Need experienced advice on what art path to take.
polycounter lvl 3
This question is about 3 weeks in the making because i wanted to try and make the best decision based on my irregular particularities and preferences. I'd really like to do environment art and also design the levels, or at least have control over the over-all asthetic feel of it, especially the shapes and sizes of things, but i'm confused about a couple things and concerned about few others. I guess the first question is, can these two things exist in the same position? My second big concern is whether or not to learn to draw.
Main desires:
1) Drawing: I'm totally in love with the idea learning to draw again ( last time was 25+ years ago...) and eventually do basic sketch work for my vehicles or props or basic on-paper level roughing and maybe eventually full concept art. Despite being a huge commitment of time, I believe this could also be somewhat fun, BUT, its a huge time commitment and do game artists that aren't concept artists even use a drawing ability much anymore?
2) Texturing: I also would love to do highly detailed textures and put a little "story" in every texture, BUT again, does drawing have anything to do with texturing these days?
3) Level design: I want to design interesting, captivatingly detailed levels, the best the engine can handle. I'd probably be much like the guy who's idea it was to add the fog in the mountains of skyrim for example, or create the detailed backgrounds like in Mass Effect or newer Battlefield games, or the fog in Batman, or the detailed tunnel wiring in Metro 2033, or the lighting fidelity in Inquisition or the level of texturing in The Witcher or later Assasins Creed games , or the realistic extensiveness of many Mass Effect levels or push to make protective cover elements highly varied like in Crysis rather than 1 of 4 different boxy shapes like i see in some games.
Further questions:
Is it worth taking the time to learn to do high quality drawing if i mainly want to make beautiful maps with a little texturing on the side?
What about for environment/prop/texture art (mainly interested in texture art), is it is worth learning to draw, or is it basically mandatory for top notch AAA work?
Thanks for your time and sorry for all the questions.
Main desires:
1) Drawing: I'm totally in love with the idea learning to draw again ( last time was 25+ years ago...) and eventually do basic sketch work for my vehicles or props or basic on-paper level roughing and maybe eventually full concept art. Despite being a huge commitment of time, I believe this could also be somewhat fun, BUT, its a huge time commitment and do game artists that aren't concept artists even use a drawing ability much anymore?
2) Texturing: I also would love to do highly detailed textures and put a little "story" in every texture, BUT again, does drawing have anything to do with texturing these days?
3) Level design: I want to design interesting, captivatingly detailed levels, the best the engine can handle. I'd probably be much like the guy who's idea it was to add the fog in the mountains of skyrim for example, or create the detailed backgrounds like in Mass Effect or newer Battlefield games, or the fog in Batman, or the detailed tunnel wiring in Metro 2033, or the lighting fidelity in Inquisition or the level of texturing in The Witcher or later Assasins Creed games , or the realistic extensiveness of many Mass Effect levels or push to make protective cover elements highly varied like in Crysis rather than 1 of 4 different boxy shapes like i see in some games.
Further questions:
Is it worth taking the time to learn to do high quality drawing if i mainly want to make beautiful maps with a little texturing on the side?
What about for environment/prop/texture art (mainly interested in texture art), is it is worth learning to draw, or is it basically mandatory for top notch AAA work?
Thanks for your time and sorry for all the questions.
Replies
If your career goal is to work at a "AAA" studio - where it's part collaboration amongst artist and coders, and part assembly line, and you want to be the art "vision" guy, you'll have to figure out how to communicate your ideas to the other artists or non-artists (like producers, studio owners and investors) who will build your designs or at least have a "say" in how it should look.
Would you write them a wall of text of what you see in your head? Would you dump google image refs on them? How would you collaborate with the concept artists if you can't do concepts yourself?
Drawing is one way to communicate. Doing rough 3D layouts is another. Photobashing is acceptable too.
There's also a lot of design iterations involved that's influenced by factors like...scheduling, budget, technical roadblocks or innovation. So more than likely you'll have to compromise your own vision. Again, how are you going to communicate your artistic choices when changes happen during your game dev production? (Consider also the time that it will take you to pass on the info that you need to share.)
I feel learning to draw (even though I am still not great) has helped improve all of my 3d art.
Drawing will never die out! Learning how to bake normal maps probably will in a few years. Learning how to rig (god I hope that shit will die out) too.
I'm a believer in getting decent at everything.
(note: I work in advertising doing design related stuff despite my knowledge of most aspects of the art side of game dev)
If getting a job is pretty important to me, since im blue collar and this is also my way of getting out of that, what would be the quickest way to get a job with a AAA company based on the above and based on that opinion, how should i manage my time learning? If, just for example, YOU think having a portfolio full of amazing textures is the quickest way to just get a job quickly for incomes sake, how should i divide my time initially if i want to do level design also, but down the road a little? 50% drawing practice + 50% texturing models?
btw, here is my non-pro animation demo reel if your interested in getting sort of an idea of the level of quality i care to obtain in other areas. I helped out The Dark Mod team for a couple years making their Thief-life Doom 3 mod.
https://vimeo.com/97743014
If i had all the time in the world, believe me, i'd just start drawing and not stop. I believe drawing/painting/concepting would provide of lifetime of reward. Unfortunately, being older with bills and no college education, i need to be careful and i'd like to also feel good about what im choosing to do. For many people such as myself are also alone, what we do everyday is our only source of happiness.
I think you're being overly anxious about drawing skills. I recommend checking out art test by studios who are hiring in positions you're interested in. In most cases it's a modelling and texturing test.
In AAA pipeline, usually as a junior artist you're just handed the concepts or layouts for you to work on without having the need to draw. You'll only be assigned concept duties if you're showing interest and strong aptitude for those.
Another thing that might help you is seek out professional artist role models who especialize in Enviro, prop, etc. A lot of those guys don't even show drawings in their portfolios.
If you're lucky to have an interview and they ask you your weaknesses just say drawing. I don't think it's a penalty if you're applying for a modelling job. You can also say you're doing something about it to become better in that area :thumbup:
I never really felt I needed to sketch or conceptualize anything on paper before modelling. However, I can see the obvious benefits, especially for a character artist. To ask a question on top of this and save creating a new thread. What aspects of drawing should you focus on as an environmental/prop artist?
Like Thane, I believe drawing/painting/concepting would provide of lifetime of reward, but my schedule at uni doesn't give me a lot of time. Although if something would significantly help my progress, it would have to be taken on board.
Drawing and painting are not absolute necessities, but learning them will help you learn other things faster and more thoroughly and your art will most likely be better for it. Most importantly it helps you learn to think about what things actually look like, not what your brain says they look like. That step is where most people stop and why tons of people say they can't draw. If you're trying to draw the abstract idea of something you'll fail. If you've studied objects and can construct a particular object in your head and draw that, you'll succeed. That ability takes practice, and the most practiced/reliably reproducible method of doing that is in drawing and painting.
Also, knowing about painting will teach you a lot about light, form, and color, and that will help your texturing skills.
If you are looking just to change careers rapidly, the "quickest way in" would be QA, prop, or environment art. I'd say focus not only on your immediate interest, but improve what you are already good at and bring it up to an industry-acceptable level. It's very important to like what you're doing, but it's more important to have a job you don't completely hate, and get a regular paycheck.
I'd say evaluate your current skills, and find your shortest path in. As I said before though, from my experience the areas usually hiring juniors and lower level artists are environment art or props. It of course depends on the company but those are a pretty safe bet considering a lot are needed as well.
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/becoming-level-designer-environment-artist-part1.php
http://eat3d.com/forums/general-chat/what-it-takes-be-environment-artist
http://gametextures.com/blog/2013/10/21/so-you-want-to-be-an-environment-artist/
http://www.mapcore.org/page/features/_/interviews/interview-with-lenz-pene-monath-envi-r41
Also, just search for something like "how to become an environment artist" to get the same results