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staying motivated

polycounter lvl 11
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sziada polycounter lvl 11
just wondering how you guys stay motivated on long projects as I am in need of some motivation!

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  • slosh
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    slosh hero character
    You mean at work or at home?
  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    There's been ambient discussions on PC's Slack channel about focusing less on motivation, and focusing more on discpline.

    To me, a baby step to that is making a checklist each day and knocking things out of it.
  • Joebewon
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    Joebewon polycounter lvl 12
    A really great artist on here shared this with me:
    http://www.dustinbrown.com/getshitdone/
    check out all the information on there, there's tons of great material on staying motivated.

    On the short term, just really focus on what you love. Make personal projects and just strive for improvement. Chris Oatley has a lot of podcast interviews that I find crazy inspiring.
    http://chrisoatley.com/category/podcasts/
  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    I think it might be reasonable to also consider outside factors. Is there anything that's not art related that's smacking you in the face?
  • praetus
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    praetus interpolator
    I think it might be reasonable to also consider outside factors. Is there anything that's not art related that's smacking you in the face?


    haha, my two year old?
  • DireWolf
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    Its more about discipline than anything. If you set a schedule to work on sketching 1 hour every morn9ng for example, stick to it and do it . mot9vation doesnlt matter
  • sziada
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    sziada polycounter lvl 11
    well I just bought a new car and tv so yeah kinda got some distractions

    basically I am training at home atm so yeah need to keep my motivation up
    literally when I have days off I 3D allday but I kinda feel like I am not getting enough done after I finish up for the day
  • slosh
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    slosh hero character
    I think its important to keep projects manageable if you are still learning. For example, if you are doing characters, focus on just a bust or head to begin with. If you are doing env art, try a small prop. Don't commit urself to a full character or large scale env if you don't have the experience to accomplish such a task efficiently.
  • loggie24
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    loggie24 polycounter lvl 3
    I agree with slosh, the worste thing you can do to yourself sometimes is to start on something way out of your comfort zone and skills. I have done that, ends up in nothing but frustration and quitting.

    Analyze what you want to create, then see what you know you can do and what you need to get better at. When all the boxes are ticked, start your project and stick to it.
  • bugo
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    bugo polycounter lvl 17
    Ah, well, Not an easy task, but possible, try to keep yourself on the latest news and technology/artistic things out there. Sometimes it helps to do some work at home and practice other things than ur usual daily work, at least is what I found to do best.
  • Blond
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    Blond polycounter lvl 9
    It depends of the project and the context.

    Right now, I'm working on a side game project with some programmer friends of mine and because of discipline, my art development is slow.

    However, last year, when I was working on my student short film, I would come and work everyday to school from 9 am to 10 pm.

    Ended winning the prize for the best animation in my class.:)


    One of the major factor that motivated me was the fact I had teachers to watch my progress, to see if I was still on schedule and to kick my ass If I slacked too much.

    HAving a tutor behind you helps alot.

    Right now' I don't have that but I still live at my mom's so I use my work to motivate myself so I can one day start being indepandant with a job in the industry.
  • Torch
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    Torch interpolator
    blazed wrote: »

    And here’s a short video explaining genes and laziness, how accurate it is I don't know looks legit though

    Really interesting vid, checked out the productivity one as well!
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    blazed wrote: »
    I'm starting to feel more and more that it's something you are born with, genes basically.

    There is no other conclusion I have come up with that separates hard workers with "lazy" workers.

    How many people do you know that was like super-duper lazy and suddenly said you know what? I'm going to become super-duper active and hardworking. Hardworking people always just tended to be hard working since forever, the A & B students back in school are still usually the ones still hard working today, if they haven’t got involved with bad addictions and habit that is.

    Of course desperation is a great motivation too, I also think being locked away in some room with only 3D content and work to do would also be a great motivation as you literally will have nothing else in the form of entertainment.

    The correct type of 3D is one of the best things I would like doing work wise and even when I was choosing subjects to study back in university, but I have many other hobbies that I prefer over 3D, things that are naturally more fun but don’t really pay a salary.

    Also Art is mainly about expressing yourself through your media and tools, if all you are doing is copying concept and trace work, or creating general assets because your work requires you to do so then that's not really art, all you are is a workhorse that's converting already existing art over to 3D dimensions, so it can get boring fast.

    It's like a telling an artist to draw specific individual boring objects, "yeah erm my catalog requires everyday house objects as hand drawn pictures, so get to it". Don't think many artist will be enthusiastic or thrilled about that kind of work.

    Honestly I'd say the luckiest 3D artists are the ones doing whatever they want and creating some compelling and artistic work and still getting paid, i don't know how, selling posters of their work maybe? Etc.

    And here’s a short video explaining genes and laziness, how accurate it is I don't know looks legit though:
    I'd have to disagree strongly. For starters, the reason you don't find anybody that used to be super lazy that immediately became super hard-working is because that isn't a thing that you do overnight. Working hard doesn't require high motivation, it requires high discipline, which can be obtained through a lot of practice. It takes years to develop good discipline.

    It's easy to look at a task and say "Well I don't feel inspired so I don't feel like doing this now, I guess I'll do it later!" but that is the exact trap that prevents a lot of creators from growing their skillset. The fact is, you need to train yourself to be able to get something done, even if you aren't "inspired" or "motivated."

    If you aren't enjoying the creations you're making, then you should try to identify the reasoning behind it. Also, copying other people's concepts is perfectly normal and I don't see how doing so would make your work less of a piece of art than somebody who makes a unique concept. Every single artist copies somebody else when they are learning, you don't just go and make some super unique concept before you have a good understanding of what goes into making a piece of art.

    EDIT: One should also consider if they are actually chasing their dream or not. Sometimes a hard working person will attempt something and realize it isn't for them. There's nothing wrong with not enjoying something and wanting to give it up, the important thing is to find out if you just don't like something or if you just lack discipline.
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