How to become a professional 3D Artist
Hello,
My name is Samuel, I'm 15 years old and I'm on my last year at high school in France. I really want to become a professional 3D artist, but several artists told me that 3D art schools costs a lot and every schools aren't equal.
I'm currently building a portfolio, and I could get a stage at Ubisoft Montpellier this summer (July 2014). So, my question is very simple : Is it really inevitable to do a school before working on industry, or could I begin to work on without any school behind me, just my portfolio ?
I know that the most part of Polycounters works on the industry, and I hope I can get some answers.
Thanks for taking time to read me,
Respects,
Sam.
My name is Samuel, I'm 15 years old and I'm on my last year at high school in France. I really want to become a professional 3D artist, but several artists told me that 3D art schools costs a lot and every schools aren't equal.
I'm currently building a portfolio, and I could get a stage at Ubisoft Montpellier this summer (July 2014). So, my question is very simple : Is it really inevitable to do a school before working on industry, or could I begin to work on without any school behind me, just my portfolio ?
I know that the most part of Polycounters works on the industry, and I hope I can get some answers.
Thanks for taking time to read me,
Respects,
Sam.
Replies
Big challenge at your age but good timing.
I don't know if they would take on someone so young so i would suggest getting really, really, really, good with the 2-3 years you will have before they will say yea lets hire him.
It has been said time and time again, if your good at what you do the background on how you got there I don't think matters as much as the results you can output.
It is about selling items, find your target and work towards that studio/production environment.
If you want to learn on your own which some people do, do to costs, which i can understand perfectly.
I'd try to obsorb as much of the free information that is out there before paying for tutoring.
@James Ordner
Thanks for the link, you answered my question perfectly.
@D4V1DC
I understand. I try to find help for free each time. Digital Tutors or Gnomon cost too for me. I try to improve my skills on my own, and make my work better.
@LRoy
I began 3D after learning 2D art with some books (How to draw environnements, how to draw Marvel's heroes...). And you're not the first artist who told me that 2D is very important for 3D learning.
Thanks
http://ctrlpaint.com/ this is one of the best resources I know of for the basics.
id love to have more time to go back and do more 2D myself too, theres never enough time to pickup as much as you would like, but whole key to going pro is getting good at making good art, showing you can make good art (port) and getting hired to make good art.
It really does depend on what you want to do, making 3D environments you go through all the stages of traditional media from inception to completion. Don't get me wrong 2D knowledge will always help. But if you have just decided you want to be a 3D Artist it doesn't make much sense to start off with 2D.
There are two sides to the coin, you have the technical ability of the tools and learning the ropes of how to achieve the results you want from a technical level. Then you have an artist layer of understanding scale and form.
If your looking to get stuck in straight away I would learn the technical skills you need to make a simple prop and keep making props until you become proficient at it. Then move to focus on larger scenes, focusing on whitebox and lighting. Then use your technical ability to make nice art for those elements.
It can sometimes be difficult for a person to self reflect on there own skills, for all you know you might already be very good at scale and form without knowing it. You could also be really bad at it. Testing the waters can be useful, its important everything you do you take a long hard look at what people say about it. As a new artist its easy to be stubborn.
Good luck on your journey
If I could go back in time....but living as a 15 yr old now...I'd rather learn how to make and sell my own apps and games instead of trying to work for a studio.
This teenage app developer now multi-millionaire learned how to code from reading Programming For Dummies. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-10/17/nick-summly
Longer write up here http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/mar/29/summly-creator-nick-daloisio-interview
To OP:
It's great you're thinking about this at a young age. I went to college, as it helped me meet some people, get over social anxiety, and got me to try a lot of things so that I had a better idea of what I actually liked doing, and a more well-rounded skillset than if I had chosen to study on my own. It was a helpful experience to me, but as an artist it is completely unnecessary to have any kind of college degree. It's your art that matters.
If you know what you want to do, and you're in a position where you can make good use of online resources and really hone in on learning WITHOUT going to school, by all means do it. If for whatever reason you do decide to go school down the line, you'll be way ahead of the curve. But if you're diligent you will be employable at a very young age.
Should I learn to draw/paint? I still have 2.5 years untill I graduate (if that's the word for finishing high school) and really don't know if I should focus entirelly on imroving my 3D, or should also spend time learning 2D. I already have some expereance with 3D (1.5 years of lazy modelling, and 0.5 years of modelling without distractions - games, youtube, television...), but none (expereance) with 2D.
So is time learning 2D well spent? Or should I focus only on modelling?
both. when i started high school i got into 3d stuff and did few small traditional art courses. so yeah, the earlier you start, the better.
so do both, it's gonna help you A LOT.
So grasp early on that they are not separate fields. You don't need a formal education in 2D but your going to learn 2D one way or another if your set on being any kind of game artist. Even without touching photoshop if you intend to venture into Zbrush to create just characters without textures, you'll find yourself having to learn a great deal of 2D foundation skills and principles. So it is unavoidable
how disappointing.:poly118:
I am a hobbyist so all I can tell you is, I learned through the online tutorials at digital tutors, gnomon workshop and pnp of polycount.
taking courses is good only for the fundamentals doesn't matter if its 2d or 3d or both. The rest comes from your imagination.
Yep, this is what got me started.
Also gives you in-engine experience as well.