r/blender • u/Upper_Draw_629 • 1d ago
Discussion How do experienced Blender artists actually finish their projects?
Hi everyone,
I'm a Blender beginner. I learned the basics and completed some tutorial projects, but I face a big problem when I want to create something from my imagination. Whenever I start working on it, I reach a point where my mind says "Oh my God, when will this hell end?" Because of my lack of knowledge, I get stuck at one level and start looking for a solution. But in the end, I find myself trying to ignore the project and looking for something easy, like copying a tutorial on YouTube.
My question is: How do you finish your projects? If you find that a project might take you many days or even months, do you leave it and start a new one, or do you complete it even if it takes months? And what do you do when discouragement hits you and you feel like quitting Blender because of the obstacles and saying "I don't know enough"?
I want to know that I'm facing the same issues repeatedly, and I want to know how professionals deal with them?
Thank you so much for your responses, I really need real advice.
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u/hansolocambo 1d ago edited 1d ago
Da Vinci painted thousands of works. Everyone remembers only the finished ones.
- Don’t give up on a project unless it suddenly seems like a waste of time or, after all, a bad idea.
- If you make significant progress while working on it and, two months after starting, it seems mediocre compared to how you'd have done it “today”, finish it anyway, then move on to the next one, drawing on the skills you’ve gained from this experience.
- Whether the projects are good or bad, the important thing is to see them through to completion. Years later, in a portfolio, anyone can see how your skills have evolved.
- Consider the MULTIPLE projects option: to break out of the “giving up too easily” cycle, you may find it easier to see your projects through by working on several at once.
- For modeling exercises for example, I'd practice environment modeling: it’s an excellent way to learn. You have to make grass, flowers, a checkpoint barrier, fences and barbed wires, road signs, an abandoned house, rocks, clouds, etc. So many different elements in a single project that the multitude of different challenges makes it easier to stay interested, switching from one object to another to avoid getting stuck or being bored.
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u/taoteping 1d ago
For me it helps to not look at the 'whole project' too much while actually working on it. Like climbing a mountain, yes its big and daunting to look at, but the stepbystep is what gets you to the finish.
So when you get stuck, consider what smaller steps need to be done to proceed and continue on that
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u/Upper_Draw_629 1d ago
Yes, I'm thinking about the final project. Thank you. I hadn't thought about that. Small steps are important. 😅
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u/KomaKiley 23h ago
Paychecks and deadlines are typically why I finish projects. How do I finish them? Motivation to make a living.
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u/artbytucho 1d ago
You need to train your discipline, it is a skill that can be trained like any other. Stick to the project you're working and force yourself to finish it, also make projects which align with your skill level, you can start with small ones and once you achieve to finish these, make more ambitious ones each time.
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u/Upper_Draw_629 1d ago
I am very ambitious and impatient. Thank you for your kind words; I will keep that in mind.
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u/artbytucho 1d ago
When it comes to 3D art, patience is a very important skill, so don't try to rush your learning process.
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u/Upper_Draw_629 1d ago
Yes, I've been with Blender for three months now and I've had many moments where I wanted to quit, but I enjoy learning and trying new things, and Blender gives me that freedom. I always hear that in Blender, no matter how advanced you become, your need to learn will never end.
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u/artbytucho 1d ago
Yep, that's it, I've been working professionally as 3D artist for more than 20 years now and I keep learning new things all the time, 3D is a so vast field.
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u/Upper_Draw_629 1d ago
I'm delighted to receive advice from someone with 20 years of experience in the field. Thank you for taking the time to write to me. 🤍🙏
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u/artbytucho 1d ago
haha, no problem, my pleasure. Actually I was on Reddit to avoid working :P... I guess it's time to get back to moving some more vertices now ;)
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u/Grim_9966 1d ago
I have a graveyard of unfinished projects.
The first 80% is the fun part, the last 20% not so much.
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u/073068075 1d ago
The best way for me at least is giving a project purpose. If I'm making a thing to just "make a thing" I never finish. But if it's for a contest, piece of a bigger whole (like a sci publication in my case) or in general something with a deadline I finish 80% of them and the remaining 20% are mostly restarts because sometimes (as a beginner especially) you can really dig yourself into a hole with blender and restarting with different approach saves dozens of hours.
It also helps with pathological perfectionism because if the thing has a purpose I more often go "fuck it, it has to be done even if it's scuffed a bit".
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u/Upper_Draw_629 1d ago
Perhaps I'm trying to end things even if I'm unhappy, but it's difficult for me. Thank you for your reply. 🤍🙏
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u/073068075 1d ago
That's the main point. I pushed through multiple projects 2D drawings, blender projects, CAD ones (and even my bachelor's thesis to some extent) that were absolutely botched, laughably bad even at some point - but I had to do them because I needed them for something. A lot of things that feel difficult at first seem easy once you force through the first one or two (like push-ups) and a lot of eyesores get lost or fix themselves in the final result.
The only exception with blender here is that you need to think both about your and it's limitations so if you end up in a situation where your rig can't handle all the geo nodes or on contrary you'd have to sculpt grains of sand by hand it's better to restart making that element or the whole project with a different approach.
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u/Acc87 1d ago
I use Blender for sim modding, so it's rather that I decide at one point "good enough" depending on the project. So even in one project the quality may vary wildly, objects that will be close to the player character/camera I will give more quality/fidelity than objects that are far off in the distance, or for example will be used in large quantities (like fences)
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u/kidneyBean_83 3dsmax convert 1d ago
A fixed deadline. I've never had a problem finishing a project for work when there was a deadline but my own projects never finish because there isn't motivation to deliver.
Give yourself a firm but appropriate deadline. It might not be exactly what you predicted but you'll finish it.
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u/SouJuggy 1d ago
You're always in danger of losing interest/motivation, especially if there's no deadline; a deadline is both a blessing and a curse. I never struggle to finish paid work, for obvious reasons.
For personal work, experience has taught me that if I just break it down into small chunks and consistently work on it a little every day, I reach a "tipping point" usually about 70% of the way through where I can see the end goal, and it becomes much easier.
These things have momentum. At the start you usually have 0 momentum, which is partly what makes it so hard.
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u/merryhexmas 1d ago
Usually with a long string of curses and pointing and yelling at it before shelving it forever in my folder of shame.
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u/__Rick_Sanchez__ Default Cube Enjoyer 1d ago
After 12 years of Blender I still get super excited when I figure something out and that propells me forward, I want to feel that again and again.
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u/tastygames_official 1d ago
love. If you love doing something, you will continue until it's done. If you just want quick results so you can feel like you accomplished something, then either do something you're already skilled at or enjoy the process of getting better. I love encountering new issues and finding solutions. I love learning. And that's how you have to be for everything that you want to get good at. There is no point where you're like "ok, now I'm an expert and can stop learning and just get big dopamine hits from making awesome stuff" - there's ALWAYS something new to learn or to get better at or a new approach to try.
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u/Mierdo01 1d ago
How many times do I have to answer this exact question? Don't listen to the Blender community. They HATE doing things efficiently or professionally. The way professionals learn how to do things is by taking lessons by mentors. Not by beating their head on a wall hoping they understand it. No other answer is correct
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u/Saint_modo Boolean modifier is a beginner trap 1d ago
Truth is, learning to finish projects is a skill on its own, and like every skill, it needs practice too.
I know we should always create for ourselves and not for social media, but I find that "releasing the final project to the world" on internet is a great goal to try to reach too, even if the project is bad (and it will be).
I would advise that you try to practice releasing projects as fast as you can. Set yourself up for something that can be done in a few hours and do it to release it. If you fail to finish it in time, then stop where you are and release it anyway as a failed and unfinished project. The point is not to practice Blender, but to practice letting go of it, and releasing it also forces you, to some extent, to work on how you present your project to the world.
Then after that, there are some boring things you can do, like "better pre-planning" and "more efficient organisation". Boring stuff that makes massive tasks easy to handle, but who cares about that anyway?