Can someone who can't draw be a good 3D modeler?

[paramnesia]

Something I see regularly in gaming related forums are people asking if they can become a successful 3D modeler if they can't draw. Overall, people answer that you can be an excellent modeler without being able to draw well, but it helps to have a solid understanding of many of the core mechanics of drawing, light, shadow, and perspective in particular. But even if you can't draw, most comments I read say, with time and effort you can learn to be good at 3D.

I'd like to know the opinion of people here, though, and what kind of instruction any 3D modelers here have had or plan to take. Are there any really amazing modelers you know of who aren't very good at 2D?

[Heist]

I'm studying game art and design right now, and I know some amazing 3D modelers, most of which are not the greatest at drawing. I think 3D modeling should be approached like any other art medium, with lots of practice.
But like you said, its important to know lighting, composition, perspective, etc.

Hope that was a bit helpful.

[Justin.]

There are 3d guys who are awesome at drawing and modelling, and 3d guys who don't like to draw but have been modelling in the industry for over 10 years. It just depends on what you want to do, but a 3d modeller will rarely (if at all) be asked to draw something for production.

[Dusty]

I've seen a TON of artists who have great anatomy in 3d, but when they draw it seriously looks like an 11 yr old. It just depends on the kind of skills that you hone. Some people just have a strict interest in 3d modeling/sculpting but not in 3d.

It goes both ways, too....I can sculpt and draw, but I can't model characters in 3d very well yet.

-D

[feifeicreate]

I'm an illustrator and a 3D modeler. I think understanding of basic anatomy is necessary for good 3D humanoid model, but understanding anatomy and the capability of draw it out are two different skills. A illustrator has to understand anatomy in a way that we can "make up poses" and still make it look real and believable. We can't always find exact reference for the piece we illustrate, sometimes we have to use anatomy knowledge to make educated guess when compose a certain pose. But a modeller don't need to consider perspective, composition, lighting, movement, how the muscle behave in different position...nothing, all you need to do is model the T-pose out (at least that's how I see it). Get an anatomy book with decent muscle illustration front side back, you should be fine for the most part.

But, being able to draw almost always helps.

[Anid Maro]

I don't see why not. There's definately overlaps between drawing and modeling, but they're also two seperate skill sets. While knowing one will certainly help you with the other, you don't need to know the chisel to use the pencil and vice versa.

[animatormike]

It's all about time. Someone who can't use a pencil can learn to use a mouse in time. If he/she had used that time practicing with a pencil, he/she would learn to draw.

[paramnesia]

It goes both ways, too....I can sculpt and draw, but I can't model characters in 3d very well yet.

-D
Every person is different. One person's observation i read elsewhere was:

In my experience, it works like this:

If you can sculpt, you may not be able to draw.

If you draw, you can definitely learn to sculpt.

I've seen this for years -- sculptors and modelers that are terrible at drawing but can render forms in an excellent fashion. Anyone with a solid grasp of drawing perspective and/or organic forms such as the human body are quickly able to model equally well (once getting past the technology).

That said, if you cannot draw, you can definitely learn to be good at 3D.
There's hope for you! And maybe me.

[CouchPotato]

I'm going to sing a slightly different tune. Drawing helps. A LOT. It helps a lot when it comes to getting the shape right, in deciphering concept art drawings (because you won't always get concept art that makes perfect sense, and which perspective don't always add up), and in designing your own details and elements for when the concept art or reference is not clear. Drawing and painting refines the sense of aesthetics which is very important.

But that's only the half of it. Literally half.

The technology hurdle can be quite daunting, because it's not just about learning the software. Because modeling is the first step in the production pipeline, whatever you do here gets carried all the way down. If you have bad quality control, if you don't have good topology and your edgeflows are messy, if you don't keep all your models in quads, and optimised, then everyone down the pipeline will either have to live with it (in which case your name will start to become a swear word), or they'll just bounce the model back to you and you have to make changes. You will lengthen the production process this way, holding up everyone else.

So....not everyone who can draw well will end up an adequate modeller as well (although it defintely helps and the percentile is defintely higher then the other way around), because there's the other side of the equation, which you won't really feel the burn until you start working in a team lol. I know some people who were good in their traditional, tried 3D a bit, then gave up because the technical stuff gets too...well, technical.