Is it really worth persuing a career in Art/CG?
Hey guys,
I am about to finish high school and I am still trying to figure out what I want to do for a living. I have made a huge hobby out of doing 3D art, digital art, and traditional art and I think that becoming a 3d modeler may be what I want to do!
Now I have some concerns. I acknowledge the fact that this is an extremely competitive field, but there is more that I think is against us as artists.
How tough is it to find a job in the western world? I know a lot of companies outsource their artists and 3d modelers, so I am wondering if I even have a chance to become one or if its just too hard to pursue.
I am considering becoming a jack of all trades and learning animation, 2d art, and more 3d art so that I can get a job in many fields.
I dont want to be stuck becoming a plumber or doing some sort of office job that I won't enjoy for the rest of my life, I want to chase my dreams!
Thanks in advanced for replies!!!
I am about to finish high school and I am still trying to figure out what I want to do for a living. I have made a huge hobby out of doing 3D art, digital art, and traditional art and I think that becoming a 3d modeler may be what I want to do!
Now I have some concerns. I acknowledge the fact that this is an extremely competitive field, but there is more that I think is against us as artists.
How tough is it to find a job in the western world? I know a lot of companies outsource their artists and 3d modelers, so I am wondering if I even have a chance to become one or if its just too hard to pursue.
I am considering becoming a jack of all trades and learning animation, 2d art, and more 3d art so that I can get a job in many fields.
I dont want to be stuck becoming a plumber or doing some sort of office job that I won't enjoy for the rest of my life, I want to chase my dreams!
Thanks in advanced for replies!!!
Replies
We had a thread about same questions recently so take a look if you would like: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97919&highlight=worth
Master of none.
Terrible career decision. ;/
You just answered your own question
Dan Santat: http://www.dantat.com
Ex Treyarch game artist now independent illustrator (not in games but doing what he loves best).
http://youtu.be/yOsjK1ZDqUU
Canadian animator Liam McLaughlin, twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/LiamCartoons
http://liamproductions.ca/tips-for-the-new-animator/
It's pretty straight forward. Pursue what you love. Doesn't matter how hard it is to get, if you truly want it you will try harder and succeed. I'm a stupid SOB who fought his way into the industry from being a glass cutter. Don't make excuses about shit being hard. Try harder. Sacrifice. Make it happen.
Annual new grad angst
You decide you love Mario. You investigate that game. May be you find out that your chances of working in Japan are not so good.. So ok well perhaps Halo 4 appeals to you. You start there and cut your way down. You'll find out that perhaps somebody modeled plants but didn't texture them. Somebody animated but never modeled. Your young and this is early on, but its good to have some sort of field your interested in. Then as you cut down you should do thigns that I never did. You talk to those people about their life. Their lifestyle. And what they did to get to where they are at. And then you have to make a decision on if that is good for you or matches you.
But the short answer is just Yes. Its worth it.
You need to practice until you have the skills to work on the field you want, you need to have a portfolio portraying your awesome work and CV to go with that. Then you need to send applications to companies where you want to work and one day you will find yourself hired in one of them. That's how tough it is.
It is kinda funny you come to ask if it's worth to get a career in this industry in a forum where everyone is either working already or trying hard as hell to get in. What do you expect as an answer.. "No?"
I don't have a post to this topic per se. I just wanted to give a shout out to rv_el for being the most polite and awesome person on polycount when it comes to threads like this one.
It's pretty cool to read your insight about stuff like work and life
Kudos man
Please no outsourcer angst again. There will always be local game studios, just as outsourcing to India didn't wipe out all local IT companies. Just replace the word outsourcer with freelancer and you'll see how ridiculous this is.
I'm sure there's more 3D freelancers in the world than artists working in outsourcing studios who'll "steal" your job in EA, Ubi, whatever. Why not be afraid of them
You just have to be willing to work hard to get your skills to an appropriate level.
And by "work hard," I mean "bust your ass, kid, this shit ain't easy and it takes a hell of a lot of effort." If you don't like the idea of doing a lot of work to get good at something, then this field isn't for you.
I wouldn't compare art outsourcing to call center outsourcing if you want to calm people's fears - outsourcing to India had a big impact.
I'd say unlike manufacturing and call center outsourcing, studios have found it difficult to outsource 100% of their art. As games grow more complex it's going to take a larger workforce and it isn't feasible to maintain an art team of 100+ people. It also means as an artist you get all the fun stuff that gives you creative freedom (unless you're the outsourcing manager).
Wow, some people might get offended by it man. Jack of all trades may not be the master of all indeed. You can learn to compare and self critique your work you know, to fine tune that as well.
I know because I am pretty much doing the same thing.
Plenty of small studios want people who are versatile. It's only when you have larger budgets and bigger games that specialization becomes so important.
Best advice, to OP imo, especially if you're really into the art side, focus on traditional training. Drawing, painting, color & design theory, figure drawing & anatomy. These things will always be useful in one way or another. Having a solid art foundation is a big and very helpful deal.
Often more useful than a master of one.
I'm not. I'm talking about places like Infosys, which you could call an AAA outsourcer for IT solutions. They didn't replace IBM, Oracle, Google, etc as US based employers. Likewise I don't think a company like my employer will replace EA, Ubi, Blizzard, etc as US based studios.
But then again, you cannot outsource the desire to make art - the desire to make games! Where there's people with that desire, there will be studios, no matter where on earth that may be!