uggh game art or vfx
polycount lvl 666
so yeah lately torn between the two. I love game art but like some aspects of vfx
not sure which to pursue. I think people in game art are more passionate and artistic, but vfx can have its good sides too ie there is a more friendly vibe
I sometimes though think that people in vfx have no concept of scheduling ie how long a task will take and tbh i am producing nothing of artistic merit on the whole. I have more or less gone back to basics of late ie thoroughly examining my zbrush technique which I am pleased with, now moving on to realistic texturing which I am not as good at.
My main struggle though has been with retopo, its really pains me and zbrush zremesher is not the saviour it was supposed to be.
It's an odd thing though I feel loathe to show any of my work these days, I find it quite painful for some reason
I have a temptation to go back to hand painted only stuff, but another part of me thinks I should learn the new workflows re PBR and stick with zbrush and similar techniques.
Bit of a confusing post I know , but some suggestions would be helpful
not sure which to pursue. I think people in game art are more passionate and artistic, but vfx can have its good sides too ie there is a more friendly vibe
I sometimes though think that people in vfx have no concept of scheduling ie how long a task will take and tbh i am producing nothing of artistic merit on the whole. I have more or less gone back to basics of late ie thoroughly examining my zbrush technique which I am pleased with, now moving on to realistic texturing which I am not as good at.
My main struggle though has been with retopo, its really pains me and zbrush zremesher is not the saviour it was supposed to be.
It's an odd thing though I feel loathe to show any of my work these days, I find it quite painful for some reason
I have a temptation to go back to hand painted only stuff, but another part of me thinks I should learn the new workflows re PBR and stick with zbrush and similar techniques.
Bit of a confusing post I know , but some suggestions would be helpful
Replies
Man, retopo is a piece of cake. You just have to know how normal mapping and UVs work, then you can retopo stuff with your eyes closed. It just takes a bit of practice. I don't know what you are so afraid of, if you aren't good as something - take your time and learn it. Learning and improving is a process you should be in love with and be glad there's something you don't know yet. It's very often that I think "this is so hard, I wish I'd do something else... or whatever", but then I just remember that if I could learn everything else, why not this thing ? There's really nothing to it, after all, just sleepless night and ruined vision
I think challenges are great and it's what drives me forward. I always try to find how to push myself to the limits. What's the fun in settling for something easier?
As for VFX vs Games, that depends on what you like more, I suppose. I don't care about movies, but I do care about games, personally.
i worked on 1 vfx project where we spent 4 days doing a very detailed retopo, on clothes and I almost died of boredom. so yeah i know fine well how to do it i just hate it:)
re challenges and stuff , so yeah I like that sometimes but other times i just need a easy life
I think there is the correct artistic way to do stuff and then there is the commercially viable way to do stuff where the client seems to want the finished version almost immediately
Do you think that maybe you're just a bit tired of all of this? You should think about taking a vacation.
i find it very hard to come back after a holiday and get back in to my work so i prefer to stay in the zone as it were.
so yeah regards to retopo . in the old days if you need to change something, then you just painted it, but now you would have to retopo your retopo to make any changes then rebake all your maps. real pain involved
One of my projects, all hand-modeled poly by poly and finetuning every single vertex fo the final smooth flow of the topology. Only one problem though... my wrist got a bit sore on my mouse-hand, haha: http://i.imgur.com/Ny4CAHV.jpg
In games, things are often concepted out in detail, but you at least sometimes have the chance to make up aspects of things you build, and have a bit of artistic input. On tiny projects, you can have tons of creative input, especially if you are a 1-person art team. Also, you almost never spend months working on one particular asset, so it's less likely that you spend most of your time bored out of your skull.
In vfx I assume that most everything these days is pre-concepted to the point where your actual work doesn't involve much if any visual design or creative input. The end result may look very detailed and cool, however. If you don't get bored easily, don't have the need to have much creative input and are thrilled at seeing the final version in some cool movie, doing vfx work seems fine.
He spent 3-4 months painting fur on the lion.
If striving for ridiculous level of perfection, to a point where you're spending several months making sure the caustic reflections and subtle details of the light scattering on the hair simulation looks accurate, than film is totally your thing.
Also you have to chose. Modeling Or Surfacing. Nobody really lets you do both.
Also, Justin, in my opinion, going freelance would mean that you would probably work on different things throughout the year, but it could happen that you get freelance projects that are really repetitive too (but for example pay well in return). Freelance doesn't automatically equal unique and exciting projects.
I was just asking because I was wondering if you really have to choose between VFX or gameart; couldn't you jump between them so neither becomes stale? I've seen Hazardous and a few others jump between mini-figs and game art.
From her pov, working in game's sounds far more appealing. Could always be the "grass is greener on the other side" effect, but some food for thought nonetheless.
from what I've seen, when we made stuff for transformers, battleship and pacific rim, you got to be very organized and accurate. naming conventions for everything, tons and tons of objects in your scene, and everything needs to be sub-d ready. polycount doesn't really matter. Add to that quite a few references. Stay away if you're intimidated by complex scenes
Also, you won't be doing any texturing. You'll be modeling all day. Knowing other modeling techniques, e.g. NURBS, can be helpful to block out hard-surface stuff quickly. Since polycount ain't that important you should know every modeling trick in the book.
I only posted my intentions because I'm speaking as someone with no experience freelancing. A few years back Ruz said he left doing game art to do VFX; I was just confused why you have to choose to quit one field in order to go to another as a freelancer?
If you work a few months in VFX and then take a game contract after that does that sever all ties to your VFX clients?
Take Blur studios(known for the very high-end game cinematic's), their "Scene Assembler" job is pretty much modelling/set dressing/lighting/shading/rendering/(maybe even comp) or smaller VFX/advertising agencies like the one I work with(we are not high-end and are primarily focused on Business To Business products) but I'm in charge of everything, pre-viz, model, shading, lighting, render, and some times comp which is pretty cool as it gives you a lot of freedom and you are rarely stuck on the same boring part.
Seems like I'm constantly seeing artists jump between game studios and animation studios on the west coast. It also looks like a lot of stop motion houses are using 3d artists for printing characters. I've seen interviews where they say a lot of great experimentation goes on within shorts department in certain studios.
I never really made a lot of cash from it really, maybe I don't put in the effort required or maybe I am focusing on the wrong kind of companies.
With a few exceptions I found the vibe in vfx a bit more laid back so enjoyed that and actually enjoyed working in house a few times with some cool people.
The thing I feel I am missing is the creative side. I was always a texture artist, but in vfx I am not allowed to be a zbrush artist 'and' a texture artist which is so weird for me.
I tend to pick up a lot of zbrush work as most of the guys do subdivision modelling.
But the schedules are a bit ridiculous at times so I always feel under a lot of pressure
I am amazed by some of the latest games like uncharted 3 and wish I was involved in that kind of project, but there again who doesn't right?
i am not sure if I want to leap back in to games anyway as things didn't exactly go great for me when i was working full time and I am 46 now, so that makes it even harder.
I am not despondent or anything as my work is coming along nice of late, but i really have to find out what I like or if not , move in to some other creative area where I can be myself a bit more.
That way, you'll not be stuck doing retopo (or LODs, ahem) for weeks at a time, and dabble in a bit of everything.
LOD's or retopo not sure which is worse:)
lots of these smaller studios need someone who can animate too and although I dabble and can do some okayish walk cycles, it's not pro standard by a long way
The idea of work in small mobile studio( not a caravan) does appeal to me though.
might think on that some more
Have worked in games a fair bit and then jumped back into animated feature work.
I must admit it is alot of fun and loosing things like retopo, bug fixing and engine wrangling is rather nice. That and having a bad experience at my last games studio means I dont miss it too much at the moment.
I do miss the heavily creative art direction and loose creativity involved in games. Plus working on lower ress characters and textures is rather nice (We work on multiple 8k textures for characters. Ouch)
I did once work in VFX but swore never again as I spent a month building a darn arrow for some forgotten Carpenter horror film. Very frustrating. Haha
As for VFX I have a buddy and he is probably the most talented chap I know and he left being a character artist in games (and very good at that) to work in VFX. He mostly textures and will be tasked with texturing a bridge in say the next Avengers or maybe a car in some other uber flick. For him the ultra high finish and working on blockbusters that multiple millions of people will see does it for him. Pay is good to, but it is unstable work. He often has to find a new studio gig and for someone with tonnes of experience and amazing skills that seems rather crap to me.
I guess in games you have alot more creative freedom and can easily do alot of the modeling, lighting, texturing or whatever, so there is alot more broad creative and conceptual freedom there. The finish may not be ultra high though in comparison to top vfx, less people may see it and the pay probably wont be considered high.
Its really a personal choice per person in alot of ways. There is no right choice. Had another freind who left a top VFX studio to go make little cellphone game apps so he could go back to his country, put his feet up in the sun and be around his family.
Personal choice and perspective once again.
Also if you dont like retopo, maybe tailor your folio to skills that dont really show that or at least find some programs that automate the process and make it a bit more enjoyable? Topogun or 3d coat?
Hope I helped
Cheers