Is it a good idea to finish the first learning flow before moving on to other courses? I do intend to learn animation as well but I like modeling and texturing better.
And also is it feasible to work freelance in this field and be able to earn at least as much as a full time job? I know that depends on many different factors but just looking to understand general picture of freelancing in 3D. Any advise is welcome.
Hi Flicker360,
Your learning is really up to you. It depends on what your interests are. If you are interested in modelling and texturing and that is what you want to do, I would say learn and practice that as much as you can.
Sure, finish the learning flow if you think it will help you achieve your goal, but you are really going to excel if you take what you have learnt from a tutorial and create your own small challenge to practice those skills.
As for freelancing, there are 2 routes to go. Generalist or specialist. At the start, I would suggest that you learn at least a little about everything (generalist) but then specialise and focus on the things that you enjoy (specialist).
But the first steps are learning and practice.
Hope that helps.
Thank you so much for the reply. It gets overwhelming and you start thinking too much about too many things. A nice and simple reply like this helps putting things in perspective, taking a deep breath and focus.
I have one more question, How should I go about making my portfolio, I have no idea about how to approach it. So some general tips would be great. Thanks again.
Hi Flicker. Don't worry about your portfolio at first, you can accumulate content for that as you go. But maybe that is what your small challenge pieces can be after you learn something and are practicing your craft.
It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be 'as good as you can do for now'.
As you improve, you can replace your work with the better and better work.
Go Flicker, Go!
In regards to portfolio. Make sure to keep your custom works in it as opposed to adding your submissions from a course that taught you how to do something.
For example the common "Glazed Doughnut" scene is popular in beginner portfolios who watched tutorials from Andrew Price and The Melvin from CGCookie is another.
I have a small portfolio of works that are mainly mine outside of course content or that I am proud of after having completed certain course content (like the female cartoon character). I'm no professional but rather a hobbyist but I learned this lesson from a Live Stream by Grant Abbit as he reviewed peoples portfolios.
Hope that helps! I agree with Wayne. Get a good breadth and then go for depth if you like something in particular. Knowing the basics going into a whole workflow helps you understand the different aspects in a production pipeline.