Especially around the Hypershade area. I've orderd two books:

INTRODUCTION TO 3D GRAPHICS & ANIMATION USING MAYA

MAYA FEATURING CREATURE CREATIONS WITH CDROM

Does anyone know anything about the second book? I get a lot of mixed opinions. He approaches the subject first from physical modeling and then over to CG. I think it is great... but we'll see when the book arrives. Not many good books in our country...