The Biggest Mistake Every Artist Makes - Basics vs Fundamentals

[@ZephrusPrime]

The only real skills that I learned from my Art School while getting my Degree in Game Art was in fact the basic fundamentals. Learning the core of art- perspective, composition, color theory, comparative anatomy, anatomy, form, value & lighting etc. These are some of the true things that will cover over all the different mediums, regardless if your doing 3D. All the programs and software will be constantly changing and evolving as technology progresses forwards. The fundamentals are forever. My first two quarters were only the Fundamentals of Art and no 3D or digital of any kind. However they only EXPOSE you to them and it's up to you to keep learning and you will only get better by putting in the work and time.

[@jwalinadhyaru2218]

Which college did u go to ?

[@donnewmancanada]

As a software developer, I loved the programming analogy. I've been using several of your videos as references for coaching my team on having more of artisan mindset and it is cool to see the analogy being flipped. Our different disciplines are closer than most people think they are. I have also seen my share of people that know the features of a language or tool, but no understanding how to put them together in a good way. They can write software that works, but they don't know how to write good software that works well.

[@FlippedNormals]

Awesome, glad to hear it Don!

[@beskamir5977]

Agreed, as a self taught artist that recently graduated with a degree in computer science and psychology that analogy was fantastic. Also really loved the point about incorporating multidisciplinary knowledge into artwork and trying to answer "why" questions.

[@JustJunuh]

THIS. There really is more overlap between artists and programmers than people think. Especially with gamedev :)

[@36Dome36]

That really was helpful, thank you! Gives me a new perspective on how to learn. Please more Videos like this, even if its more theoretically/philosophically!

[@FlippedNormals]

Good to know!

[@MaryCarrozzino]

This is so true!! And there was this time that a girl that I knew asked for feedback on her work and I said that some of them were lacking a lot at fundamentals she got really pissed because went to an Art School, so she said it hurted her listening that she was still lacking fundamentals. I tried to explain her that no one of us will be ever able to master the fundamentals completely because it's beyond a lifetime of study, the best that we can do is only try to keep getting better on them, but she insisted on thinking about fundamentals as basics.

[@DarkDiaspora]

Gents you broke this down so nicely. I find that the creative and technical journey interweave itself into each other and as a artist you feel the frustration. I think this gives pause to those moments so that one can reflect and decide where the skill needs to be improve. Thank you kindly I will definitly tackle these challenges like this from now on.

[@calvindexter75]

This is by far the best video I have seen on KZbin in a very long time.

[@DapperProf]

Related to schools, there is a huge variation about Basics v Fundamentals at different schools, based on history and administration. When I was in college I learned a lot of fundamentals, but not enough basics. As a result I had to learn more software and practical skills after I graduated on my own time to get a portfolio that was read for industry work. As I learned from colleagues later, a lot of fly-by-night/for-profit schools were obsessed with basics, not fundamentals. Those skills became much more favorable because they were easier to judge from admin - in essence, easier to quantify. Now I that I am a teacher, seeing a transition in person at my school from fundamental education to an obsession with "basics"/tech I now see how fundamentals are so much more valuable towards long-term career longevity. Some students come from a background with good fundamentals, often from childhood art class or community college. Those students need more software/basic skills....but other students without that have to be either some sort of gifted intuitive, or they might never learn what they need. They graduate with a worthless degree that has taught them how quickly and efficiently model/texture/light something unappealing, and they don't understand why it is not appealing/accurate unless someone with a better grasp on fundamentals tells them it's not good. Overall, I have learned that fundamental skills are much more meaningful as they last for much longer than the software skills...nothing I learned in college as far as software is the same, other than basic Maya. Even with that, Maya 4.0 is nothing like 2020 in any way in terms of interface.

[@elisecccccccc]

I got my internship (with a possibility for full-time work at the end) with my fundamentals! I’m self taught so some of my basics aren’t quite where they should be yet, but they were so impressed with my fundamentals they were happy to teach me the basics 🤠

[@elisecccccccc]

@@mehdy3d well, to be clear I do know basic modeling and procedural/node based shaders but the areas I’m weak are like editing UVs, sculpting, and rigging. My strong suit is definitely taking what I do know how to do and making a cool composition out of it so that has helped me a lot. Working on my weak points as I go!

[@AlexxThunder1]

Great video guys, greetings from Mexico! and totally agree! Im currently coursing a bachelors degree on contemporary art and we struggle with that problem all the time, most of the people who enter the carreer have an understanding on basics, but what the carreer tries to teach us is fundamentals first and the basics as a secondary line and that has helped me a lot no just in my artistic produccion but also when I started on 3D, really great information guys, this is one of the channels where you find topics not everybody talks about.

[@lollipoptjh]

Could you do a video about how to improve on composition? Like take photos, study old master's compositions, any composition artists to study?

[@vasilmilchev9362]

I actually learned this the hard way. I was so focused on learning all the softwares (I have no art background, actually I have a masters in LAW :D ) that I totally neglected the fundamentals and that is why I lost my first job as a junior environment artist not so long ago. And after this wake up call I started learning classic drawing, composition etc. So this video ... dead on the target.

[@FlippedNormals]

We know the feeling, it's so easy to focus on the wrong thing. The consequences are pretty grim, like you say

[@gr8m8n8]

do you mind if I ask how you landed your job as a junior environment artist in the first place, if you say you were lacking in fundamentals?

[@dasu2734]

I had to learn all the software, if not, I wont get hired here in Asia.

[@cardieshe1371]

How much did it take to render these 2 avatars?

[@FlippedNormals]

We render them in Eevee so it's pretty fast

[@adam551982]

Lol!

[@dungeonmaster217]

@@FlippedNormals so sad it's still not industry standart.

[@Uradamus]

Good points here, I've been thinking about something along these lines a fair bit recently, in regard to game development, since I started to get back into Godot again recently. Most of the tutorials are about the basics, how things are done with the software, but almost none of them are about the fundamentals regarding the process of game design. Stuff like developing a concept, deciding on essential mechanics, the importance of iteration and good reference material, how to get consistent scale across all assets, what makes a game fun, among many other things that never really get touched upon in most tutorials/series.

[@Lemrod83]

Basically, you can compare it to intelligence and consciousness. Intelligence is a tool. The sharper the mind, the greater the opportunities for interaction with our environment. But intelligence does not help in finding direction or meaning. Consciousness, non-judgmental observation, holistic perception penetrates deeper and represents a foundation of our life. This thought is particularly interesting today because we are beginning to transfer intelligence to machines, as we once did with muscle power. That brings with it the necessity that we think about what remains for us. And it's the fundamental things, it's consciousness.

[@manucheremeh5303]

Wow this video is a real eye-opener, thank you so much FlippedNormals

[@PrimordialStrange]

12:30 OH GOD this is so SO LEGIT! I am currently enrolled in an art school and this is so relatable. Spent 3 months bored by lectures on MAYA. I saw one video on increasing productivity in Maya by H & M sensei and Modelled "Minas Tirith -the white city in the Lord of the rings" just when I was beginning to get into modeling. Thank you, sir(s).

[@nielsbugge3777]

Also thanks again guys for making another amazing video, and for taking the time to share your thoughts and communicating them so clearly!

[@TranqulDingbat]

Could you guys make a video on how to learn fundamentals? IThings like your thought process when trying to light something a certain way or compose an image in a certain way. I've been able to dissect some of those things based on your portfolio reviews of artists and apply that line of thinking to my own art. The other day, when trying to sculpt my dog, I had reference images of the skeletal systems and musculature of beagles along with various pictures of similar dogs on my pureref board haha. The lecturers at my school do emphasize on fundamentals as well as software familiarity but the knowledge sources are scattered and you really have to go beyond the realms of 3D to find it.

[@airwindows]

They often touch on fundamentals in their main videos (and, presumably, paid courses) which is why I'm following the guys. Hopefully now that they've highlighted the importance of the subject they'll make a point of continuing to bring up relevant fundamentals as they relate to the topic :)

[@colinmcevoy1436]

Great video. When I was in animation college we had a module called 'visual language', which was extremely broad and far reaching in content. It touched on all the areas you discussed such as colour theory, shape and form, composition, texture and contrast, appeal, emotion. I was extremely lucky to get that education, it has served me well over the years. I try to pass on some of the concepts to my animators when the opportunity arises.

[@fergadelics]

How vs why? I feel like I’m held back from understanding words at times because I never studied etymology. Sort of off topic but not. Understanding origins. I’m listening as I’m typing and you’re getting to all these points. An easy case example would be blend modes in Photoshop. People will just browse through the blend modes just waiting until it does the thing they want. They don’t understand the physical reference. Anyway, almost time for work - ha. Thanks guys, I enjoyed my morning with this.

[@phantomapprentice6749]

The Biggest Mistake Every Artist Makes: playing video games

[@sams_3d_stuff]

😓😓😓😓

[@diegocivera21]

what you mean ????

[@momengaber6012]

True

[@Spyro_2076]

I play video games and take reference for when I make game props. Video games are important for some artists. I would reword your comment to The Biggest Mistake Every Artist Makes: not knowing when to stop playing video games....

[@Ozekat2012]

So damn true!

[@milkbread5036]

I love your videos! They're so inspiring and I learn so much. Thank you :D

[@FlippedNormals]

Glad you like them!

[@B_Almighty]

Gotta be one of my favourite videos you guys have ever done thanks so much!

[@FlippedNormals]

Our pleasure!

[@vfxsteve]

Totally agree with this. When I got my first computer I couldn't wait to start creating and rushed into my first creature project, skipping over the design/concept stage and going straight into modelling, thinking 'designing it as I go along' would be fun. When I finished I ended up with a creature that was beautifully detailed with perfect topology. But when you stepped back and looked at it, his head looked too big, his arm looked like it would fall off at the shoulder joint, you couldn't tell if he was angry or happy. There was no 'feeling' to the image. Fundamentals and theory are everything.

[@dreamwalker0024]

I was a cook before becoming an actual chef years later. So i get this. As a cook I would do things because that was the way i was taught. Only ever understanding that it worked for that situation, and it worked for a time. Years later i went back and did my study, filled the "holes in my learning", found the why. Just the understanding of "the why" allowed me to find my own style in chefing that suited what i was trying to do too. No longer was i doing something that way, because that's the way i was taught or thought was the way you should, but because there was 101 ways to skin a cat and i could go with what suited me

[@CodyVerret]

Great video. Have you guys given thought to an interview Q and A style for aspiring artists? Hurdles successes, aspirations and such. I've just been getting started with work in the industry, and you guys have helped me a lot. Thanks for the videos.

[@hypersonicmonkeybrains3418]

Example, its funny how the composition guides in blender are in some hidden little sub-menu which nobody ever clicks, and the whole idea of composing a scene with the composition guides and the intersection points of the golden mean, rule of thirds, Fibonacci spiral etc are kept as some kind of esoteric secret which hardly anyone knows about. Then everyone is left wondering why it is an image looks pleasing to them or not.

[@SundayLunch]

I think you guys really nailed this topic thank you so much for sharing.

[@darkprinceofdorne]

Damn! I think this was the most important video in my life. You guys are just amazing.

[@rhild_art]

This was game changing! Thx for the video, you guys are doing an amazing work here.

[@FlippedNormals]

You're welcome Rafael

[@Sophistry0001]

I see this discussion as two sides of the same coin. You have a very technical aspect of 3D art (do you know HOW to do the things?) and you have the artistic aspect (WHAT are the things you want to do?). I've spent the last 2 years learning Blender and Substance as a hobby, but only the technical side - what each button and knob and slider does. It took me until now to realize that I have absolutely *zero* background in any kind of visual art (I've played music for 20 years now, shit I'm getting old) but I never so much as put a pencil to paper outside of my 3rd grade art class. It's an uphill battle because my brain wants to see this as a technical challenge still, where I just need to learn the correct inputs to get a desired output. So yea, I'm struggling with this right now.

[@Orgazmaat]

Well you 've nailed it in your speech many times. its TECHNIQUES and CONCEPTS.

[@902MediaUK]

Really enjoyed this so much that I couldn't wait for it to finish and get to this comment. Awesome talk guys, I think a lot of creatives will benefit from this. My eyes have been opened or maybe it's my mind that's been opened, something has opened up thanks to you guys 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@FlippedNormals]

Fantastic to hear! Happy to hear it helped you

[@ShrikeGFX]

I call it "Eye for aesthetics" = Brain interpreting vs "Technical skills" = basically memorizing

[@FlippedNormals]

That's another way of looking at it!

[@projectbrian]

I’m a character rigger and I can tell you that this problem is really bad in rigging. Most TDs are easily distracted by “the new thing”, whatever that might be. Instead they should be learning what I call “the immutable skills” like anatomy, math, generic sculpting, programming design patterns. These are things that will never change, regardless of disruption. Speaking of which, I was wondering if you guys have ever done an episode on gesture. I’ve only started sculpting recently and I’m surprised by how I have to achieve gesture in such an unintuitive way - basically using the move brush to nudge things around. Thanks guys! Great video!

[@FlippedNormals]

That's a great way to put it! No we haven't covered that in depth, but we'll put it in the list :)

[@ledajoro6965]

wow, you actually gave a new light to the topic for me, really good video guys

[@manyone38]

thanks guys for great topics ♥♥

[@TigreDemon]

I'm a software engineer. I agree with you on basic/fundamentals. This is why this is becoming a bit boring with me cause in the end, it's all the same. Just different syntax ... And this is why I've been able to go through multiple languages and technologies in my day to day job. Because I have a good understanding on some of the fundamentals that translate through language to language. Meanwhile some of my colleagues know a language very well but are unable to change quickly to something else. They either learned patterns (not DP) in the language itself or are stuck in what I call "The tutorial island". The place where everybody copy paste tutorial code or do the same thing but never appropriate it. The one thing school (at least CS) teach but nobody sees is the ability to search by yourself and to train yourself. Something some people don't think they can do, but they definitely can

[@hichamville]

Keep staying there talking forever ..😍

[@FlippedNormals]

Will do 😁

[@tabletopapprentice233]

This is me right now, I understand a lot about anatomy and color from painting and 2D animation but am struggling to accomplish what I want in blender because I lack a lot of the knowledge required to run the program effectively or efficiently, its very dense too making it take even longer to get through the "basics" in order to use my knowledge of "fundamentals"

[@xlaronak]

This is a great video and overall you are giving great advice. But I have to disagree with your point about "schools are only teaching basics." Disregard this if you were only talking about CG 3D education. I have a bachelor's degree on architecture which helped me immensely in my 3D Art. While there were a lot of courses that focus on basics, our most important and time consuming class (Design Studio) was all about fundamentals. In our first semester studio, we didn't even work on 3D design and started from 2D shapes, colors and patterns. Our professors gave us critiques about both basics of the trade and fundamentals of design. My point is, it depends on the school and subject. My school thought me so many transferable skills besides basics so I don't want anyone to be discouraged from seeking design education. And as I said before, disregard this if you were only talking about CG 3D education. P.S. Please pardon my English if I fucked up. It's not my native language. If I didn't, pardon my needless paranoia.

[@FlippedNormals]

That's fair 👍 good explanation

[@airwindows]

@@FlippedNormals For what it's worth, you probably have read "Animator's Survival Kit' by Richard Williams? He also says schools are only teaching basics (or even just trendy basics) and calls out fine art schools for abandoning life drawing. He's making a parallel claim in fine art and animation: schools are only teaching basics, and a narrow subset at that. Apparently at the time his book was written, major art schools made no provision for teaching students drawing.

[@DapperProf]

I had a similar experience - my student friends at the time often gripped about how they were learning all these drawing/sculpting, color theory, perspective classes at my college and not enough modeling/software. 15 years later, the only one's who are still employed in the "art" side of CG were AMAZING at fundamentals, or ended learning a experience later with extra education.

[@halfvader8015]

@@airwindows I'm not an animator. I'm finally getting into 3d. But I've been holding a pencil since I could walk and jumped into Pshop in version one. But always being a fan of animation and Williams in particular I attended one of his masterclasses back in the nineties. And whether you animate or not, are digital or analogue or both, those three days were phenomenal. He taught fundamentals. And like the best teachers (and probably .001 of youtube vids), he gave you context and reason, so you could extrapolate to you own field. For me it's movie work. He taught not just how, but WHY. And it may sound boring, but yep the old as time fundamentals are so much more important! ASK is fantastic, and so are the videos. My analogy for fundamentals and basics has always been oldschool airbrush artists. Before our time, but they were the original techheads posing as artists. They loved the technicality of the device. They loved making things look like chrome. But if you don't know your anatomy or say storytelling through body language (which is what you have when there's no movement or sound), your chrome android will always look like crap no matter how many years go by. If you have your fundamentals down/a trained eye, you will know why and how to fix it/get better. Anyway cheers for mentioning Richard Williams. There's a reason he kept being invited back to teach at places like Pixar Blue Sky and Aardman!

[@RichardAllen7753]

I am the one who needed to hear this. Thank you!

[@topologicaldoctor1498]

Thank you guys for pulling me out of a lot of confusion.

[@mikkelmelby]

Very well put! Listen twice and share it with ur friends!

[@FlippedNormals]

Thanks Mikkel!

[@PapaG-0101]

Very good information TY!

[@nothankyoutube]

I was a CD in the design industry and one thing I noticed over and over again was junior designers getting super hung up on the tools. If designers spent as much time learning fundamental art skills as they did the newest tool or tech they would realize it doesn't matter what software they use is

[@zaq1320]

I think you're dead right, and there's another way this can be a harmful conflation that I've fallen foul of at times: if we think fundamentals are basics, it makes taking critiques of our work much harder. I would get notes on things like body mechanics or arcs on my shots and be really demoralised like, I can't beleive I messed up the gesture of that pose or I composed this shot wrong with my blocking, this is basic stuff I should know better. But it's not basic, it's fundamental, and you're going to keep getting notes on fundamentals way after you've figured out the basics. I disagree that schools don't cover fundamentals, though - my school actually caught flak for kind of abandoning basics after year 1 to focus more on fundamentals (I think there are bad schools and good schools, and if all you've seen are bad schools then yeah, it'll look like schools only cover basics)

[@Arbindel]

As I understand the two; basics are based in technical understanding of the medium the artist is using to express their creations (how different paint mixes and what the different brushes do and how to create different effects with them, layering, etc.). Fundamentals are understanding how we see and interpret the world around us in a way that we can recreate or express how we interpret these perceptions. So, when someone refers to the fundamentals, they are referring to how light affects color as it bounces around before it passes through our eyes and gets interpreted by our brain. The distance it has to travel and how it interacts with the environment under various conditions. There are techniques for understand and expressing this in infinite ways. It's almost like a science for artists and creatives. The same principles of understanding apply regardless of expression. That's what the fundamentals are. I have yet to come across an exceptional description of the fundamentals because, even though the principles are the same, how they affect expression is vastly different. I once heard someone refer to art as the most underrated, yet most complicated skills to master. More complicated than skills a doctor or engineer would be required to learn and it takes more than a lifetime to master.

[@FlippedNormals]

Pretty much. In short: Basics - how to do the thing. Fundamentals - why you do the thing

[@fishorm]

You can also try to follow a golden ratio in your art so the composition shouldn't be a problem any more ;)

[@adhamrecch6317]

Your courses are amazing keep the good work

[@FlippedNormals]

Thank you!

[@Ernesto_Alvarez]

I needed this video 10 years ago

[@pewpew3125]

how do you recommend developing fundamentals? If i struggle with composition and lighting, andit's a subjective or more philosophical concept, is there a set way to improve those things or is it just studying other peoples work?

[@platy9586]

study with reading, listening and ''copying'' and then produce as much work as you can trying to digest what you've learned.

[@xpdatabase1197]

What you have to do with lightning is try to reveal the forms of the subject so it shows more depth, so by that i mean finding a balance between dark/shadows and bright/light falling on the object. The colour can also be used to give the picture a mood or separate subjects from each other, like a person with an orange light source on him and blue background behind him, it will separate him from the background because its the opposite colour of the background he is litted with. Think about the colour the position and the strength of the light sources.

[@xpdatabase1197]

Also try to break down others work, not by tracing but braking it down into simple shapes, either with outlines or colour.

[@DapperProf]

There are absolutely rule-sets that you can learn. There is an art to it in what rules can work in unorthodox situations, but some great practical knowledge that get you very far. As far as Color and Lighting/Materials: Color and Light, A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney is AMAZING. However, like with many fundamentals books, you have to understand that you might only get good at 2-3 pages of the concepts covered after a couple months of work (and some feedback from someone knowledgeable). It's also a bit tricky as some pages are very medium specific...I'm not sure if people without some traditional experience would be able to easily discern what is and is not relevant. I have no recommendations for composition though, but I know there are concepts you can learn...I just don't remember them 'intellectually' from what I learned in school.

[@hgsfjdguyhrjdfujyhr]

Study theory and practice practicals of photography for strengthening lighting and compositing fundamentals

[@beekenko2379]

What's the best way to master modeling tools? I understand the composition aspect from a film and artistic background.. its the little things of what tools to use to create a seat and vaguely understanding what Retopology means.. that halts the process. Would you say add-ons like Box cutter and hard ops can help speed up the learning curve?

[@fxnergy876]

As they mentioned in the Video, there are many ways tp archieve a certain task. Boxcutter speeds up the workflow but i think only for those who know how to do it manually already. I would suggest learning the common techniques from tutorials on the Internet (and specifically aboutBlender, there are TONS of them) and then just do Projects and learn by doing ^^

[@SexycuteStudios]

I concur. I've been looking at BoxCutter and HardOps for a while now, but I also know that they are just tools to streamline workflow. You gotta know how it all works in the first place. It's the same for pretty much anything art-related. You mention BoxCutter so I assume you are familiar with Josh Gambrell. Watch his videos and use the tools Blender already has when following along, and it will start to click. I'd prefer it in written form but what can ya do in these times. I really like FlippedNormals, but the focus is on people who already know at least some of the basics. Check out Darrin Lile and Ali Arango if you need something that isn't as fast and condensed. Don't worry about retopology yet. Learn the basic tools and develop a good workflow first. Retopology is a production issue, not a creative issue. Tackle that when you have something marketable.

[@hackille]

where can i find this playllist of fundamentals of yours? link plz?

[@andristefanus]

i swear to God i thought the voice of right guy was the other guy

[@eliasmckee9436]

I think this video touches on a really important, but slightly intangible point ive tried to reconcile for years. I think ive always focused of fundamentals before basics. The problem is that I started just wanting to make cool zbrush sculpts, but now i realize I spend more time buried in physics and linear algebra textbooks than I do in an actual 3d program. Its a legitimate problem.

[@bcraigcraig4796]

In my 50’s just start drawing after a long time so I pick up a ball point pen and 1. Basics started to think let just start with a line well I need to practice the basics of how I hold the pen so I just went at it paper after paper until Lord Willing I was able to make straight lines one right after another once I fill up pages of that I though now what I can I do to make this signed line have more depth so I had to go back to basics on controlling that ink pen so I could very my hand pressure so I could go from very heavy and dark line to progressively to a very light line to it almost disappears this gave a form of depth so instead of just going at it I did a trade off between (basics) and (fundamentals) becuase you are correct fundamentals can go on and on etc.. but basics can also go on and on if your not careful so yes balance is key This way by doing it this way I’m getting a win-win and I’m not overwhelming myself and taking things that are complex overwhelming and breaking down the small chunks simple task I hope this encourages somebody I am not an expert in art at all I just wanted to share what I’ve learned

[@chriswatts3697]

I think it is the way to use the technical skills for your art or ideas. So creating a great 3D model or an inspiring 2D image starts in your head, having a good idea by yourself. So many time we are just reproducing technically because something looks cool. But having a real idea for a scene, starting a story and feel the colors, mood etc, that is a very different thing. At a certain point an artist needs to step back from technology and think about the artistic approach and later on when the concept is there you will have to think about how to do it. I think there are technical fundamentals and also creative fundamentals. As an artist you have to bring those two things together. Leonardo Da Vinci was a genious painter, he created great ideas with a good technology. Lets call it profession.

[@ertugrulozanozbek4071]

I need this vid's transcription. How can I do that ?? Please heeelllp!!

[@IrocZIV]

Interestingly I took a bunch of architecture courses, and several of them taught only the fundamentals. It was actually quite frustrating because, while not being sure of the fundamentals of architecture, I was getting graded on them. It felt like the teacher could give me a bad grade just because they didn't like the "look" of my project. I do appreciate those classes, but I can understand why it isn't the standard, when so much of school is based of getting the grade, rather than learning the thing.

[@FlippedNormals]

That's a huge issue with schools, they measure grades instead of genuine learning. It's crazy frustrating!

[@jjcaratino]

Gracias, desde Argentina!!!

[@Luxalpa]

Perfect example for basics vs fundamentals at school would be mathematics. If you ask "what does a mathematician do?" while only looking at what you do in school, you'd say "they calculate things". Whereas in reality they do something completely different and almost never actually calculate things by hand.

[@aftnareld]

This is great, going to share this to all my artist friends as well! ;)

[@FlippedNormals]

Please do :)

[@Jasperkitty12809]

Advanced basics! Used this term over the week, and it bugged my sister's boyfriend. But it was the only term I could think of to describe 3D modeling techniques

[@Adlip_Kun]

Thanks for sharing this

[@TheOrteme]

Great video, great idea, that clearify ideas of art and craft

[@FlippedNormals]

Thank you very much!

[@mitkoogrozev]

Hey fellas I've been wondering, have you encountered the following problem? I used to draw a lot on paper, since kindergarten or earlier. I could easily create various creatures. 24 years later I picked up a tablet and started to learn doing it digitally and also sculpting digitally, in attempts to do it as a job, because I was convinced pen and paper is too outdated. But the tools were suddenly so much more complex and every step to create something has to be so conscious that I 'lost' my 'creativity'. They're also so much slower and different that I feel it interrupts my ability for creativity which seemed to be very subconscious before, and is highly connected with the medium used for so long. Which leads me to say as a side note that I don't agree that there's really a separation between fundamentals and a tool, due to that experience. Only fundamentals in the context of a tool. And that there's no 'knowledge' , as a separate from what you do. Your brain connections are just basically connections on how to move your body under particular set of stimuli/ circumstances and they don't exist/form without stimuli/circumstances.

[@habag1112]

so if i cant learn the fundementals from school, then where/how do i learn them? i feel like this is a dumb question, but i really wanted to ask it.

[@mantaszmejauskas]

There's a lot courses on internet. Check out Skillshare, Udemy, Gnomon, Flipped Normals courses and so on. Just keep embracing everything you can hear and understand from courses. And try to use it in your practise. Watch how much your mind changes. And just keep going. Sometimes becoming pro artist takes not 2 weeks, months, but years and years. Till you find your own style or method to do it. And if you can't focus on internet courses, then I could recommend you to find a teacher face to face. Cheers!

[@jancuq2585]

schoolism is really great and affordable too, check it out

[@mantaszmejauskas]

@@jancuq2585 Agree. Schoolism is also great. Especially, for illustrators, concept artists or 3D.

[@mikesegarra869]

I love you guys your body of work is amazing

[@skarlok1]

Turn off your screens if you are not use them. Maybe make a podcast in some cases. Do you have a podcast channel ?

[@MrRoland47]

If learning the basics is more like reading a book, then learning the fundamentals is like playing Dark Souls. It is full of painful disappointment, but you always want more. Since I started using Buddhist meditation in my studies, my progress has become much faster compared to when I realized my mistakes after a month or a year. I could only get things right after quitting sculpture and returning to it after a while, sometimes repeating the same mistakes over and over again and loosing time. To date, my condition has not completely disappeared, but I am getting more and more new results and turning my practice in to an experience on which I can rely on. By combining my daily practice of sculpture with meditation I'm discovering things that were not obvious to me before and can't be described throw the lessons, I'm accumulating more and more knowledge in my results.

[@DanteMoraes]

What adive would you give for some one who trip into the fundamentals everyday but don't have the dicipline for training the technique or basics?

[@Yushataram]

My favourite tag team ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@spiral-viper]

I think it's the other way around; you can learn all of the fundamentals at least to the point you need, and how much more you might need to learn them depends on what you want to do. But basics are more infinite because software and technology changes all the time so there comes a time, often if you use many things, when you have to learn the basics again

[@hgzmatt]

You never stop learning either of them.. and knowing either doesn't help if you can't apply it. How do you show your artistic ability without knowing the tool and how do you use the tool without any skill.

[@spiral-viper]

@@hgzmatt Yeah, we have to learn them in tandem i guess. Spend a few hours on fundamentals and software everyday, but also apply each of what we've learned

[@Stylusofwonders]

Thanks a lot for this video! This is exactly what I was really looking for. I have one question that is not really related to this video: Between blender cycles and Arnold which of the two is the most powerful render engine ?

[@FlippedNormals]

Arnold no doubt

[@olegkulinich]

great explanation, thanks!

[@FlippedNormals]

Glad you found it useful oleg!

[@Ben-rz9cf]

I had teachers in college that were like this. Like you could tell WHY they were teaching, because they knew the software inside and out but at the end of the day they were super shit artists. Most of my real education actually came from gnomon because that is where the real artistry and fundamentals of art theory came from. To me that is the difference between gnomon and something like digital tutors, digital tutors teaches you the software but gnomon assumes you know the software already and teaches you the art.

[@MalmqvistM]

Ben Hinman Very good example actually

[@actimations]

So where to start? What are your recomendet sites, books, videos for VFX fundamentals?

[@jornm799]

You touched on this, but learning new software is actually much easier if you have learned the fundamentals that those software is built on. :)

[@FlippedNormals]

Very true!

[@skribbleskills]

Love this!!

[@chainbreaker8909]

The thing that differs in every new thing is Basic and which stays the same is Fundamental. Right? But what is composition?

[@FlippedNormals]

Essentially yes. Composition is a fundamental skill, but often peoppe will try and teach it as a basic skill. Use the rule of thirds, always use the Golden ratio etc. That's not how composition works, there are guidelines for what can lead to a pleasing composition. But it's so subject that you can't just read about it in a technical manual.

[@mantas3d]

Ye, i think this is going to be first video i show to my 3d students :)

[@halfvader8015]

I'd be concerned if your students were 2d! ;D

[@YouTubsel]

How does this hold up agains "not making your own concept art" as a 3D artist, though? I know your argument is that concept artists specialize in this field. Makes absolute sense, of course. I wonder if this doesn't lead to neglecting fundamentals again, though. Wouldn't this be more like doing tutorials from other artists? Or is this actually building fundamentals? I'd imagine that trying to come up with your own ideas and concepts gives you more insight into making mistakes and learning from them, wouldn't it?

[@FlippedNormals]

You can still use somebody else's concept and focus on strong fundamentals. In order to turn a 2d drawing into 3d you need incredibly strong fundamentals. Making strong shapes in 3D is incredibly hard and requires solid fundamentals.

[@antoniobifulco623]

Really enjoyed it!

[@ogarga666]

this is very interesting, thanks so much

[@FlippedNormals]

Glad it was helpful!

[@markkusq3po]

And the BIGGEST MISTAKE 3D SOFTWARE MAKES is to make it more complicated as it needs to be. I'm a professional graphic designer since 25 years now (i also have painted and photography skills) and i struggle with Blender since 3 years now for even finding the „simplest“ things like placing images and manipulate them like in Photoshop. I guess this is coming from the fact that 3D has evolved from the very engineering POV of CAD. But in nowadays 3D is getting more and more in a „Design“ kind of approach and i guess it wouldn't be too hard to make UIs which take account of that. In my opinion software like Photoshop is more orientated to the real world of making things and that's a good approach which also could work within 3D. I often heard Adobe is some kind of enemy for 3D people, but Photoshop isn't, at least not the way it translate tools form the “real world“ understanding. Why not making an extra UI or an workspace for 2D kind of handling things, i guess you won't have to change the underlying things but it would be way easier to get the "2D“ things done and come to a result, which will motivate much more people to work with 3D. At the moment it is like eating with chopsticks (when not used to it) or threading cotton through a needle with thick gloves, you will loose your intention before you get to make it working. And also when you just concentrating on the „basics“ you will be nearly lost in space. I know, this approach slowly starting recently with sculpting and animation, but i miss it for images. In the „real world“ images are not treated like textures but developers seems to think that way.

[@seanakima50515e]

Understand anatomy and form Understand topology and deformation Understand how to export your maps and bring them into Maya, Blender etc. Understand presentation, composition Understand color theory, skin, lighting, fresnel, SSS, Understand the software tools and know where they are or how to find them

[@FlippedNormals]

Oh yes! Its a mix between all the skills.

[@ZoomerMirek]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I'm getting from this video is: tool vs skills ( art fundamentals ) , which I'm pretty sure is the video you already made: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpzNoXewaMdpd80 kzbin.info/www/bejne/anPbg2tmnJVqask

[@ononono7016]

I really have trouble learning the programs I use and want to use. I hate how unintuitive they feel and how many great features are hidden or don't do the things I expect. I didn't grow up using computers. I am stressed and me not knowing how to use the programs better makes me want to give up. I have had Clip Studio Paint for over half a year and haven't used it, except for a few half-hearted attempts. I update Blender every now and then but am too afraid to actually follow a tutorial. I have been using the iPad Pro and Artstudio pro out of convenience since I found two intuitive brushes. My paintings look bad because I lack skills and can't even add distractive shiny things like everyone else. I am tired. Every failed attempt and bad art piece just makes me more depressed. Sorry, for the pathetic rant. I just lost the energy to try new things and this has been going on for way too long...

[@IgrwOw]

Nothing is more frustrating than not getting the result you want because you don't know the tools in the software. Well, there is no other way. Youu gotta keep practicing and studying. The result will come!

[@IgrwOw]

Getting into some freelances and some cool projects is the way to go. Not getting things done, like working on your portfolio or some random projects will lead anyone into a downward spiral. Keep practicing, you will get through it!

[@SexycuteStudios]

You may find that traditional art is a better fit than digital. Or a transition from traditional to digital would work better for you. There is very little tactile feel to digital work even if you have a display tablet. This one time I really wanted to draw some custom emotes for a former friend who is a Twitch streamer. He already had a hand-drawn avatar and I wanted to give it expressions. I could not for the life of me, manage to redraw that avatar with a digital tablet. I have CSP and I love it but I just couldn't coordinate getting my hand to do what it needed to do while not being able to see it. So, I drew it on paper. I kept going until I could draw a good copy of it freehand. Then I scanned it, and inked it in CSP. I added the expressions in CSP. There's no law that says you have to do anything digitally.

[@andreankuna3008]

would you please do a tutorial for marvelous designer where a character enters his pockets or he lifts a cloth.

[@jobsonchelsea6434]

Thanks

[@adilsona.p.e7949]

Hello FlippedNormals your advice was very useful in this video, I am an architecture student I am African and fascinated by 3d arts, I am learning 3Ds Max and Maya, in the area of modeling, I would like you to help me fit into the 3D world, there are Sometimes I think about being a generalist artist, other times I think about focusing only on ArchVis, sometimes I get confused about that, could you give me some tips on what to do? I know that I love to model and transform small forms into works of art. Sorry for the mistakes in English, I wrote in Portuguese and translated it into English on Google translator.

[@stick124]

Theoretical and functional night be more clear? I agree with everything you guys hit on though!

[@FlippedNormals]

That's also a good way to put it. But like we mention in the video, the specific labels aren't that relevant. But Judy being aware of the concept

[@kaius2952]

Hey, I watched your video about sculpting on blender and I have a question. My sculpt tool isn't working for some reason. I will left click with my mouse, and the tool just doesn't do anything. I reinstalled the program and it's still the same. Could you help me out please?

[@bluehabs]

back then when i try sculpt in zbrush but struggling because still not embrace the fundamental of 3d soace... then i decided to try clay modelling use real clay. after that , it's easier to me for sculpting and do 3d modeling in general...

[@jeremytitus6575]

Really helpful video!

[@FlippedNormals]

Thanks Jeremy

[@ericO141]

Just for you to notice, you have not included the color theory video in the fundamentals playlist, maybe you forgot

[@artandelectronics9905]

Guyz make tutorials on compositor nodes ,tell us about every single node

[@akuya-ekorot]

I think for me my mistake is focusing too much on the fundamentals and not having the basics. To the point, I am frustrated with the work I produce (do not produce)

[@Victorgenest-vfx]

Guys you remind me that is exactly like playing MMO, you know how to heal your mate : be aware of HP of your mate/damage incoming, or DPS with positioning/dodge spell (fundamentals)..... What ever the (basics of the) class you play haha