What do you want to create and what are you trying to achieve?
Do you want to make concept arts of guns, characters, environments, etc? Do you want to create 3D objects, mechs, environments or else? Do you want to create 3D characters? Do you want to model or sculpt or do both? Are you limited by a budget? Can you afford them all or have to make a choice? Etc.
What do you want to create and what are you trying to achieve?
Do you want to make concept arts of guns, characters, environments, etc? Do you want to create 3D objects, mechs, environments or else? Do you want to create 3D characters? Do you want to model or sculpt or do both? Are you limited by a budget? Can you afford them all or have to make a choice? Etc.
I want to be a game character artist. And I don't hve budget problems.
Even then, it really depends. Photoshop can be used for texturing, but there are other programs, such as Substance Designer/Painter that allow some people to virtually abandon Photoshop. (Also, baking is a dream in them)
Zbrush is fantastic for High poly modeling AND you can also do low poly/retopology in there, however, it is easier and often faster to do that in Maya.
Rigging is often done in Maya, and serves as a good base. I would recommend start with Maya, then work your way up to high poly sculpts in Zbrush.
Honestly with that original question my suggestion would be to start with neither of those three and instead take a long read through http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Game_Industry - especially the 'Art Disciplines'. If you think that a single programm/tool would be enough then you probably are completely new to this industry and you should first find more about that than what tools to use.
Edit: Even if it is just about starting with 'something' - try to get the full picture first, before running into. It will just help you understand all the related parts.
...and in the end the answer is going to be all 3 + several other programms / tools (+ art, + anatomy, +....)
Honestly with that original question my suggestion would be to start with neither of those three and instead take a long read through http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Game_Industry - especially the 'Art Disciplines'. If you think that a single programm/tool would be enough then you probably are completely new to this industry and you should first find more about that than what tools to use.
Edit: Even if it is just about starting with 'something' - try to get the full picture first, before running into. It will just help you understand all the related parts.
...and in the end the answer is going to be all 3 + several other programms / tools (+ art, + anatomy, +....)
I d suggest you could skip Photoshop if cost is an issue. I favor of substance designer/painter for texturing and the free Krita for painting/sketching. But as it was mentioned, PS dominated 2D for the last decades, and knowledge will still be expected in the nearish future. When you get used to Krita, PS will be no problem (and vice versa)
Even if Substance Painter is more and more wide spread, I would strongly suggest not to skip Photoshop. There are enough small studios that are still using it and need it for 2D parts of their projects (not just texturing). Not to mention that it comes quite handy when you are preparing your portfolio for presentation and other stuff.
... oh, and you can end up in a studio that uses Quixel Suite, so good luck with not knowing Photoshop...
Focus on learning art fundamentals above all else. Programs change over the years. If you know what you want to achieve as an Artist learning which buttons to press becomes less of an issue.
Focus on learning art fundamentals above all else. Programs change over the years. If you know what you want to achieve as an Artist learning which buttons to press becomes less of an issue.
I certainly agree, Jeff, but, the fact is, learning 5 or so complex and constantly evolving pieces of heavy software is a must. Knowing what buttons to push and when/why, and mastering all 5 plus the technical aspects of the pipeline can take years of hard work and passionate dedication. So let's give those buttons the respect they deserve.
To the OP: do your research as mentioned above and just get learning. The sooner the better. If character art is your goal then learning human/animal anatomy will be even more important than learning learning Zbrush itself - see Jeff's above post.
Replies
Zbrush is fantastic for High poly modeling AND you can also do low poly/retopology in there, however, it is easier and often faster to do that in Maya.
Rigging is often done in Maya, and serves as a good base.
I would recommend start with Maya, then work your way up to high poly sculpts in Zbrush.
Edit: Even if it is just about starting with 'something' - try to get the full picture first, before running into. It will just help you understand all the related parts.
...and in the end the answer is going to be all 3 + several other programms / tools (+ art, + anatomy, +....)
... oh, and you can end up in a studio that uses Quixel Suite, so good luck with not knowing Photoshop...
To the OP: do your research as mentioned above and just get learning. The sooner the better. If character art is your goal then learning human/animal anatomy will be even more important than learning learning Zbrush itself - see Jeff's above post.