Hi Blender community!
Sorry if my question or thread is out of place, I’m new here and incredibly new to Blender and 3D modeling. My reason for downloading Blender is because I am wanting to create 3D vinyl toy models (pretty much exactly like this - http://www.shinbonecreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Wandering-Misfits-Group-Shot-01.jpg). Even just front face models not even full 360 degree models.
I know Photoshop like the back of my hand and have been creating my 3D art digitally by hand there (I am now simply looking to take it a step further with Blender and try my hand at creating ‘real’ 3D models - not just painted ones). I’ve already figured out the interface of Blender and I think I’ll be able to pick it up relatively easily and get my head around it all just enough to achieve what I need. But my question is, to create a model like this, which component of Blender should I be focusing on (watching tutorials about etc.) because I know ‘3D’ is broad and words like animation, rigging, scripts, uv lighting, 3D sculpting etc. are all thrown around a lot which to a newbie like me is a bit overwhelming so I don’t which component to invest time in. I’d hate to spend ages learning a component such as animation only to realise I really didn’t need it! - at this point anyways in my endeavour.
I am just looking to create a 3D vinyl model like the example above (from scratch or even from an image I’ve previously made), have it lit realistically to make it look wonderfully 3D, and have it textured (shaders?) awesomely in a variety of fun ways (like metal, glass etc.). And then bring it back into Photoshop and have some more fun with it. Will Blender allow me to do this and where do I start!
Thank you guys