Using time effectively

pippy · Post by **pippy** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:18 am

I spent a good 7 hours making a menu selection box in 3D max. The end result was very poor, even although I'm pretty good with 3D max (I did a couple of courses about it)

So I fired up photoshop and spent 2 hours doing the same thing, but the result was much better. I guess that either I have to sharpen my 3d skills, or just stick with 3d elements in a 3d application and 2d elements in a 2d program.

How to you use your time effectively? any small tips you learnt while programming?

Cardinal4 · Post by **Cardinal4** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:28 am

pippy wrote:I spent a good 7 hours making a menu selection box in 3D max.

I guess that would be a 3d menu box, but I don't understand how you could have done it in photoshop instead?

Anyway, I've learnt that it's always good to comment your code (or at least keep a developer logbook) so you don't break your train of thought when you resume your work later. I've spent too much time wondering what I've already done and why some portions were coded the way they were.

omaremad · Post by **omaremad** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:46 pm

It depends, if those 7 hours included learning new 3ds max techniques and allot of mistakes, then i would call that valuable time. If you feel guilty don't sleep for 7 hours he next day

zeno60 · Post by **zeno60** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:43 pm

Probably depends on the person, but I try to never just jump into some random thing on a whim. For example, if I was in the middle of a project and realized: "Hey, I could use a tasty 3d GUI." I won't just stop the project and go work on the 3d menu. You end up with a lot of half-assed elements in your project that way. If its an idea or something, write it down and keep your head clear and focused on your main priority.

Divide & Conquer. Split your project up in to smaller, more manageable pieces where you can get a better understanding of how long it will take to complete, then from that, work out a schedule.

MasterGod · Post by **MasterGod** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:37 am

zeno60 wrote:Probably depends on the person, but I try to never just jump into some random thing on a whim. For example, if I was in the middle of a project and realized: "Hey, I could use a tasty 3d GUI." I won't just stop the project and go work on the 3d menu. You end up with a lot of half-assed elements in your project that way. If its an idea or something, write it down and keep your head clear and focused on your main priority.

Divide & Conquer. Split your project up in to smaller, more manageable pieces where you can get a better understanding of how long it will take to complete, then from that, work out a schedule.

I'll keep that in mind..