+1 w/
RenegadeWhile there are many ways to produce high quality animations and 3D graphics similar to the video you've mentioned, none will make it a particularly easy task to accomplish. Sad truth is: there is no "royal road" to learning modeling and animation. Or at least right now there isn't.
To get an idea of what's involved, take a look at an amazing piece of freeware called
Blender. Work your way through the documentation and tutorials and you'll gain a good background in this technology. Blender can serve as the basis for further study, and the experience will be helpful when learning how to use other 3D software packages.
Another good starting point is a product called
TrueSpace available from Caligari as a free download.
It's important to note that beyond the software itself, a certain amount of theoretical and mathematical background
will be required to understand much of what this type of software
does. There's no point in trying to use
nurbs and
splines and
booleans and
shaders and...the list goes on, without
some understanding of what they actually do - and how they accomplish it.
A good book or community college course can help with that part.
The Art of 3D Computer Animation and Effects by 'Zack" Kerlow is one of the better intros to this complex topic.
create moviesKind of
pricey, so see if there's a copy in your local bookstore you can browse first. Be sure it looks like it would be helpful to
you before you plunk down approximately $45 for your own copy. If you're learning this on your own tab, always try to save money whenever possible. Especially since this won't be the only expensive book you're going to need to read if you're serious about getting into computer animation.
Luck with your explorations and endeavors in 3D and animation!
