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Getting Started in 3D. What a New Student Should Think About, Part 1

(version September 16, 2007)

New to 3D? Wondering about 3D as a career choice (Software Engineer, Artist, Animator, Modeler and many others)? What should you do to prepare yourself for this highly competitive field? What kind of computer should you have? What should you do before you arrive at college? And what should you work on yourself outside of classes? This article discusses these issues and offers some suggestions.

Importance of 3D

3D has entered just about every profession. You can be working in medicine, geology, law, art, engineering, biology or the military and be very involved in 3D. These are just a few examples. The professions not mentioned also have active areas of 3D. You can get a more general idea about this area by looking at the page The 3D Presence on this Web site.

Educational materials using 3D technology are very common and can be seen in almost all areas of knowledge. This particular article is aimed mostly at the new student coming to college and interested in working in 3D. Here are some recommendations with a few ideas about how you can save some money as well.

What Software Should I Know About?

Adobe Photoshop. The latest version is called Creative Suite 3 (CS3) and has some built-in support for 3D. Read about these features at http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/upgrade/. This product is included in various bundles such as Adobe Creative Suite 3. If you are a student you will find special pricing for you at academic specialty sites such as http://www.academicsuperstore.com. Use the search box and look for Adobe Photoshop CS3. The 3D Animation Lab at Texas Tech University Libraries has Adobe Photoshop, and you can use the Lab to learn about the capabilities of the product. The things that you should learn about first in Photoshop are topics such as: converting from one image format to the other, layers, resizing image files, and saving for a Web page. You will probably use these features most of the time. There is one very good Photoshop look-alike product which is free and excellent: Artweaver. You can learn about Artweaver at http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?id=59,141,0,0,1,0. What makes Artweaver very strong is that it can load native Adobe Photoshop PSD files and write out PSD files in Adobe Photoshop format. Artweaver supports layers, brushes and filters. While not a complete replacement for Adobe Photoshop, your home machine with Artweaver and access to Photoshop at the 3D Animation Lab will give you a good balance of tools to work with. Use this software to understand what the different image types are, what their advantages are (there must a reason for so many different types), and which ones are the fastest to load when working with Web pages.

P3dO is an object browser as is Deep Exploration. They let you easily look at models and make some changes. A freeware version of P3dO is available (http://www.senosoft.com/). Academic Superstore carries Deep Exploration. The capabilities of Deep Exploration exceed those of P3dO in many respects, but both are worth having around.

Learn a modeling tool. Learning more than one is even better. Here are some free choices, and of course you can look for editions of some of this software at http://www.academicsuperstore.com. The ones listed below are free.
    trueSpace version 3.2 free download (http://www.download.com/TrueSpace/3000-2186_4-10298420.html) (We recommend trueSpace for those who are new to modeling because of the extensive learning resources.) This is a full version not crippled in any way. It does not expire.
    Maya Personal Learning edition free download (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7639525). This product is only for personal use for learning how to use the commands and tools. You rendered files will have large Autodesk Maya watermarks over them, making them less suitable for display. Still in all you can learn a lot from working with this edition.
    Houdini Apprentice edition free download. Non-commercial use only. See http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_download&Itemid=208&task=apprentice for details.

What Kind of Computer Should I Buy?

You might be asking the question "Laptop or Desktop?". Right now the answer is not easy if you are working with limited funds. Systems that are ideal for 3D need significant horsepower not only in the CPU but also in the graphics display. You will need lots of disk space. Lots of RAM. And a large monitor. Can you find these options in a laptop? If you are willing to spend at least $5,000 you will find some adequate systems. For most of us such prices are not an easy option. A different solution is this: have a high-powered desktop machine and you will get all the features you need for under $2,500 if you shop with care. You might consider having a laptop good for most coursework and easy take with you. And a desktop for back at the dorm or apartment for your graphics and 3D work. That $2,500 system need not be purchased all at once. You can work your way up the capabilities you need.

Keep in mind that especially in the area of computers used for 3D your system will be out-of-date quickly. Perhaps no other area in computing drives hardware developments as far to the limits as does 3D (modeling, rendering and animation all do this). The demands are extreme: more memory, larger projects, longer animations, higher resolution. The gaming industry all pushes the envelope quite a bit. Before you invest in a $5,000 laptop ask yourself: do I want to spend another $5,000 in 2-3 years to replace an outdated laptop? If you can afford this kind of expense then you probably don't need our voice of caution here. But for most new students in any area of study, that is not only a large expense, but one that will be hard to afford again in 2-3 years. Our suggestion: shop around, wait for prices to drop, focus on desktop computers for 3D. An inexpensive laptop for taking to class and a quality desktop to sit back at your room might be a better solution; it certainly will be cheaper.

The campus has special agreements for Dell and Apple systems. Look into high-end desktop systems. These systems will not perform as well as the ones in the Lab which have been specially designed for use in the tasks of intensive 3D work.

If you are more adventuresome and confident in doing it yourself, you can go to the CPU (Computer Parts USA) (http://www.cpu.com/lubbock/) store for a number of DIY (Do-It-Yorself) packages. For an additional fee the store will put the package together for you. Warranties are not the same as for Dell or Apple products which you purchase through Texas Tech University. Be sure you understand the difference. Prices on computer equipment are often seasonal. Christmas time, the start of classes can be times when computers are more expensive. Look for the summer lull in sales and grab the bargains as you see them.

Your ideal system should have a fast dual core processor, or get a 2 CPU system at higher price. 2 GB of RAM is adequate, but 4 GB is better. Disk drives sized at 200 GB will get your started, but better to get two such drives and STRIPE them. Read about STRIPING options at http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/windows/win2k/win2kdisks.html. This choice is not recommended for someone brand new to computers. You will find this option too difficult unless you have a good hardware understanding. There is a reason that this choice is cheaper: you do the setup work and you are responsible for the maintenance. Monitor cards will add to your costs as well. It is possible to install two monitor cards and bridge them for better overall graphics performance. Tom's Hardware Guide (http://www.tomshardware.com/) has been a standard for learning about computer systems. You will find it helpful to spend some time learning about computer hardware.

If you will be on the Texas Tech University campus consider having an adequate laptop for you school needs, and use the 3D Animation Lab for your 3D work. This will allow you to postpone purchase of a 3D workstation for some time while you gain a better understanding of 3D and computer systems in general.

 

Additional articles will appear in this section.

 

Topics for further exploration and reading on your own

1. Check out Tom's Hardware Guide (http://www.tomshardware.com/) and begin building your knowledge of computer hardware. This knowledge will help you in all areas of study.
2. Read an article about building your own PC at http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/. Remember that when you build your own PC you are responsible for the maintenance. You should only consider this option if you have the time, understanding and resources to do so.
3. Learn about UV Mapping software. This is an important aspect of working with textures. We will cover this topic in a future article. If you can get started on the topic on your own, you will have something very useful to work with. There are many sites which discuss UV mapping. Here are two of them where you can get started: http://www.royriggs.com/mapmagic.html and http://www.unwrap3d.com/news.aspx.
4. Take a look at the trueSpace manual (PDF available from the "Manual" button) in the 3D Animation Lab and review the sections on UV Mapping. Try out some examples in the software. 5. Here is a useful experiment for you to try. Take an image and view it with several different kinds of monitors. Use a LCD monitor (flat panel), use a CRT monitor. Look at different brands of monitors. Do you notice any differences? What monitors give the best results?

 

We enjoy hearing from you. Some of the questions listed above will appear in future "Topics in 3D" articles. Please send your comments about this article to