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Career & Education

Getting into game development, education for game artists, working in a studio vs. freelancing, life/work balance, managing your career.

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Studio Tours and how to go about it.

Hi, I will be visiting the US in about a months time from now.Im curious to know. Are studio tours a thing ? I know places like Blizzard offer em and I've tried my luck and signed up for it…
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Meloncov

Career Progression as a 3D Artist?

Hey guys, I'm working as a 3D artist for a game company and it's been really awesome experience. I do just about everything from rigging, animating, texturing, modelling, mechanim, timeline and getti…
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BrianShray

Am I weird?

So after a couple of tries at contacting various companies and getting the same lack of response I'm wondering if I'm just weird or expecting too much. I've contacted a couple of companies and person…
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BrianShray

Technical interview questions

What are the common technical questions in an interview for 3d artists in the games industry?How can I prepare for it? What are the do's and don'ts?I'm currently trying to prepare for my upcoming int…
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PixelMasher

Getting paid for freelance work with Payoneer - is anyone using it?

Hello!I am having a customer that insists in paying me through Payoneer, but I hesitate to accept it since I 've seen many bad reviews about this specific platform with people even calling them scamm…
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Boyani

Benefits of Traditional sculpting in film and games

For character sculptors/artists, do you think traditional sculpture gives you a leg up? how often is it used? Is it a great thing to have in your portfolio? Is it more so used in films than games, if…
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sacboi

I'm looking for an industrial design tutorial.

Hi there! So, here's the deal, I'm looking for a tutorial course or even a mentorship on industrial design.To be clear, I'm a 3D environment artist. I know how to make models, UVs and all that jazz. …
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Linfo

Character artist bootcamp, game art institute. Opinions?

Has anyone done this course? 
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White_wizard

Some questions about modeling and softwares in production

Hi there, I'm student and I was taught to use Maya to learn the basics of 3D modeling but  when I'm looking what the others mades  I see that not many people seem to use it or only for buil…
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sacboi

Films, Games, and Education with Jerad Marantz

From the upcoming Mortal Kombat to Guardians of the Galaxy and Gears of War 4, you will find Jerad Marantz hard at work designing characters and costumes in many of LA’s most prestigious studios. Som…
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cgmasteracademy

Level Designer without Programming skills?

This discussion was created from comments split from: How do I make a level design Portfolio?.
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Shudrum

VFX in games?

Even i am doing 3D Modeling atm, i am curious about vfx in games. Mostly i am interest in style like WoW, LoL, Dota 2. For doing vfx, what kind of theory do i need to know? I am speaking for mat…
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PixelMasher

Where to find Concept Art jobs?

Hi guys,I was wondering about this, because in this forum there is a jobs section, and it's awesome, but it has mainly listings with people looking for 3d artists, to no surprise, since this forum is…
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PixelMasher

Graphic Design to 3D Animation

I have graphic design experience but would like to try 3D animation. What would be the suggested steps/software sequence you would recommend?
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Brian "Panda" Choi

Finding Personal and Professional Growth with Legacy Effects Artist Hannah Kang

When we asked Hannah Kang to talk with us, she asked if she could just make us a mascot instead...Of course we said yes, but the deal was she had 24 hours to get it to us.She not only delivered on ti…
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cgmasteracademy

Art test from AAA studios, have some questions

Hi all, I recently submitted my first art test to an AAA studio in Canada, and got another test from other studio today. So, my first test was likeness head from a picture reference with texture map …
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ArNavart

Question about using models for animation and copyrights

Hi im not sure if this is right place to ask questions like this but i couldn't find better place on this forum.I was wondering if using model of Pokemon for animation showreel a violation of copyrig…
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Tooupy

VFX in Unreal education- workshop or clas suggestions

hey gang, back with another question. I've been learning Unreal recently. And I stumbled my way into VFX with Cascade, UE4's particle generator (not sure if i'm saying that correctly.) If you ha…
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pmiller001

Best website builder for artists?

I'm looking to help a group of friends redesign a website for them and they're fairly opposed to Wix, what websites are best for building a site for artists?
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JordanN

How to start

Hey guys, I'm very passionate about everything involving gaming, and I'm looking forward to becoming a graphic designer, my question is if anyone could tell me what the steps are to becoming one or f…
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samnwck

ArtDirection/Art Bibles/StyleGuides/

Hey There,I am a student, planning my masters thesis. I think about writing about "art bibles" in videogames. I am still at the very beginning of the work, looking for resources of information and th…
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Eric Chadwick

Contracting through a Limited Company - Accounting software?

Wasn't really sure where to put this.Does anyone run their contract work through a limited company for tax efficiencies?If so, do you use accounting software and would you have any recommendatio…
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sacboi

Is it okay to model other peoples concept art?

I've model a few objects from other people's concept art and I was wondering if its okay to show off my work. I would give credit to the artist, but I just wanted to practice modeling from a concept …
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YaboyZay

This website has inspired me to learn 3D modeling

Today was my first day learning about some of Blender's functions.  I learned how to use nodes to apply high poly textures onto a low poly mesh!  ᗡ:
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Cavins

Cheat or not?

i'm wondering , it is considered cheat if we use base mesh from someone else or use alphas and others source in zbrush?or its totally ok to do it so in this industry?i kinda feel bad to use someone e…
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PixelMasher

3D visualization Career question?

Hello I'm familiar with 3DS Max,Vray and PShop. Now I'm creating my portfolio for 3D visualization(Interior &Exterior)Should I learn Auto cad? I now it will be a plus.But the time I spend to lear…
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Adamp34

Anyone used HTML templates for making their business sites?

Are they really a good idea in this case? And which resources with them can you recommend me?Thanks in advance!
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Eric Chadwick

[GDC] "Breaking In" Panel seeking suggestions and questions

Hey ya'll,Renzo Harada, Tiffany Kallinger, Lindsey Peck, Rosstin Muphy, and I are doing a panel tentatively titled "Breaking In: How to deal with Limbo and Proactively Wait" at GDC in the Career Pavi…
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Brian "Panda" Choi

Advice for student hard surface artist.

Hello, I'm a 16 year old young artist. Ever since I was young and watching films like "Star wars" formed a love in me for spaceships and sci-fi vehicles of all kinds. A few months ago I discovered 3D…
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sacboi

Poll Survey: Do you click Sketchfab/Marmoset Viewer links?

I swear I'm not being paid to say this.  :| I was digging around and I found my old Sketchfab account from 2015. I checked in and I'm surprised how many new features they added. So much so, I th…
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Finnn

VFX artist expectations and experience

Hey gang, I was hoping to get some input. I started recently, getting into VFX using Unreal(Cascade). I love the stuff. It is a whole lot of fun. Originally the thought was to just learn enough …
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pmiller001

..... review

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BittaSingh

Is concept design a good skill to have first?

Would it be better to learn Concept design before delving into Modeling and texturing?
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pior

Canadian College Decision

Hello everyone. I need an advice. This year I am about to be a student at one of Toronto's colleges. I've seen a few related topics but these are about 2 or more years old. I've already applied …
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NikhilR

College Decision

I have to decide which college i will attend next year for game design. I would like to go into 3D modelling and/or concept art. I have a decision between Centennial college and Sheridan college. Cen…
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CalebJ

gamedevmap

[URL="http://www.gamedevmap.com"]gamedevmap[/URL] is 10 years old! I started gamedevmap as my way to give back to a community that has given me so much. I've been making games now for nearly twen…
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Gaurav Mathur

How did you react to landing your first game dev job?

I've always been curious as to how I'll react when I get that first break into the industry, so I'm curious what it was like for you guys who currently work in the industry. Were you self taught or w…
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Bedrock

Leave permanent job for a chance to break in?

I've recently been in contact with a recruiter here in Vancouver, who specializes in the video game side of the industry. I gave him my resume and portfolio and he said he would help me locate work. …
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Ashervisalis

Kinda got my portfolio ready for now..but no idea what to do next

I quit my job few years ago and decided to study 3D art. It was a rough road picking up some random tutorials, learn new things, make ugly pieces but it was fun. I focused on game characters and fini…
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D_Choi

Thinking of becoming a 3D Vehicle Artist

So, after finishing university a year ago, I've been on the job hunt since then, but I've quickly come to realize that my portfolio is quite weak or/and doesn't showcase any particular skills.I had f…
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sacboi

Starting indie game company, how to start, how to progress and how to launch?

Does indie companies are like software startups?I  really want some day to start my own indie game company, when i get some proper experience. And i can't imagine how hard is to make a game that…
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sacboi

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TheLittleJay

Aspiring 3D vehicle artist.

Hi, my name is Shantanu. I live in Bangalore, KA, India. I want to become a 3D Vehicle artist or a hard surface artist. I need help. I've just turned 29 and I'm out of a job. I've done my Advanced Di…
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PixelMasher

How can I best approach learning to sculpt anatomy and character art?

Hey there! As the title might imply, I'm looking for some advice on how I can best utilize my time when learning to sculpt the human anatomy. I should preface that I've got basically little to no exp…
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thinkinmonkey

Study Advice for an aspiring Game Character Artist

Hello.I'm trying to build a portfolio and skillset to work with character design in games, and I've been watching talks and reading articles about which kinds of skills and knowledge I should have.I …
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PixelMasher

Best Game Artbooks that showcase 3D Character Art?

Hi I'm looking to buy my first game artbook but most I find are filled more with 2D concept and environments. Are there any good game artbooks that showcase the change between 2d and 3d characters?Th…
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PixelMasher

Is it possible to say no to work overtime, and still keep the job?

During my experience as software developer, i had couple of times from me to work overtime, which i know that i will not will be payed.I kinda find the strength and good reason to not work overtime, …
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JordanN

Game Industry Vs Family Life!? Help!

Hey guys, So I've been working remote for a game studio for 2 years, as an Environment Artist, Due to lack of funding they can't afford to keep that many people anymore, I have a wife who has 3 child…
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Giles1986

How do you deal with dust around your desk and cables?

How do you keep stuff clean? It's too difficult to get to with a big broom when you have lots of heavy cables, and if there's a smart way of going about it other than cleaning it with a wet cloth con…
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sacboi

Trial and Error, or ask for help? what do you do to learn?

     I used to a firm advocate of “learning for yourself”. By which I mean, I spent most of my time learning through trial and error. For example, If I didn’t know why a bake was turn…
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sacboi

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