Hello everybody! I wanted to create a polybook but thought why not introduce myself first.
I am a 39 years old male living in the Netherlands, currently working as a software engineer.
I've always been creative though and used to love to dabble in 3D as a hobby. At some point I did consider turning it into a profession but some sad life events and a lot of self doubt with perfectionism turned my pleasure into something that only reminded me of failure.
The last time I was really active with 3d (before recently joining cgcookie) was around seven years ago. You can find some of my (old) works on my website. Here is the link to the main gallery: www.3dioot.com Some of the work there would be hard to reproduce for me today actually, I really let things go.
Fortunately, I recently realized I still love this stuff, just as much as I used to do. It is not necessarily my goal to turn it into my profession (I feel old and the competition is intense in this field) but I do have the ambition to create a short. Or perhaps even a few. I get so much happiness from seeing the work others put online and I'd love, someday, for my work to touch a few people as well.
I think what I am pretty good at is sculpting (digitally). I also love to tinker with rigs and control schemes. I never turned that into actual movement though. At the moment I am very much enjoying Wayne's animation course. When I am honest I joined CGcookie primarily for his course, at least initially. It's like I am finally doing what I've been working towards all those years ago, its exciting and a little terrifying at the same time.
I also love to teach. I know that is pretty funny when I am here to learn but its the truth. I love sharing whatever I have learned myself. Perhaps some of you know Sculptris? The Quick start video's and cheatsheet on the pixologic sculptris forum are mine.
They are by no means perfect but I am, to this day, immensely proud of how many people benefited from those. I also love Sculptris (still do even now Pixologic finally implemented its functionality into Zbrush). I saw it from its birth, shaped by Dr. Petter and the great Taron. It will forever remain one of my favorite sculpting apps. A lot of my work has been created in it. (the image I attached as well!)
So, in conclusion, I look forward to growing my skillset (and myself as a person) and look forward to taking on this journey together with you.
Feel free to share your hopes and dreams if you are so inclined so we can get to know each other a little better.
Jan-Willem
3dioot As a native English (American) speaker, those were pretty much my exact thoughts. "3deeyoot? Sounds kind of like idiot... is that intentional?" So I am curious now, and would like a translation. Welcome to the cookie!
3dioot Thanks for the advice. That's my plan for January . I've done some sculpting last year (some rocks and Melvin) but haven't done anything else in terms of sculpting since.
ssmurfmier1985 Successfully doing that tutorial is in my to do list for the next month even though it seems like a tall order.
ssmurfmier1985 Oof!
I was already aware of its existence but that looks like a bit of a tall order right now (for me). I agree its a great, great exercise though. It will also really show how much you know about anatomy because you have to nail a lot of structures in a very short amount of time. I am intimidated. I've bookmarked it for now. ;)
You interpret it correctly. The Dutch word for idiot is idioot and the pronunciation is pretty much identical except for stretching out the last oo part. The way you described that phonetically is exactly how it sounds. Its intentional of course, a nod towards my passion for 3D (nuts about 3d) and my tendency to ramble about it to every victim I can find. You should ask my colleagues about the day I remembered how an "inverse foot rig" works and build one the day after. I couldn't shut up about it and they are probably still traumatized. ;)
Oh, and thank you for the welcome!
@drgnclw I look forward to your journey. I am certain you will enjoy it. :)
3dioot @drgnclw It's honestly less difficult than it looks, really!
@theluthier did a live demonstration of this in the beginner modeling class, starts at about 1 hour 11 mins:
https://cgcookie.com/live_streams/bc1-1808-week-4-next-steps-as-a-modeler
Highly recommend checking it out :)
A couple of us beginners with virtually no experience at sculpting tried it out during class and made some pretty good stuff!
Just start with something easier than a human body, like for example yyukinoh1989 did some amazing Pokémon gestural sculpting (search the forum for 'BC-1808' and check out her class thread, you can see the pics at the top). You can build up from there once you get the hang of the technique :)
A little late to the welcoming party but it's great to see some new blood, welcome! I think we all get plagued by self doubt in this profession/hobby, so don't feel bad there. You're never too old to learn, so welcome aboard, and I'm really looking forward to what you create in the future!
Thank you Aaron! I appreciate the encouragement. Its true that as artists we all have to deal with our inner critic which, regretfully, grows right along with our skills. I just hope my passion wins out over it this time so I can keep enjoying this hobby instead of burying it. :)