<newbie> I have some questions.

[neptunez]

I'm very interested in 3d modeling/editing and I found this inexpensive resource (lightwave) compared to maya and 3ds max.

I wanted to know how long was your learning curve?.
What got you interested in 3d editing/animation.
Do you have any suggestions regarding to books.

Aything I should know before learning this trade.

Thanx.

-fire away.

[Tom Wood]

Dan Ablan's INSIDE LIGHTWAVE is a must-read for me. I use it as a companoin to the manual.

[WizCraker]

Compared to Rideing a Bike it is about the same. Remember the first time you got onto one? If you would like me [and probably majority of the world population that have rode a bike] you did not have balance your first couple of tries. Same thing for learning a new application. The first couple of times your stuff is going to look bad, but as you mess around with the tools and do some trial and error you only get better at using it.

[gjjackson]

If you're pretty new to LW and don't know your way around Dan Ablan's course Signature Course in LW from 3Dgarage would be well worth it. You can get a lot out of it.

[neptunez]

Thanks Alot.

[PixelPilot]

Took a class at Columbia College in Chicago and had an excellent teacher -- Sam Crider. I think he does games now. That was a while ago -- LW 3.5 was the version we learned and we used it on the Amiga platform.

Kudos to Newtek, as I was able to pick it up again pretty easily after years away from it. All the basic concepts hadn't changed.

It can seem impossibly daunting to take LW on with just the manual and this discussion board and I'm glad I didn't have to go that route.

I really recommend some one-on-one in-person tutelage if you can get it.

[Matt]

Take a look at these video tutorials, they will give you a feel for the program as well as teaching you how to use it!

LightWave Video Tutorials (http://www.newtek.com/products/lightwave/tutorials/videos/index.html)

Matt