VA might pay for Gnomon. And I have questions for Gnomon students.

ambelamba

The slight problem is that VA will only support a 2-year program. And my 2d portfolio is lacking in colored pieces. So now I am digging up the line drawings and coloring them with CLP. And I have an appointment with an advisor next Friday. I wonder how things will go.

Well, my first question is for modeling specific. Should I study some basic of Maya and Zbrush before attending the program? And how is the work/study load? 

Were there any students who were good with 2D portfolio but dropped out because they couldn't handle the technical aspect of using the software?

Anybody commuting from the long distance? I live in Inland Empire and it's 45 miles trip from my house. Do you think people can juggle between long commuting and heavy workload/homework?

And how's the daily schedule like? Do you guys spend a lot of time at the lab? And what time does the lab close? I think I will have to wake up very early for the traffic and stay as late as possible for homework and stuff.

Since my concentration will be Modeling and Texturing, is there any specific guidance/advice you guys can provide? As for me, I started out with Modo and actually it helped me understand Maya faster. It's nothing like learning Illustrator and getting confused with Flash. (that's what happened to me. One teacher told me that Maya is ten times more difficult to learn than Maya, but I am picking up a bit easily.)

OK, that's about it. Thanks.

Eric Chadwick

CLP = Clip Paint Studio? Not a concern, just to clarify.

I don't have experience with Gnomon, but I would recommend doing some searches like "gnomon workload" "gnomon daily schedule" etc. https://www.google.com/search?q=gnomon+workload

Also, what do you ultimately want from the instruction? A job in visual fx? Or a job in game development?

Do you know what specific discipline you want to pursue? Concepting? 3D characters? 3D environments? 2D pixel art? Etc.

These links might help you in figuring things out, as well as how to evaluate any instructional setup you're considering.

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Portfolio

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Game_Industry

ambelamba

I plan to pursue modeling and texturing. As for the elective classes I would take a rigging class just in case. My ultimate goal is to become a concept artist working with 3D. 

And here's the problem. I also need to learn either Unity or Unreal because I want to make my designs kinda interactive, or at least turnable. I do need to learn some game specific modeling tips, too. 

Biomag

Sounds to me more like you don't understand the role of an concept artist.

Listen to this podcast to get an idea what concept art is about -> http://fzdpodcast.com/2016/01/14/dcpodcast_ep1/

This doesn't mean there is no 3d concept art, but its completely different than you imagine the job to be. Go to the polycount wiki, get a better understanding of how the jobs are structured and what is expected. Then think about what role could fit for you. Jobs in smaller companies might be combinations of several disciplines, but the chances of doing what you wrote is extremely small. It goes against concept art - it has to be fast, with lots and lots of different designs and not an interactive show of a single asset.

Eric Chadwick

Agreed. Concept artists in game development work 95% or more in 2D. 

An overview of the typical studio's needs for a game concept artist.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/PortfolioContents#Concept_Artist

ambelamba

Biomag said:

Sounds to me more like you don't understand the role of an concept artist.

Listen to this podcast to get an idea what concept art is about -> http://fzdpodcast.com/2016/01/14/dcpodcast_ep1/

This doesn't mean there is no 3d concept art, but its completely different than you imagine the job to be. Go to the polycount wiki, get a better understanding of how the jobs are structured and what is expected. Then think about what role could fit for you. Jobs in smaller companies might be combinations of several disciplines, but the chances of doing what you wrote is extremely small. It goes against concept art - it has to be fast, with lots and lots of different designs and not an interactive show of a single asset.

 I see...

So is it probably a good idea to figure out what to do during the school years?

BTW, I noticed that Environmental Artist and Prop Artist are lumped up together in the wiki. Does that mean Character Artist and Prop Artist are totally separated job title?

Biomag

The sooner the better. But from personal experience - most people in their early twenties have no clue what they want. I guess 50+% people I know from university switched their studies within their first year. I myself switched studies and later on even careers at the age of 29 coming to games and art. In other words don't be to hard on yourself if you are not sure.

Still you are paying for your education, so making the most of it would be quite good As I said take a look at polycounts wiki and understand what the roles at a games company are. Go to job boards and read the discriptions - all this will give you an impression what the jobs are about. Then you can go back to the curriculum and pick the courses that fit the job that you want to do. Though personally I think anyone going into games should have a solid basic foundation of all parts of the pipeline before picking a specialization.

Eric Chadwick

Prop Artist is usually the same as Environment Artist. Though the bigger the studio, the more specialized the roles become. So you could have a Weapons Artist, a Vehicle Artist, etc. Which in a smaller studio, are all wrapped into one Environment Artist's job.

Biomag

Small studios means few people for the whole pipeline so its hard to tell what each individual studio expects. If they don't have that many characters in the game you will still have to do something with the remaining time - so either rigging, animations for the characters, helping out with props and/or environments, maybe just concept art. It completely depends on the studio.

The bigger the studio the more specalized jobs tend to be as nowadays things are getting more and more complex and also expectations for quality are rising.

ambelamba

Actually, I am interested in stylized character sculpting although I barely touched Zbrush.

With Modo/Maya I am trying to learn hard surface modeling also. 

I am surprised that those two seem to be very separated fields... At this point I just want to learn modeling/sculpting with texturing. For 2 years, I might have some time to decide what to do. As for concept design, some production companies seem to have adapted 3D into their design pipeline. In case of...(gasp) ILM, 3D is an integral part of their pre-production design. Of course I shouldn't be aiming that high at this point. 

Usually I heard that you should start with Maya first then go with Zbrush AFTER you get proficient with Maya. But some people seem to start straight into Zbrush. At this point I am practicing some rough blocking with Maya, studying basic functions. I used to study modeling with Modo but eventually migrated to Maya because Gnomon curriculum revolves around Maya. The UI is not as refined as Modo, but I am just starting with Maya so I might be able to adapt soon.

ambelamba

And I have a feeling that the admission counselor will encourage me to spend more time on the portfolio. The VA counselor is willing to help, but I am not sure about the Gnomon side. Since the VA will only approve 2 year program, I might have some drawback when I start out at Gnomon. 

My portfolio is definitely lacking in vehicles and props, and I was planning to work on them for next few months. But I already have an appointment with an admission counselor...NEXT WEEK.