What exactly is "basic" 3D knowledge for Concept Artists?

Somni

Hi, I'm new here. I mostly do concept art for my own projects and freelance on the side. Currently trying to break into the industry. So lots of concept artist job postings usually require something like:


-Working knowledge 3D art techniques and software packages -or-
-Basic understanding of Unity and Maya


For someone who doesn't have basic knowledge in 3D, I've no idea what exactly constitutes "basic knowledge" of 3D programs, or "3D art techniques". Does this mean, basic know-how to make models for concepts? Does it mean modeling for props? Does it mean just knowing how to navigate the Unity/Maya/any 3D package program? Does it mean knowing how to texture models? or animate?

Sometimes, the job requirements are so vague, I've no idea what I should start learning in order to qualify for "basic" 3D skills.I'm also not sure how studios expect me to use 3D skills; for example, should my 3D skills be good enough to use for concepts, or are concept artists sometimes used to make 3D assets?

What exactly are the "must-haves" for basic 3D knowledge?

ZacD

A lot of concept artists are starting to use sketchup for blocking out scenes and getting the perspective correct.

Here's an example of painting on top of a sketchup scene,

[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=hHfJCvAPqlw"]Episode 66 - 3D to 2D - YouTube[/ame]

I would assume they are just expecting you to move the camera, place and move existing assets, and create basic scenes with cubes and cylinders. They are probably also wanting you to have knowledge about what is possible in 3d and in games, and to be able to provide concepts that will be easy to work off of in 3d.

Somni

ZacD wrote: »

A lot of concept artists are starting to use sketchup for blocking out scenes and getting the perspective correct.

I would assume they are just expecting you to move the camera, place and move existing assets, and create basic scenes with cubes and cylinders. They are probably also wanting you to have knowledge about what is possible in 3d and in games, and to be able to provide concepts that will be easy to work off of in 3d.

I've been using sketchup recently, but I can't confidently say I'm familiar with the program. I just mess around with it, make stuff to help me out with composition or game assets for a small 2D game I'm making on the side. So, I'm not sure exactly if that's enough to say that I can work in 3D. Maya and 3ds max are intuitive enough to get in and make some simple shapes and models, but is that enough to say I have "basic" knowledge of those packages?

As for knowing what's possible in 3D and in games, that's something I guess can only be learned from experience of working in a studio. Unless I learn to make my own 3D games.

Btw, thanks for the video, it helped.

beefaroni

Look at..

Gavriil Afanasyev Klimov, Mike Hill, Furio Tedeschi, Eddie Del Rio, Kirill Chepizhko, Benoit Godde, Vitaly Bulgarov
Edit: Gavril and Vitaly worked @ Blizzard. Mike Hill did concepts for Killzone, Benoit Godde did concepts for Beyond: Two Souls.

There are tons more but all of these artists are able to quickly concept rough forms in Zbrush or Maya/Max, render out some great materials with V-Ray/Keyshot, and then do more concept work over them.

Here's are two examples of the process. Some do more in depth sculpting/modeling, some do less.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/2014/05/design-techniques-for-3d-concept-art-with-gavriil-klimov/
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/949/3D-Design-for-Production

Basically, this can be super useful because the concepts are created with perfect perspective and the rough sculpt can be tumbled around to see other angles if needed. It can make the process from concept to production much easier.

Edit 2: Obviously the videos above are above average knowledge of 3d software; however, I'd still recommend learning some of the methods above.