A Beginner’s Guide to Learning 3D Design and Illustration

3D is a suitable way for designers to create illustrations and visual content. 3D began a while back as cutting-edge technology and transformed industries. It has become a suitable design tool whose demand continues to grow by the day.

Over the recent past, a whole industry has emerged that massively depends on the use of 3D. It is applied in automotive designs, new digital products, and virtual dashboards. It’s also used in smart home interfaces and augmented reality.

Although 3D is popular, the job market is not saturated. There’s still a huge demand for 3D designers and it’s a demand that keeps growing. This has led to the development of different design tools. 3D design is now possible using a web browser. This is unlike before where it was only possible to use proprietary five-figure software and hardware.

Beginner’s looking to learn about 3D design can make use of Adobe Creative Cloud. So what is Adobe Creative Cloud? It’s a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. The applications provide access to a collection of software used for different purposes.

The software allows you to get creative and make anything you can imagine when you get inspired. Some of the purposes the software is used for include design, photography, and video editing. Adobe Creative Cloud is not complex to use and would be very helpful for any beginner. Take advantage and learn all you can about 3D design and illustration.

Learning 3D Design and Illustration

Have you been looking to learn about 3D design and illustration? You are at the right place because the guide in this article will give you a head start into your desired career. Let’s get started.

1. How 3D Works

There’s a lot of similarity between 3D and photography. The similarity is that just like photography, 3D requires a scene to place the objects on. It also needs a virtual camera that takes the shots and proper lighting.

There are many approaches to modeling objects on the software you use. The approaches involve the manipulation of points and surfaces in a three-dimensional space. Each 3D software offers a range of features. This enables a designer to achieve their desired results. It also prevents repetitive and time-consuming tasks.

As a beginner, you don’t have to dive deep into all the techniques. All you need is to learn how to use a few of them to accommodate your creative needs and you’re good to go. The good news is that there are many resources from which to get ready-made objects and libraries. This makes it easy for you to jump right into the scene creation.

Taking the scene and throwing it into a render engine should be the next step in the process.  Now, there are two ways in which you can get an image out of a 3D scene. There’s real-time and ray-tracing.

Real-time engines have features that permit them to take shortcuts. They also allow them to fake some of that real-world behavior using graphic cards. Real-time engines allow you to get the best results for the least amount of computing power.

In ray-tracing, there’s an algorithm that simulates light rays. It computes the resulting color for every pixel of the final render. Although it takes longer, the result is a realistic appearance of light, shadows, and materials.

2. Industries to Explore

As a beginner, it’s important to know which industry draws your attention before you begin learning 3D. Get to understand how the industry incorporates these kinds of visuals.

We have industries like visual effects, movies, and full features animation. These industries depend on these technologies and have specific and demanding workflows. They also have a particular selection of tools.

In case you’re interested in this avenue, it’s best to start with projects in short animated movies. You can also consider production in independent content creation or indie game development.

3. 3D Illustration

3D illustration as part of the animation for advertising, graphic design makes more sense if a designer is established. In such a case, 3D illustrations serve as a natural extension of the designer’s toolkit. This enables one to move further in their existing career.

3D illustration is the most common and accessible avenue to start as a designer. It’s quite easy, not as complex as you’d imagine it to be. However, you’ll be required to get a grip on the whole process of layout and lights. There’s also the setting of the camera and getting it all to render nicely.

You’ll be at liberty to add more complex shapes. You’ll also be able to learn how to model more advanced geometry later on.

4. Real-Time Rendering

Keep in mind that many of the new technologies will possibly incorporate some version of 3D. The reason for this is that it’s a great tool for prototyping interactive interfaces. Let’s not leave out the automotive design.

Knowledge of how real-time engines work is necessary for creating some of these experiences.

Having some surface knowledge is important despite the emergence of many new tools. It helps to dive into the creative work right away.

5. Tools to Use

Let’s assume you already have an idea of the kind of work you want to create in 3D. The next step is for you to determine the right toolkit to use. The market doesn’t have many 3D suites. So, you can set aside a few of them right away.

Industry-standard tools such as the Maya and 3dsmax are powerful workhorses. They drive the multi-million dollar productions seen in games and movies. If that’s the route you’d like to take, you must learn some of this software. Note that, rarely will you find a single software suite being used for a whole production.

The market has powerful tools like the ZBrush for sculpting and Houdini for complex simulations. There are also substance tools for texturing that handle certain tasks very well. 

6. Cinema 4D

A single piece of software that handles all your needs is preferable. This is if you’re looking to create an illustration, and Cinema 4D is one such tool. It’s very popular among illustrators and motion graphic designers. Apart from being intuitive, Cinema 4D is easy to use.

It has powerful tools for animation and motion graphics. As a designer, you can choose from its many external render engines, such as the Redshift.

You can never go wrong with Cinema4D. So go for it if it’s in your employer’s toolkit.

7. Blender

Blender is open-source and free software. It’s the best software if you’re on a budget or can’t justify the money for the sake of creating 3D illustrations. Blender has reached the maturity of a professional-grade tool.

This software has all the features needed for designing. The features include powerful and non-destructive modeling, animation, sculpting, and a built-in-photo realistic render engine.

It also has a real-time render engine EEVE feature. This feature allows a designer to preview and work on their scene as close to the rendered result as they can. So if you’re a beginner looking to enter the 3D world, Blender is the software to go for. 

8. Unity

This is the most popular and accessible game engine. It offers support and tons of documentation and tutorials. It’s for this reason that it’s recommended for games, working interactive prototypes, and XR(AR and VR).

As a beginner, you can get away with just using unity. The reason being is that Unity has implemented a lot of animation and modeling options inside their suite.

9. Vectary

Vectary is a web-based tool that enables you to model, layout, and render your scenes online.

It’s useful if a designer needs to use 3D to mockup their designs on 3D devices. It can also help in presenting brand stationery or showcasing 3D models on a website.

Conclusion

The best way to know something is to begin learning. So if any area of 3D as mentioned has caught your attention, get the software you like and begin learning.

It’s also important that you invest in a well-built course. One that covers a certain area of 3D and matches what you’d like to achieve. This way, you’ll get the results that motivate you and you can build on this knowledge with your projects.

The other option is to invest time in formal education or on-site learning. Learning becomes so much easier if you’re in a room with a tutor and other learners who are as motivated as you are. It gives you undistracted focus and creativity.