Game Art – Advice From Someone In the Industry

[Rogzilla]

So that means that someone with knowledge of 3D modeling will have a better chance of getting a job in the game industry? Will they not consider someone who is focused only in traditional illustration? Also, would the program matter, say Maya vs 3DS Max? I know, I am getting annoying! :-P

[Kainin]

Well I dont know if this is the right way round things but im studying Photoshop and 3-Ds max and have my self a volentry job on a MMORPG just to get my finished work load up and so I can put that all important game experience needed box ticked.
Now I dont know if the game will get out or not but its fun and helps as I managed to get the 2-D head place, yay for me! Its just a bunch of us mates getting what we can done with what we have. Good clean fun
Learning alot about image planes at the mo but is there anywhere where I can see some high speck ones as I need to see what level they are done to.
I do have one question as all my studying is home study I will have no Quals to speak of will this matter as I dont have time to go to collage, plus the lack of evening study in the south of England.......unless there is an online school that I havnt found yet?

[Seedling]

So that means that someone with knowledge of 3D modeling will have a better chance of getting a job in the game industry? Will they not consider someone who is focused only in traditional illustration? Also, would the program matter, say Maya vs 3DS Max? I know, I am getting annoying! :-P

Yes, all of the above matters. There is no one right answer. Each company has different requirements, and overall, there are many more 3D jobs available than 2D, so yes, as a 3D modeler you will have a greater chance of finding employment.

Learning alot about image planes at the mo but is there anywhere where I can see some high speck ones as I need to see what level they are done to.

I’m sure there are places where you can find that sort of thing. Try Google.

I do have one question as all my studying is home study I will have no Quals to speak of will this matter?

Maybe. Possibly. It depends on how you spend your time learning.

.......unless there is an online school that I havnt found yet?

I don’t know.



Guys, there are no magic answers to what or where or how you need to learn. You need to research what you are getting into beyond just here, you need to chart your own educational course, you need to work hard at whatever you decide to do, and you need to keep working at it and re-evaluating your course until you get where you want to be. All the information that is compiled here is a resource aimed at helping you to help yourself. The rest – the hard work, the real research, the risk-taking and the decision-making – is up to you.

[drummingpariah]

Guys, there are no magic answers to what or where or how you need to learn. You need to research what you are getting into beyond just here, you need to chart your own educational course, you need to work hard at whatever you decide to do, and you need to keep working at it and re-evaluating your course until you get where you want to be. All the information that is compiled here is a resource aimed at helping you to help yourself. The rest – the hard work, the real research, the risk-taking and the decision-making – is up to you.

Best advice I think I've ever heard. It applies to everything in life. Actually, this could be the foundation for some extremist cult following...

[Kainin]

True, true

Seedling, sorry if I was a pain with all the questions as I know you spend alot of time answering stuff all the time

But yea hard work and a level head is the key to most things in life

[Wasker]

I forgot to thanks you for the answers you gave me dear Seedling. Thank you. Some of it was pretty much what I expected to hear but I needed to get somekind of confirmation I guess.

I do have one question as all my studying is home study I will have no Quals to speak of will this matter?

If I may add something Kainin, I believe it in the end comes down to what you are capable of doing. What counts is (and correct me if I'm wrong) skills and experience. No one is going to hire you if you have a fancy degree in computer game design but your portfolio pieces show that you don't know jack about fundamentals. But companies will hire you even if you're offically uneducated in the field but got good work samples. Ofcourse, throwing a degree in architecture and graphic design (just to mention some educations which could be helpful) + good samples is probably even better than having just 1 out of 3.

Conclusion of my mad ramblings; Degrees might add to the CV but in the end it is skill and experience that really counts.



Hope I got this right, poke me if I didn't.

[Seedling]

The BBC covers news on the games industry now and then. Most of it is fluff, but this article is a good overview of the different jobs that can be found within one development team:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6472467.stm

[Raide the Torrent]

Wow, I'm glad I found this site.

I have a few questions myself, I'm going to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in there Game Art and Design 4-year course (longer since I've been taking it part time). This school teaches traditional art and 3D art with 3Ds Max. As much as a job in the hard working videogame industry sounds nice, I'm going to open myself to other avenues like television, advertising, and film (Pixar!)

One thing that's disturbing me, after some research is that more and more game companies are using Maya instead of Max. While Max is good for low poly modeling, Maya seems to offer more flexibility and tools for higher quality models. It's frustrating to find that the industry seems divided on software of choice. I talked to a rep from Insomniac games about this and even he believed that Max is "on the way out." What is your advice on good 3D software? Or is that a bit out of your area?

Also, I'm a continued recovering otaku (anime fanboy). Back in the early 2000 my obsession with anime influenced my art style and I'm doing my best to draw far away from this. My artwork has been constantly compared to Dragonball or Yu-Gi-Oh despite all my efforts to "change." I look at my old online resume and realize that I need to change it, so I'm adapting styles from favored mediums like comic books and cartoons. I thought about using slight anime influences but I see that the industry frowns upon it still.

I have a main male hero character that has small spiked hair, though looking at American game art, I don't see this much. Is fine spiked hair still looked at as anime? Small spiked hair say, not spikey like Cloud or Goku, but Bruce Timm's style (Batman animated, Justice League, Batman Beyond)... though now that I think of it, his style has a slight anime influence to it.

Teen Titans got away with it though. But still, I dunno if I should totally steer clear from any anime influence. I used to enjoy some simple anthropomorphic art, I had a cartoon cat that resembled a bit like Sonic that was a fun ride in high school as a mini comic I did, then when I got drawn into anime I saw the darker side of fur fanatics that show anthro characters in a different light. Are anthro characters shunned more in American art?

What I want to do after graduation? Well I'm trying to get IN before graduation. I'm starting to learn Maya this week and finding it to be much more flexible, but I have more experience in Max despite how frustrating the learning curve is. So my last question is, how would this look on my online portfolio/resume:

Traditional art samples (5)
Dynamic posed swordsman, gun toting female, cartoon anthro character, monster, vehicle of some kind.

Background traditional art (5)
Outdoor landscape, interior, fantasy area x3

Concept Art (5)
These would be model sheets of characters I use for the portfolio, I'm not sure if rough sketches even count as concept art, does storyboard art count?

3D art (5)
This is what I'm working on first, I can always do traditional art later as I'm more fluent in that department. My plan is to have one fully modeled, rigged, and textured male character, female character, monster, vehicle, and two to four landscapes, seeing that I see alot of environment artists are rising in demand.

I'm striving to have a variety of things, to show employers despite what I was told to stick to a small talent and work from there. I see that when you apply for a position, you're expected to multitask.


Sorry this was a mouthful. Thank you for your time.

[BryanYoung]

What a great thread! I just read the whole thing from beginning to end. Kind of got me in the mood to do some 3D work; I haven't done any in a while. I've really just been focusing on my 2D work lately. 3D stuff is just so time consuming, and I always have the fear of spreading myself to thin. Jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing. That gamedev map looks like it will be quite useful. Thank you Seedling and all the others who posted advice.

[Seedling]

Hi guys!

Raide – there is no magic formula for portfolios. Show your best work in a format that is easy to view. Everything else is up to you.

About Maya versus Max – there was never a golden age in which there was only one tool that everyone used. The stupidity of the multiple programs is just a part of the industry. Learn some of each, or learn one well – the choice is yours.

Regarding anime – if you are worrying about a detail as small as the spikes in the hair of a particular character, then you are thinking about it too much. Put some time into drawing from life, so that you can choose to draw or not draw in an anime style when you want to. Getting a job has less to do with whether or not you can draw in a particular style than with your ability to draw, and with your ability to switch styles without losing quality.

Good luck.

[Seedling]

Lohan asked some good questions over in this thread, so I thought it might be useful to repeat my post here.

I've recently begun trying to teach myself how to texture/skin models. I have 2 main questions and it would be awesome if anybody could help me out with them.

Firstly, when a model is provided, how does the texture artist know how to make the unwrapped skin for it? I'm not talking about what programs are used, etc, but more like, what dimensions to use and the length of the arm, head, etc?

Second, maybe its just because I'm very new, but it seems incredibly difficult to know whats what on an unwrapped texture. Is this just something that comes with experience or am I missing something?

I've read a few online tutorials and neither of these were very clear. Thanks in advance for any answers.

Ask different people, and you’ll get different answers. Different game engines all have different requirements as well. If you work for a company, your boss will probably have specific information for you when you get started. But here’s a way to get started on your own:

Say you are making a monster – something humanoid. A good way to practice is to lay out your texture in a square that is 1024 x 1024 pixels. Make up a 1024 x 1024 pixel file in Photoshop, mark the edges, and fill the texture with a checkerboard. When you are laying out the Uvs on this texture, this allows you to do two things: the outline shows you where the texture ends, so that you can get all the pieces tidily within the square, and the checkerboard shows you where the resolution on your creature is uneven (such as the squares showing up larger on one part of the monster than another) and where it is improperly laid out (distorted squares, stretch marks). Get the monster wrapped up in a tidy, even coat of checkerboard. Take up as much of the real-estate within that square as you can, so as not to waste the space. Then take a screenshot of the laid-out Uvs, plunk that in Photoshop, and use it as your guideline.

Then comes the fun part: endlessly going back and forth between your 3D program and your 2D program. Paint, test, paint, test.

There are additional programs and plug-ins that can speed up UV layouts, or that will let you paint directly on the model, but they aren’t necessary.

And back to getting different answers from different people: some artists swear up and down that the resolution on a model must be the same everywhere. Some swear up and down that certain elements, such as faces, must be at a higher resolution. It’s a personal call. Or it’s the art director’s call.

To address some other things – companies won’t necessarily split modeling and texturing into two different jobs. And if they do, it may be up to the modeler to lay out the Uvs. It depends on the company and on the individuals involved. For a while I had worked out a scheme where I was modeling, laying out Uvs, and doing a first quick pass on the texture so that the texture artist could see what was needed where. Also, things can get more interesting with landscapes and architecture, because you will encounter situations where you have multiple textures to work with, some of which will need to be tiled, some of which will be repeated all over the place, and some of which must be unique; and the texture budgets will be downright stingy, so you are forced to make a little texture go a very long way. “Smoke and mirrors” is a good way to think of it.

Thanks for the good questions Lohan.

[Seedling]

Masque made a tutorial! Thank you masque!

http://home.metrocast.net/~chipartist/SkinTute/

[meaow]

What a great thread!

And looooong

[gascogne]

hey, I think this thread is really cool and i havent been able to finish reading all of them yet >.< so I dont know if this is already asked(sorry...).

I already have a BFA and is doing commissions in illustration and graphic arts for some years now but i really want to be in the games industry. (it was like going back to your first love, sumtin) Or to be more precise, to be a concept artist. But of course, I dont know where the heck to start and how the heck am I going to be one. Shall I study 3d first? We have tackled the basics of Max when I was in college but I dont think I've learned enough from my Professor. I was thinking of working as an intern concept artist but even that is very hard to come by. Where shall I start? And is it possible to learn up to at least the max scripting all by myself?

[Lecnac]

Seedling, this thread is outstanding. Really great information. A million thanks.

I was wondering if you had any information on the interview process. I ask not only for my own benifit, but I have to give a report for a class =) Anything you know would help.

Thank you!

[Beelow]

Thanx, for sharing the company links!

B

[LindseyErin]

Hi all! Great thread, all the information that's been posted is absolutely awsome. Which is why I'm posting a question.

I am a master's student creating a degree in 3D production art at my college. I had an idea for a masters project, but when I talked to a lady at the GDC about it, she told me that it wasn't nearly enough to justify a degree. Especally a master's degree. She suggested I looked for an issue within the industry to focus my project on.

So my question is, what sort of issues are there within the industry that has to do with texturing? or with enviromental work? I'm no sort of programmer, so I can't develop a kick ass procedural. Any information is helpful, even if it's pointing me towards a website.

thanks again for the awsome thread, I fully intend on doing these assignments.

[hito]

Seedling this is a great thread you're running. thanks for all the time you put in.

One thing I noticed alot browsing various job postings is that there're many more posts for Lead/Senior artists than there are for mid level; I estimate a 1.5 to 1 ratio (quick tally on the art/animation posts on gamasutra this morning). Entry level positions are practically non-existant. Typically the 1st line one would see while reading a job post is "2-4 industry experience" required.

How did you get your first position? referal or through applying on your own?

[Seedling]

Ooh, I need to check back here more often!



Lecnac – Sorry, this may be too late to help with your class. Interviewing for a games industry job is just like interviewing for any job, just with the addition of art. If a company likes your work and they like the sound of you well enough to bring you in for in interview, then chances are you are they have already made up their mind to hire you and are just checking to make sure that they’ve had the right impression about you. This is especially true if you are flown in for an interview, because it’s too expensive to fly in anyone but the most sure candidates.

The actual interview process? Put the interviewee in a room and keep rotating employees through to ask questions and answer questions. Afterward the employees get together and swap notes. I’m sure it can get more formal than that, especially among higher-level jobs, but that’s the essence.


LindseyErin – I know almost nothing about what an appropriate master’s project would be. (I’m not sure I know any artists in the industry who have a masters, come to think of it.) Issues within the industry having to do with texturing or environment art. . . I wish I had a tech-artist or graphics programmer on hand to answer your question! :-P Most problems to solve I these areas involve getting more game from a limited number of resources – limited time, limited texture space, limited poly-count, etc. The programmers are always finding ways to exceed previous limits. For artists, the daily challenge is to work within the limits that are chosen by the programmers and tech artists; for instance, there might be a rule that “thou shalt not make a character with a UV-count above 1200 without our express permission.” A bigger occasional challenge for an artist might be to figure out a new way of making modular dungeon pieces, or finding a way to make a new kind of effect or environment within a well-used game engine. These sorts of things generally require the oversight of at least the tech-artist, to assure that the solution will actually work in the game. With less involvement from tech-art, an artist could figure out how to creatively use a small amount of texture to cover a large entire environment well; or figure out how to re-use existing art assets, such as by retexturing an existing model; or. . . I don’t know, I’m blanking. I’ll think about this some more, and report back here if I think of anything. In the mean time, keep asking around. Somebody in the 3D forum might have some ideas for you.


gascogne – A lot of your questions have been answered to some extent in this pile. . . somewhere. . . *wishes for an index*. Part of the answer is that there is no one good answer. I don’t know the first thing about scripting. If you get hired on Max scripting skills, you might find yourself in a position where you could work yourself into a concept art job, or you might find yourself doing tech art for eight hours a day and no drive to get yourself where you want to actually be. I don’t know. If you can find an internship doing concept art, then awesome, but I’m not sure such a position exists.

One thing I noticed alot browsing various job postings is that there're many more posts for Lead/Senior artists than there are for mid level; I estimate a 1.5 to 1 ratio (quick tally on the art/animation posts on gamasutra this morning). Entry level positions are practically non-existant. Typically the 1st line one would see while reading a job post is "2-4 industry experience" required.

The entry-level positions (including internships) are there, especially among newer and lesser-known companies because they can’t afford or can’t attract industry veterans. When a team wants someone with experience, they have to cast wider nets because there are so few available. Advertising all over the place for entry-level jobs would likely result in loads of highly unqualified applicants submitting portfolios, resulting in more work for the team as they sort through it all. So, entry-level jobs are advertised closer to home, if at all. Contact companies directly and ask if they are hiring for entry-level jobs, and go ahead and submit you portfolio and resume to companies that you like, whether or not you know if they have an open position. They’ll pull your portfolio out of the file* when they decide they need a new employee.

I found out about the opening at Turbine from a former classmate who was working here. He sent me an e-mail to say that if I was still looking for a job, one was available. After that tip I applied for the job like any old applicant.

Oh, something else you can do is look at companies that have just launched games or are just about to. There’s a lot of churn during such times. Many employees leave (either they get laid off or go seeking their fortunes elsewhere), and if the company is doing well, new employees are hired to replace them or to grow the company. If a company is looking for three or more experienced people at once, they are probably staffing up for a new project, and are probably also toying with the idea of taking on a novice or two as a long-term investment. If it’s a really new company, they may hire lots of novices out of desperation. (Which is risky for a company. It takes a long time to train a novice up to the point of being a productive employee, even if he starts out as really good artist.)


*or cardboard box. Artists aren’t the best file-keepers.

[g4mer]

nice training u haw ther, i rely greathfull theat ther is ppl how offers they time to tell somthin useful.
I alway wanted to be game deziner, but i think i dont haw talent for it so my dream is still a dream....

[Seedling]

nice training u haw ther, i rely greathfull theat ther is ppl how offers they time to tell somthin useful.
I alway wanted to be game deziner, but i think i dont haw talent for it so my dream is still a dream....

Glad to be of service.

There is no such thing as talent. What others see as talent is actually the results of hard work and passion. You can be a game designer if you want to. If it does interest you, I suggest starting with your writing skills, because designers need to be able to communicate clearly through writing. Take every e-mail and every post as an opportunity to practice good spelling and grammar habits.

[Beonarri]

Here's a little tip on learning how to write better. Read! Read books, articles or websites, whatever you preference, that way you can see how skilled writers structure their words into effective communications. It's like looking at other artists to figure out how they did something, then reverse engineering it to suit your purposes. You don't have to analyze every word and punctuation, but when you read you're giving the parts of your brain associated with the forming of words exercise. The more you exercise them, the better they'll be when you have to write something up, whether it be forum posts, emails, instructions or descriptions.

PS
Thanks for the thread Seedling (and those who contributed), it's a great read and a great resource!

[Lecnac]

Thanks for the reply. It was a bit too late for my class, but that's ok, still did fine =)

This thread has really been a big help. Thank you.

[Seedling]

Hey hey, this mess now has a Table of Contents! I hope it helps. . .

[Ungenius]

Hey Seedling, thanks for noticing me that this thread exists. It is really a big help! To start on your own is pretty hard, especially because it's overwhelming and you don't know where to start. This thread is really going to help me with that. Thanks so much!

Also the advice you, Wanwan and Darkwolfb87 gave on the first page is definitely something I'm going to listen to. Especially because my health gets in the way too often. I'm not going to say that I will change my lifestyle tomorrow, because that is never going to work. I'll start doing that now!

Thanks

[Seedling]

Glad to be of service, Un. :-)

[Seedling]

Cmoreland brought this link to my attention:

http://www.zayatz.com/text/Games_v_film.htm

It’s an artist’s comparison of the games and movie industries.

[drummingpariah]

Hiya guys and gals. I was putting together my digital library the other day, and the material here was something I really wanted to have available to me, whether I'm online or not. Since there wasn't a book of Concept Art 101...

I made one! Thanks to Seedling for all the wonderful work that's gone into this thread. I'm hoping to be able to keep up, and get the formatting into a style that I like, but for now it is what it is. The pages don't line up, but the info's the same. If anybody has some exercise examples they'd like to have in this, I'll include them. I may make two separate documents to keep the filesize down, as well.

Shoot me a PM with your email address if you'd like a copy. Once I have hosting, I'll make it known and it'll be downloadable.

[Beonarri]

Interesting read.
Thanks for the link!

[Oscare]

Hi, i'm not sure if you got this or not, but i was wondering....do you need a degree to become a concept artist? I'm going to Art Center in Pasadena right now, and i'm thinking of just ditching the non-art classes like Intro to Modernism and so forth and just taking the art classes. What do you think?