00:00hello and welcome back to take refuge 3D
00:04with me Peter and in today's video we're
00:07going to talk about how you can learn
00:122024 now plasticity was one of the most
00:15exciting 3D softwares to be released in
00:182023 and in just 9 months or 10 months
00:22almost it's gone from strength to
00:24strength with each update adding
00:27meaningful new additions and becoming a
00:29legitimate and affordable new tool for
00:31the belts of 3D artists and hobbyists
00:34alike now if you might just be looking
00:37to get started in 3D or you could be an
00:39existing 3D artist that wants to learn
00:42CAD then stick around in this video and
00:44I'm going to show you how you can learn
00:492024 first of all I'm going to show you
00:51how to get started in
00:53plasticity then we'll cover a plan for
00:56beginner intermediate and advanced
00:59learning finally moving on to where you
01:01can find tutorials and master classes on
01:05Advanced surfacing techniques stick
01:07around to the end and I'm going to show
01:09you what I believe to be the absolute
01:12best of the best when it comes to
01:13learning plasticity for all skill
01:17levels but you might have got this far
01:19and you're like what the hell is
01:21plasticity so it's 3D modeling software
01:25spoiler alert and before we discuss
01:28exactly what plasticity is it is quite
01:31important to note that there's more than
01:33one type of 3D modeling software and
01:36each type has many competing options
01:39different products um plasticity is a
01:43nerbs based CAD software other types of
01:47modeling software include voxal modeling
01:51sculpting polygon modeling and
01:53procedural modeling and they all have
01:56their own strengths and weaknesses so
01:58while plasticity is a good starting
02:01point it is most suited to designing
02:04manufactured looking hard surface
02:07objects and these results are attainable
02:10in other software but plasticity just
02:13makes it easy so if you're looking to
02:16get a general idea of 3D modeling to
02:19begin with I'd probably recommend that
02:21you start with blender which is a free
02:24and open source software it's polygon
02:27based and sculpting software and it does
02:29a bunch of other stuff as well and that
02:31would be the main type of software that
02:33artists use and then you can come back
02:36to plasticity once you got the
02:37fundamentals of 3D modeling as you'd
02:40likely be moving uh between softwares
02:44anyway uh nerbs based CAD software like
02:48plasticity is is traditionally used for
02:52industrial design and Manufacturing and
02:54plasticity Brands itself as CAD for
02:58artists bringing those powerful
03:01mathematical algorithms that are
03:03required to make complex hard surfaces
03:06into an artist friendly environment
03:09sacrificing maybe just a little bit of
03:11precision for a very fluid and frankly
03:14quite addictive workflow now we know
03:17what we're working with but how do we
03:20plasticity so if you don't know where to
03:22start with plasticity then I'd recommend
03:26going to the official website as you can
03:28get a one month's free trial see if you
03:30enjoy that and the pricing after that is
03:34Miles cheaper than other CAD options
03:36especially for the Indie license you pay
03:38once and you get to keep the version
03:40that you've got forever and I think you
03:42get a year or two worth of updates I
03:43can't remember exactly how it works but
03:45I'll put a link in the description so
03:47you can try it out I'm not sponsored by
03:50the way but I do endorse learning so if
03:53you're unfamiliar with uh 3D software
03:56don't worry either plasticity is still a
03:59great starting point due to its simple
04:01interface and its great ux design that's
04:05uh user experience now once you've
04:08downloaded plasticity learning the basic
04:11interface uh and a simple modeling
04:13tutorial would be a great place to start
04:16there's a channel learn everything about
04:18design that has a great tutorial on the
04:20interface I'll link it down
04:22below but if you are already familiar
04:26with 3D software and you just want to
04:28get straight into modeling
04:30I've briefly covered the interface in my
04:32tutorial on how to model The Companion
04:35Cube um from the game portal um and
04:39that's a a beginner friendly tutorial
04:41where you learn some basic uh modeling
04:47plasticity as a beginner you will want
04:49to learn the fundamentals of modeling
04:52and plasticity so if you're coming from
04:54a non-cad based software it might seem a
04:58little bit familiar but also a little
05:00bit strange at the same time the
05:03workflow is uh different and the same
05:07and there's a slightly different order
05:08of operations which you'll need to get
05:10used to um you'll start using the basic
05:14tools and slowly get better and better
05:16with repetition and what I'm going to uh
05:19show you now is a Rough Guide to what
05:23you should learn and in what order and
05:25after that I will share some of my
05:27favorite channels and resour ources for
05:30learning as a beginner you'll go to
05:33beginner level one what I'm calling it
05:36so sting as a beginner the most basic
05:39commands to learn for blocking out 3D
05:41shapes and plasticity are curves
05:45extrusions fillets chamfers mirroring
05:49and booleans you can get very far with
05:52these alone but most of these are fairly
05:55similar to what you'd find in polygon
05:57software with the exception of Boolean
06:00which are far easier to deal with and
06:03curves which may work a little bit
06:05differently to how you might be used to
06:07and blender for example so what are
06:10curves and plasticity like curves are
06:13like the the backbone of
06:16plasticity so curves are where the nervs
06:18part comes in that's an acronym
06:23NBS and it stands for non-uniform
06:26rational B spline so a nerve curve is a
06:31mathematically calculated spline curve
06:34that can be manipulated in 3D space and
06:37you use control points to manipulate the
06:39shape you can use these at the basic
06:41level for sketching out 2D shapes to
06:46or sketching 3D shapes to incorporate
06:50into your model but we'll get into a
06:51little bit more on that later so next up
06:55with what I'm calling beginner level two
06:59so we still at the beginner level but
07:00we've got some more operations to learn
07:03like sweeping and revolving curves
07:06offsetting and manipulating edges basic
07:09lofting arrays and working with
07:11construction planes these tools further
07:14add to the ability of making shapes all
07:17of these tools can be used in tandem to
07:19quickly generate fairly complicated
07:21shapes and get somewhere quickly for
07:24certain tasks they're all you'll ever
07:25need but so far what we've covered with
07:29a couple of exceptions these tools don't
07:32unlock the true power of plasticity
07:36surfacing at the intermediate level of
07:39modeling and plasticity you'll start to
07:41make much more complicated shapes from
07:43curves and sheets and also by destroying
07:46parts of your solid objects to patch in
07:49more refined surfaces than the standard
07:51fillet and chamfer bevels can provide
07:54you with there are three main object
07:56types you'll deal with in plasticity
07:59curves solids and sheets we've
08:02established what curves are but not a
08:04solid or a sheet so solid object's
08:07pretty much how it sounds it's just a a
08:09solid object you know it's got no holes
08:11in it now a Sheet's a bit like a plane
08:14if you used to uh poly modeling software
08:16but it can be any shape it's an
08:19infinitely thin sheet or it could be a
08:22solid object that's got a hole peaking
08:24into the interior like a a polygon model
08:28that's missing a face
08:29so a nonsolid object or a hollow object
08:33could also be called a sheet you'll
08:35start to deal with sheets a lot more at
08:37the intermediate level so we'll get into
08:40now intermediate level
08:43one personally this is where I would
08:46self assess my ability with plasticity
08:49so far and here you would learn things
08:52like intermediate lofting patching or
08:55creating complex sheets and once you're
08:58comfortable with the the basics you'll
09:01start to notice uh tiny little
09:03differences in the way that certain
09:05objects have highlights on the edge um
09:08and if you've made it this far these
09:10will begin to niggle at you and you'll
09:12start to obsess over how to get those
09:14Reflections hitting the corner of an
09:17object in a certain specific way and
09:19this is where lofting and patching will
09:21come in using curves as guides you'll be
09:25able to make almost any shape that you
09:30you basically got everything you need to
09:32know at this stage but then we'll get to
09:35intermediate level two this is where the
09:38knowledge really starts to sink in this
09:40is where I'm hoping to get to in the
09:42next uh few months so we're talking
09:44about Advanced lofting and
09:47patching so as your comfort and
09:50understanding of what works with Cad and
09:52what doesn't increases you will become a
09:56skilled Problem Solver making highly
09:59complex shapes using a combination of
10:01all the skills you've learned so far to
10:03create amazing compositions you couldn't
10:05have dreamed of when you
10:11months possibly Years you'll become an
10:15advanced level user so an advanced level
10:19user at this stage your mind is
10:22essentially The Matrix opening sequence
10:25green code scrolling from the top of
10:27your mind you'll be think
10:30entirely in curves and you'll be able to
10:33construct complex wire frames from
10:36curves and Loft and Patch them all
10:38together to create detailed objects of
10:41molded Beauty I'm far far from getting
10:44to this point but there are some
10:46YouTubers out there already who
10:49absolutely fill me with awe in this
10:51regard so that's basically a template of
10:54the sort of order that you would learn
10:56and possibly where you can get to if you
10:59keep at it um there's different
11:01plasticity commands to learn over time
11:04you'll learn a lot of them maybe all of
11:07them um and the plasticity company keeps
11:10adding new ones in there um and now
11:14let's talk about some of the best
11:15learning resources on YouTube and Beyond
11:20so plasticity is quite rapidly getting a
11:24quite a little Community around it um
11:26that's quite active and even more active
11:29in some communities for established
11:31softwares like mea from what I've seen
11:33there's a really active supportive and
11:36totally non-toxic Discord server for
11:39those who purchase the product and then
11:41there's a plethora of great YouTube
11:44tutorials all the links to uh relevant
11:47stuff is in the description and if I've
11:49missed any channels that you love let me
11:51know in the comments and I'll check them
11:53out and try to remember to add them to
11:55the description if I think that they uh
11:58if I think think that they are worthy
12:01now finally this is the part that I
12:04promised right at the beginning my top
12:08so for beginners through to Advanced
12:12users I recommend pixel fondue pixel
12:17fondue is not strictly a plasticity
12:20Channel but it's got dozens if not
12:22hundreds by this point of great short
12:24tutorials and modeling exercises it's
12:27really good for Ken athetic Learners
12:29like me and the exercises are a
12:32fantastic way just to up your muscle
12:34memory now also just a quick promotion
12:37for my Channel The Companion Cube I
12:39mentioned earlier is also a great
12:41beginner level tutorial and I'd also
12:43like to thank the mods at the plasticity
12:46subreddit for pinning it um that's great
12:49you brought a few folk through now for
12:53beginners who are wanting to move to
12:55being intermediate techniques or having
12:57intermediate techniques
12:59I would recommend the channel of Nikita
13:02castin Nikita is a very friendly and
13:05enthusiastic teacher who loves to
13:08problem solve real world object surfaces
13:11and get good enough results in 10 to 20
13:14minutes he thinks outside of the box to
13:17achieve his results and he helps you
13:19think about plasticity in a way that
13:22just makes sense I believe he has uh
13:24some paid courses with a longer format
13:29help the guy out and buy a couple of
13:31those they all seem to be well reviewed
13:33although I personally haven't tried one
13:36now finally if you're looking for
13:37Advanced Techniques look no far further
13:40than hook Meister schwager I seriously
13:45have no idea how this person's brain
13:47works it is a silent Channel however by
13:51just watching a long form process or one
13:55of his time lapses on one of these
13:57videos it ironically makes you feel both
13:59a bit dumber and gives you an extra IQ
14:02point at the same time don't ask me how
14:04that works but that's how it makes you
14:06feel anyway that's it like I said all
14:09links in the description and just
14:11quickly if you're looking to texture
14:13your models with texturing software I
14:15made a plugin for blender called Enon
14:17Pro for rapidly optimizing your mesh uh
14:21exports from plasticity and also Boolean
14:24uh uh based uh poly modeling software so
14:30link down below like comment subscribe
14:34thanks a lot for watching and I'll see