Hello, this is not a tutorial, this is merely a enthusiastic overview of starting to learn 3D with any application. This article will hopefully lesson the frustration of beginning to learn this great art. This is very informal and I am talking to you as a friend, even though many of you have never talked to me. In reading this article a newcomer will understand why errors happen in surface creation, spline creation and rendering. This is a very generic article and does not touch on one specific application as a whole. Herein I know to be true for only the applications that I have used. These applications are Rhinoceros 3D, 3D Studio Max, Maya, Inspire 3D(Lightwave) and Softimage. My experiences and common sense would tell me that every application has quirks, but I will mention only some from the named applications.

When beginning to learn 3D you must understand it is a slow process. It will take time to learn and understand the fundamentals of your application as well as the basics on 3D itself. Give yourself time to learn, try not to get frustrated and stop, be a rock, drive on, dont let your computer operate you, operate your computer, you are the master, it is the slave.

When I began learning 3D I was 14 years old, I thought I was a slow learner. For the first 3 months nothing made sense, then all of a sudden it hit me, certain tools in each application have different quirks and problems. You need to work around them and know how each tool works, and whats makes it work for you vs. against you. Spend time learning each tool. You are not going to know how it works entirely by using loft once in Rhino 3D or 3D Studio Max. This takes time to see what gives your meshes or nurbs surfaces errors.

The "Loft" tool is just one example, this is the same with every tool. If you are trying to learn multiple applications at the same time, each one handles a tool differently. For example: 3D Studio Max's "Loft" tool is much different than Rhino 3D's tool of the same name. Furthermore, different application's may have the same tool under different names. An example is 3D Studio Max has a tool named "Lathe" that is exactly the same function as Rhino 3D's "Revolve" command.

For me, learning 3D came in leaps and bounds. Something that made no sense for 3 months all of a sudden hit me like: "wow, why didnt I think of that before, this was actually quite easy." Do not make 3D Design harder than it really is. Don't get me wrong, it took me a while to learn, but once I understood the basic tools, it became much easier.

When learning tools, do not stick to one tool or 2 tools. This will ultimately only hurt you. Try to use them tools to keep you motivated. Study things you dont know no matter how hard it gets. Use the tools you know better than others to make things when you get frustrated with the learning process. This will keep you motivated and keep the learning process going much easier, and you will be a more rounded artist.

Show your art to people, get constructive criticism, and do not listen to ignorant criticism.