Thundeer's Tiny Library

3D LEARNING RESOURCES MEGATHREAD

Resources directed primarily for learning character creation in 3D.

Pick resources that fit your learning style, instead of brute forcing learning in a way you don't enjoy - that's why I tried including multiple options in each topic for you to pick from!

In these threads I will include whenever possible:

• Free & paid courses

• Youtube videos & playlists

• Blog posts

• Official documentation / manuals

• Books

• Cheat sheets

• Summary of the important concepts you shoud learn

DISCLAIMER: I'm going through every single resource listed to ensure high quality, but in the case of longer courses and books, some might not have been 100% completed.

If I can help one person's character come to life in 3D, this whole write-up will have been more than worth it!

CORE CONCEPTS

🐣 FRESH START!

"For those with little to no knowledge of 3D modelling or sculpting. In this thread, the goal is to get you confortable enough navigating the interface of popular 3D software, and give you enough tools to create small projects!"

🐤 BEGINNER

"With the fundamentals understood, the next step is help you become capable of modelling complete characters from scratch."

🗿 SCULPTING

"Create your characters using 3D sculpting tools. In sculpting, you use brushes to push and pull large chunks of vertices, similar to clay sculpting. More suitable for organic and denser models. Shares a lot of similarities with digital painting workflows."

⏹️ RETOPOLOGY

"More often than not, you'll need to convert your high-poly sculptures into low-poly models before you can use it for things such as animation and UV texturing. This process is called retopology."

🧵 UV UNWRAPPING

"After retopology, we'll take all of the faces on our 3D model and flatten them into a 2D image so we can start texturing them. This process is called UV unwrapping."

🎨 TEXTURING & BAKING

"Texturing our character, using both procedural and hand-painting methods. We will also be baking our detail, which is the process of 'flattening' the expensive detail from our high-poly mesh to the low-poly textures, for better performance"

💪 RIGGING & WEIGHT PAINTING

"Setting up a armature and weight painting so our character can be animated"

🏃 ANIMATION

"Animating our rigged character. This thread will go over methods of animating using popular 3D software, as well as tips on fundamental animation concepts (for example, The 12 Principles of Animation)."

💡 LIGHTING

"Lighting our character for a good presentation."

🎞️ POST-PROCESSING

"Final visual adjustments on our images and videos so that they're more impactful and eye-grabbing"

🦝 COMPLETE 3D CHARACTER WORKFLOW

"Resources going through the entire process of creating a 3D character, from reference gathering to final render, so you can better organize yourself."

EXTRA RESOURCES

😺 NPR / ANIME LOOK

"Effects you can add to your scene to give it that cartoon/anime/hand-painting appearance."

🎮 GAME ASSETS

"Resources focused on the creation of 3D assets optimized for games."

🧰 OTHER RESOURCES

"Complementary software, models & textures, marketplaces, photo reference libraries, etc."

💬 FAQ

How should I make use of this megathread?

"If you're brand new to 3D, consider checking out the first two threads (🐣FRESH START! and 🐤BEGINNER), then go through the remaining core concepts depending on the project you're working on. For example, you don't need to go through the 🏃ANIMATION module if you're making a static model."

Do I need to spend money on courses or software to become good at 3D?

"Not at all! In every single topic, I made sure to include options for free learning content and free software, so you don't have to commit money to learning 3D. You're perfectly able to create a complete, professional 3D character from start to finish without spending a single cent."

Why did you feature a content creator / company / blog that at some point promoted, or currently promotes, generative AI?

"Unfortunately 3D is way more intertwined with generative AI compared to digital art (similar to programming). I have no intention of (purposefully) featuring resources that promote generative AI, but content creators that have created really useful educational content might also be currently riding the AI hype train."

Was AI used for the creation of this page?

"No generative AI was used on the creation of this page (besides whatever quick AI-summary info Brave or Google throws at my face when searching). I am very much against generative AI and I rather spend weeks handcrafting this megathread from scratch."

💭 FINAL THOUGHTS

It would mean the world to me to hear your feedback and suggestions to help me improve this megathread! Just drop by a comment in a specific thread, or DM me in one of my socials.

Also DM me any work created with the help of this megathread, it will sincerely make my year!