I am working on the modeling in Blender flow. Should I complete the individual courses in order or is it a pick whichever one from the Modeling 1 Courses, then the Modeling II Courses, and finally the Modeling III Courses. I am currently on Mesh Modeling Bootcamp and have seen references to the retop course popup in it.
Whatever you think will teach you things the best. You can pop around to different videos and not lose progress.
I personally have asked myself this question numerous times, as an aspiring 3D character artist questions like "Do I need to know how to create a wall of mailboxes, or creating jellyfishes or hard-surface modelling when all I wanna do is model 3D characters?"
Some courses may seem irrelevant to your chosen specialization, may it be 3D character modelling, texturing, creating environmental/industrial renders. I myself have taken every single course since the modelling bootcamp until the Introduction to Character Modelling course and I can confidently say that each course has contributed to my growth as a character artist. Each course offered me bits of knowledge that allowed me to be more creative with my work and create more educational guesses which oftentimes were close if not Conventional ways of actually doing stuff!
They'll only help you grow, you just have to learn to look at it at a different perspective. I'll quote an answer from Kent Trammel after asking him a similar question in his course on "Creating a Wall of Mailboxes".
I'm asking this question because I heard that in order to get into the arts industry, you should focus on improving one skillset and leave everything else to other experts of different expertise.
You're right Ssweetbytez that "3D generalist" isn't a common job position anymore due to the growing number of 3D artists over the past 15 years. In that way you should be best at something - in your case modeling. The core issue is how do you stand out among modelers? Standing out is what will land you jobs and develop your reputation in the community. So when a company is hiring a modeler and they're deciding between you and 3 other people, all of which are the same caliber of modeling skills, what distinguishes you from them?
This is where extra skills (like shading and texturing) can set you apart. I recommend approaching other skills with the question "How can this emphasize my modeling?"
Most of the time plain grey models are boring. The ability to present your models in the best light is crucial for showcasing your work, both in your personal gallery and professional portfolio. In order to do this effectively you need to be aware of shading and lighting especially: The essential material properties and how they work together with appealing light setups. Take a look through my collection of lighting reference / inspiration. Most of them focus on a grey or single-color model but the lighting does amazing things to emphasize the model in notable ways.
I think I should have better worded the question. Should I complete the Modeling I Courses in the following order (per the Progress tracker) : Modeling with Modifiers , Fundamentals of Digital Sculpting in Blender , Introduction to Retopology , and Blender Mesh Modeling Bootcamp. I would think that the mesh modeling bootcamp should be completed before the others here.