Have you ever found yourself sitting in the theater, watching a Pixar film, and contemplating what it is about CGI animation that makes for some of the best children’s movies?

One of the first pieces of CGI software to enter the mainstream was Autodesk’s AutoCAD in 1982. Back then it wouldn’t have been feasible to run AutoCAD yourself at home. However, now with their Maya CGI software, you can use their 35 years of experience to create your own digital animations. They are far from the only option though as the completely free and open-source Blender can confirm.

Here is a top 3 tutorials for you to dive into CGI world.

Mike Stoliarov’s Tutorial about creating an ancient persian city in 3D. from Modeling to Compose. Software used: Maya, Zbrush, Speedtree, Fusion, After Effects.

An awesome tornado creation tutorial. Use Maya fluids, dynamics and dynamic fields and particles to control the look of the tornado effect. Maya Tutorial by khalil khalilian.

And this “Beginner Guide to CGI in Blender” by CG Geek.