Select your 3D software application. A wide variety of 3D graphic applications are available on the market. Popular options include:
3D Studio Max
Cinema 4D
Maya
Lightwave Studio
Rhinoceros
All of these apps are commercially developed products that are sold with expensive price tags (although some are offered as student/academic versions at discounted prices). However, a free open-source 3D modeling and rendering program called Blender is available.
Select your modeling style. Before you can create a 3d image you must first create a 3D model (also called a mesh). Two distinct modeling styles are available. The first is called box modeling. Using this method you take crude primitives, such as a cube or a sphere, and construct them in a way to form the object you intend to create. For example, using a basic sphere as a head, a cube as the torso and some cylinders as arms and legs you could build the basic human form. By further reworking these crude primitives, you could fashion them into realistic-looking forms, such as eyes, nose, ears, lips, muscles etc.
The second basic modeling style is called NURBS modeling. NURBS stands for Non Uniform Rational Basis Spline. Using the NURBS modeling process, you would create a series of splines and then connect or cover them using a process called lofting (also known as Skinning). The effect is very similar to stretching a piece of cloth over a line or spline to give it shape. This technique is used frequently when creating organic 3D objects.
Create your light. Most software applications include preset lighting conditions that are ideal to spot defects or blemishes in your creation but do not represent what the object might look like in real-world lighting. You will want to add one or more lights to your scene to provide an appealing look to your mesh. Most 3D software applications offer complete control over all nuances of your lights, from position and direction to subtle attributes such as fall-off and shadow types. By adjusting these characteristics you can produce dramatic effects, such as replicating a typical Hollywood lighting scene to a more subdued lifelike scene.
Texture your mesh. At this point your mesh will have a very dull, grey look much like an unfinished, plastic model plane. The process of coloring and detailing your mesh is called texturing. Although some 3D applications include a texture editor, the majority do not feature an integrated texturing utility. You will need a 2D/photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop or the freeware application, Gimp. Using one of these applications you can create a texture that will map to or wrap around your 3D mesh giving it details and colors. Many 3D design studios (in both the gaming and the film industry) employ separate artists, one to create the 3D mesh and another to create the 2D textures and then texture map them to the mesh.
Render your 3D image. After building your 3D mesh, texturing it and setting the lighting scene, the final step is to render the image. 3D applications have various export and rendering settings that can influence the speed and quality of your rendering. After adjusting to your satisfaction, you can launch the rendering process. This process can take a great deal of time depending on the complexity of your mesh, the texture size and the amount and detail of your lighting setup. After the rendering is complete, the completed image should be located in the folder you specified in the render dialogue.