How to Sell 3D Models and how to start making money on you skills

urses regardless of age, related experience, or technical capabilities. Long-term studying can lead to you becoming one of the well-paid 3D modelers, so why don’t you try it?

What Should Beginner Artists Do?

Firstly, you need to make sure that your skills are enough to bring a quality product for your clients. Beginners should know techniques related to texturing, adding shaders, material creation, etc. We will cover all the listed aspects in detail in the further sections.

There are also a few things that would help you start off better:

• Having an audience. This can help you to gain more orders from different clients or companies.
• At least a bachelor’s degree will increase chances to get noticed.
• Add your best works, so clients know what styles you work with, and what are your previous experiences.

Learn From Pros!

It is always difficult to start from a scratch, but you can do one simple trick to increase your productivity. Watch the market, explore freelance platforms and YouTube channels, and notice what popular 3D modelers have in common. Pay attention to their portfolio, how they create their works, and how many images are posted. Also, read their description, and notice how their services are described. Try to create something similar with your profile.

What Kind of Techniques Are Necessary to Start Selling Your Works?

Now, let’s discuss the skills that will be useful for your game art outsource career.

• It is an obvious must for everyone who wants to work in this area. Learn how to create low poly and high poly models, bake them, and export files to different game engines.
• UV unwrapping (UV mapping). It is the process of making a 3D model into a 2D image. You unwrap the faces and know their exact mapping. This can be useful while adding textures. UV unwrap can be completed automatically or manually. You can do it in built-in editors of apps you use (Blender, Maya) or by downloading specifical applications, such as Ultimate Unwrap 3D.
• Materials apply. Even without textures, you can apply basic materials to create wood or glass. This will come in handy since your works won’t look bland.
• Texturing is an important part of the modeling process because it allows you to highly detail your models and scenes. Substance Painter is one of the applications that will help you to apply complex materials and textures, combined with lighting effects.

Is There More to Learn?

There are always more ways to develop your skills. For instance, you can learn soft body physics, fluid simulation, particle system, cloth simulation, and more. However, the previous section has skills that are enough to start modeling.

How to Start Making Money?

The 3D area allows you to work with many people around the world:

• NFT creation. You can make animals, characters, or other creatures and draw additional assets for them. Artists usually get paid well for such work.
• Selling models online. You can create packs of assets and sell them on various popular platforms, such as CGTrader, BlenderMarket, and others. Pick the best three websites and dedicate your time to them.
• Animation creation. 3D animation outsource is a large area that requires professionals. You can animate game objects or make advertisements.
• 3D Printing. You can create assets for printing and sell them or buy a 3D printer yourself. Thus, you can not only make 3D art but also sell its physical copy.

Be Persistent

You can always dedicate yourself to a few areas and develop your skills there. Do not stop learning new techniques and applying for jobs. The beginning is often harsh, but practice and consistency is the key to success!