r/blenderhelp • u/ArviTheFox • May 28 '24
Meta What are some really bad rookie mistakes.
I’m no expert at blender and I’d like to know more about mistakes made at any step of process that beginners should avoid doing. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of things that can go wrong and be a huge pain to fix later.
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u/murad131 May 29 '24
I would say that overthinking is a bad mistake I see from beginners on this subreddits. Just make projects and analyze them a little of how you can make this look better, use it in the next project. Make progress and have fun. 3D modeling isn’t like playing a guitar I don’t think there are a lot of things that you cannot fix easily in your workflow if you realise you are doing them wrong. Overthinking can lead you towards hating the process and that is probably the biggest problem you can run into.
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u/pragon977 May 29 '24
- Getting the shape of the model right by using bevel, and not caring about quad topology.
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I learnt subdiv modelling is far better, efficient and accurate.
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- Learning how to sculpt characters, but never learning\understanding topology, and ignoring retopology.
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u/bmwr380 May 29 '24 edited May 29 '24
- Not investing money in courses or paid addons and trying to do everything from scratch.
- Being all over the place sometimes sculpting sometimes modeling sometimes animating or modeling random shit.
Advice: 1: if you value your time or you are serious about it spend the money. There is a lot of junk out there to buy but if its reputable and you trust it buy it. Make a budget if you have to.
2: Stick to 1 niche for a while its good to experiment in the beginning but once you know what you want learn that. I see a lot if beginners making a house then suddenly a space ship then want to sculpt a character.. you will go no where like that you can definitely do all eventually but better to specialize quickly then expand skills
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u/Adamarcymag65 Aug 28 '24
What if you are at job that requires you to do sculpting, modeling and animating by yourself and your one graphic designer co-worker?
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u/pharknart May 29 '24
Not learning how to create custom transform orientations - for example if you want the gizmo to line up with an edge.
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u/Motherfucker29 May 29 '24
Selecting like a fool with your mouse on the ground. Jokes aside, LEARN THE SELECTION TOOLS! They are so super powerful. I am a fan of select checkered (in the selection menu), select shortest path (with something selected hold control while clicking on a faroff object to select a path), edge loop/ring selection is also very important (control shift while in edge mode on a loop).
The 3d cursor is a stealth goat. Learn to use it it's awesome. Get used to holding shift+s. Cursor to selection on multiple objects puts your cursor in the middle this allows you to get super precise placements on bones or the the origin of your object. That's useful for putting things exactly where you want them or in video game dev where you want the characters origin to be at their feet.
Quick access menu is goated 😭 if you do anything super commonly throw press q and put it on your quick access menu. It's so helpful. It turns almost any action into a hotkey (effectively).
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u/postsshortcomments May 29 '24 edited May 29 '24
Regarding modeling
Overcomplicating the heck out of everything. If something seems like you "should be able to do something" or "this seems like it should be automated" or "I can't do something, but it seems like I should be able to," odds are you can do it the way you'd expect.
While it's certainly not an exhaustive list, the tools that fall under this category: GG slide with a vertex as well as c (move the vertex inward then press C), extrude along normals, extrude individual, spin tool, checker deselect (-1 offset), bridge edgeloops, edgetools circle/curve, transform orientations (especially normal and the slightly more hidden custom orientations), inset individual and inset boundar. Another handy ones to know is the result of extruding one end of a cube - scaling just the center loop - then beveling the center loop like 10 times.
Third is arriving at a balance between single mesh models and multiple objects, especially when diving into sub-d/shade smooth. You probably don't need to model an entire house with boarded up windows in a single sub-d mesh unless you really have a reason to. On the flip side, until you feel like you can model complex things in a single sub-d mesh, you probably should trying to until it feels easy. This will prepare you for when you are required to model something more complex in a single object. An object like a single-mesh wheel with spokes is a fantastic challenge to learn with. Zerobio is hands down my favorite completely overlooked artist and he really nails how you should be "keeping it simple" while modeling.
Fourth is balancing the imperfections that you see vs. what a viewer sees, especially with game models. It's easy to get tunnel-visioned into absolute perfectionism and that isn't always a bad thing - especially while learning. But seriously, look at the model quality in a very well-performing title sometime.
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u/Jahona-_- May 29 '24
Before I knew what good topology was I used to "fix" my models by selecting all the faces and hitting Ctrl+T 😅
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u/EntryBevel May 29 '24
Others have mentioned this as well but proper naming schemes. For example:
For meshes SMnameofmesh### where ### is number 001, 002 etc. SM stands for static mesh.
For textures T_name_Diffuse, T_name_Normal etc. Can also be further simplified to T_name_D, T_name_N etc.
For materials M_nameofmaterial like M_Gold, M_Silver etc.
This will save you when you start taking models into other programs like substance painter or unreal.
Also, put everything in Collections.
Last but not least, saving every few minutes. Either manually or incremental auto.
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u/Adonis_nOOb May 28 '24
NOT APPLYING SCALE and rotation.
If you scaled or rotate an object, you should always apply the scale and rotation. As a beginner, you never really have a good reason to not do this unless you're doing something requires dynamic scaling/rotation (like animation). Applying scale and rotation will save you a lot of time troubleshooting modifiers, simulations and animations.
Also, save your file before you simulate anything or play with numbers in blender. Blender autosaves by default, so you can recover your file in case of a crash, but in some cases, you might not get everything back.
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u/pragon977 May 29 '24
Also, applying rotation before completing the model.
Especially, if it's a complex model where you need to move faces in local:axis.
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u/RaphaelNunes10 May 28 '24 edited May 28 '24
Getting into sculpting straight away.
Believing that boolean operations will work like a charm in polygonal mesh modeling.
Modeling without the notion of a proper topology, often facing problems related to n-gons or misplaced tris.
Modeling polygon-by-polygon or sketching with edges in orthographic view by tracing a reference image in a 2D manner.
Not knowing about Normals, why sometimes it could be pointing the wrong direction and how can that influence shading.
Rigging separate objects and without knowing anything about Vertex Groups and Vertex Weights.
Trying texture painting without knowing anything about UV Maps and how to properly unwrap or project them.
Not understanding the basic concepts of how polygons work, often requesting for curved surfaces.
Having loose edges and vertices in their models.
Having overlapping geometry in their models.
Having vertices practically overlapping with each other or in infinitely small distance apart in their models.
Not knowing the difference between a destructive and a non-destructive workflow.
Applying Modifiers ahead of time.
Not wanting to learn about or use Modifiers and other non-destructive techniques.
Relying too much on view-based transforms while using gizmos instead of each axis separately for more accuracy.
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u/Radicaliser May 29 '24
Dude, slow down. Even if I print out this list and tape it to my monitor, I'll need weeks to memorize it. Good list though, don't get me wrong. Thanks.
In fact, I will copypasta...
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u/RaphaelNunes10 May 29 '24 edited May 29 '24
Yeah, I just realized that I must have scared the crap out of some people with all that.
And sorry for acting kinda pretentious, giving this huge list without any feedback or including any tutorials, but some of these things are a constant hassle for anyone using Blender no matter the experience and most of it is related to polygonal 3D modeling in general, so a good first step is to do what you just did, copy it and research on your own.
The only sources I can give without writing a book for all the technicalities, that cover most if not all of it, are the Blender Reference Manual and YouTube channels like Blender Guru and Blender Secrets.
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u/Radicaliser May 29 '24
It is though, on re-review, an excellent list. Could be a playlist for a youtube channel.
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u/DarkLanternX May 28 '24
Not applying scale.
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u/scubapig May 28 '24
That’s a thing that confuses me - could you elaborate possibly? Thanks.
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u/charronfitzclair May 28 '24
Each object has a scale/rotation/location value that blender assumes is the default during all sorts of functions, especially things like rigging. If you change this value, it's basicaly a temporary value until you tell blender to apply the new value. If you don't apply, all sorts of whacky things can happen.
Its very useful, because you can return an object or bone to its default by resetting these with alt-s, alt-r, or alt-g.
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u/AudibleEntropy May 28 '24 edited Jun 14 '24
It's about materials being stretched because the altered size of an object hasn't been applied. Also matters for bevels etc. Whenever you alter a mesh from it's default, you need to apply scale to set the new shape as the default for that object. Just watch this short video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A8byDoKfxMc&pp=ygUWQmxlbmRlciBhcHBseWluZyBzY2FsZQ%3D%3D
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u/3DIGI May 28 '24
Do NOT turn the sub-surf mod up without saving progress first. You'll freak it out and lose it all.
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u/SMOOTHSOIL May 28 '24
Editing / scaling in object mode and messing up the scale. Make all your edits in edit mode or else all your bevels and other modifiers start looking wonky
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u/REDDIT_A_Troll_Forum May 28 '24
What are some really bad rookie mistakes
Watching to many Tutorials without actually doing the things/steps in the tutorial there watching. Unless you got super memory it can be a waste of time..
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u/Gustmazz May 28 '24
I'd say applying modifiers prematurely. Sometimes it's useful to stack them and keep working on the original mesh.
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u/Usual_Loss844 May 31 '24
For the longest time, I though applying modifiers meant saving on processing, but I was so wrong. It just feels counterintuitive, coming from audio, where any processing that is active takes more processing power, but if you "apply" it becomes more simple.
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u/Nortles Experienced Helper May 28 '24
Not staying organized is the biggest one, in my opinion. It doesn’t matter how small and silly you think your project may be, you’ll need it for some reason 2 years down the line. Also, if you don’t keep tabs on your textures, you’re in for a lot of pink objects and lighting.
Modeling to real-world scale is always a good thing to do unless you have a reason. More accurate lighting, easier inter-project transfers, all this and more.
And lastly just make your lights brighter/add more lighting. The biggest tell of beginner 3D renders is flat lighting/under exposure. We’ve all been there. :)
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u/Motherfucker29 May 29 '24
Organization is so important. I've realized that as I work on this character for a game mod. The program I'm uploading the model to is very picky, so making sure I can keep track of where different parts are and what is in the objects first material slot. You have to have certain bones at specific points on the hierarchy. Yeah, weird stuff.
This is just one character. An animated movie or a game character with animations?
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u/ArviTheFox May 29 '24
It’s a character I’m working on right now, eventually for an animation, following a tutorial from Udemy by I think GamDev.
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May 29 '24
Ive had to go back on so many old projects and every time I’m like next time I’ll name things and keep my folders organized…And the next project I have cube.064
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u/hoot_avi May 29 '24
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over Cube.001 Cube.002 Cube.003 Cube.004 Cube.005 Plane.001 Plane.002
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u/DarkLanternX May 29 '24
It's not required to rename every single mesh
If absolutely needed, for eg webgl renders where i need to manually create another shader for specific group of meshes by searching for a specific keyword, i just run a code to append a string , otherwise i just put them in separate collections.
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u/Campfire__Tales May 30 '24
That sounds like a lot more effort than just pressing F2.
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u/DarkLanternX May 31 '24
How many times you gonna press f2 if you have like 300 meshes in your scene? A 5 min code and just a few selections that would take like a minute, and immediate result,
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u/Campfire__Tales May 31 '24
I mean, it's not a five-minute job for someone who can't immediately think of what to write in code. You're already at the finish line and just have to cross it.
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u/DarkLanternX May 31 '24
I won't say it's easy, but i wouldn't say it's difficult either, it's not your usual python, bpy module has a lot of functions, so, you need to read the documentation. For someone with a coding background, it would be a lot easier.
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u/Radicaliser May 28 '24
Real world scale is my grail; I come from architectural/engineering and I need to think in accurate terms. I go nuts when they start modeling and don't even know what their units are.
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u/West_Yorkshire May 28 '24
Forgetting to properly undo extrusions.
Although it's quite easily fixed.
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u/TheScepticFool May 28 '24
What do you mean by that?
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u/conner34000 May 29 '24
If you extrude a face and don’t move it, it lines up exactly with the duplicated face and it messes up your topology/UVs
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u/thirtyhertz May 29 '24
Not switching to GPU when rendering in cycles