3D Studies?

TheKlu

Hello guys!
I'm on a very bad situation, i need some professional help...
Ok, im 15 years old right now, next year i'll start focusing my studies on what i want. I want to study 3D Art. For movies or videogames, wherever. I have been learning things for myself for few years now.
I live on Spain, sadly we don't have any "official" studies by the gov. so there are like "training courses". Two years of learning.

So i have been looking on what do 3D Studios want on their new workers.
And i have two questions about that.
Some studios want an "art degree". What is that exactly? Will the two years course work as an art grade even if it isn't an official study like an university?

And the other question they ask you for 4-5 years of experience. If they dont ask for a specific carrer, how do you get those 4-5 years of experience?


Sorry if i haven't explained my self good, and sorry for my english too.
I hope someone can explain me this, thanks you all.

RogerP

I'm guessing that this has been answered in many previous threads before. I don't really know what an "Art Grade" is, I'm going to say you mean a Degree.

All companies will ask for some degree/experience even for starting positions. Then again and this is more specific to our industry, it is really hard to gauge someone's ability as an artist just solely based on "oh I have this masters degree on...and I have this many years of experience doing this."  What you can show them you can do (aka your portfolio) is what is going to make the biggest difference between getting a job or not.

Don't be discouraged to applying as long as you can show them you can do what they want.

TheKlu

RogerP said:

I'm guessing that this has been answered in many previous threads before. I don't really know what an "Art Grade" is, I'm going to say you mean a Degree.

All companies will ask for some degree/experience even for starting positions. Then again and this is more specific to our industry, it is really hard to gauge someone's ability as an artist just solely based on "oh I have this masters degree on...and I have this many years of experience doing this."  What you can show them you can do (aka your portfolio) is what is going to make the biggest difference between getting a job or not.

Don't be discouraged to applying as long as you can show them you can do what they want.

Thanks you so much!
So, having a a degree wont really help me on getting a job?
And the experience thing, okay, you they dont ask you for degrees, and you still dont have experience, how will you get a job?
There are like "smaller" jobs to start getting experience on studios?
I really appreciate you answer!

Moltar

Junior Artist positions generally don't require industry experience, consider them as entry positions.  The only draw back is your wage, it will be lower than your standard 3D artist position.

If you can prove you are capable of doing the Job you're applying for via your portfolio, most companies will employ you.  In most cases you will never need a degree, but they do help.

TheKlu

Moltar said:

Junior Artist positions generally don't require industry experience, consider them as entry positions.  The only draw back is your wage, it will be lower than your standard 3D artist position.

If you can prove you are capable of doing the Job you're applying for via your portfolio, most companies will employ you.  In most cases you will never need a degree, but they do help.

I didn't knew that! Thanks you for your time!

kanga

Your English is just fine. 3D is very broad and there is a big difference between specialties that are relatively new areas compared with other professions. I see some job postings that ask for an art degree but not that many. I teach 3D graphics part time and notice that educational institutions in general don't have a good understanding of what 3D is and even less knowledge of what companies require from graduates. Specialist education is good but extremely expensive and if you are average there is no guarantee that that education will land you a job. In the worst case you could end up without a position and deeply in debt. If you are 15 my advice would be to follow a general art study which you can use to build a good foundation for making art, also to learn social interaction and give you a chance to network. Art courses are not a new area and your free public education system will probably be able to provide you with a very good program. Examine the different areas that use 3D to find a direction. Find and collect excellent examples of commercial art that inspire you and make your own pieces aiming to achieve the same quality or better. Make an online folio (under a domain name that is your own name for people to find easily) to include those examples. If you find your technique lacking in any areas you can fill those in with tutorials and online workshops.

Hope this helps
Cheerio

TheKlu

kanga said:

Your English is just fine. 3D is very broad and there is a big difference between specialties that are relatively new areas compared with other professions. I see some job postings that ask for an art degree but not that many. I teach 3D graphics part time and notice that educational institutions in general don't have a good understanding of what 3D is and even less knowledge of what companies require from graduates. Specialist education is good but extremely expensive and if you are average there is no guarantee that that education will land you a job. In the worst case you could end up without a position and deeply in debt. If you are 15 my advice would be to follow a general art study which you can use to build a good foundation for making art, also to learn social interaction and give you a chance to network. Art courses are not a new area and your free public education system will probably be able to provide you with a very good program. Examine the different areas that use 3D to find a direction. Find and collect excellent examples of commercial art that inspire you and make your own pieces aiming to achieve the same quality or better. Make an online folio (under a domain name that is your own name for people to find easily) to include those examples. If you find your technique lacking in any areas you can fill those in with tutorials and online workshops.

Hope this helps
Cheerio

You mean, that i will not learn everything from a course, the will teach me the foundations to keep learning by myself and improving wanting make things. Is that what you mean? Maybe i have understand it wrong lol

kanga

I dont think it is ever possible to learn everything from a course. Here are thoughts by Ben Mathis which are in my experience are pretty accurate concerning art education: http://www.poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/formal_art_training.html

TheKlu

kanga said:

I dont think it is ever possible to learn everything from a course. Here are thoughts by Ben Mathis which are in my experience pretty accurate concerning art education: http://www.poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/formal_art_training.html

Okay!
Thanks you very much for everything!

Neox

hey there

first of all, written your english is just great, dude you are 15 and from spain, i met industry veterans from spain with way worse english

okay that said, 15 is a great age to learn, just go on with your stuff, find out what you like. I started at around 16, now 17 years ago  

a degree is not reaaaaalllyyyyy needed, i have none. But it kept some doors shut for me, i never managed to get away from Germany, given that I do not need to anymore, back then having no degree sucked big times. Because if you want to work in the US industry you either need a degree, or 12 (TWELVE!) years of experience. So I would suggest to get one, not neccesarily a 3dart one, or gameart for that matter. Most schools cost a fortune (well they are cheap compared to the US still), so if you want to do it go to an uni, or another public school teaching courses in that field.
With your english it should be no problem to attend a school in the uk or scandinavia, i would suggest german schools as well, but i guess your german is rather limited and scandinavia is usually english based from what i know.

Well if you are super good you can get an O1 visa, but they are rare and only few companies (the very big ones) do these.

good luck with your progress!

TheKlu

Neox said:

hey there

first of all, written your english is just great, dude you are 15 and from spain, i met industry veterans from spain with way worse english

okay that said, 15 is a great age to learn, just go on with your stuff, find out what you like. I started at around 16, now 17 years ago  

a degree is not reaaaaalllyyyyy needed, i have none. But it kept some doors shut for me, i never managed to get away from Germany, given that I do not need to anymore, back then having no degree sucked big times. Because if you want to work in the US industry you either need a degree, or 12 (TWELVE!) years of experience. So I would suggest to get one, not neccesarily a 3dart one, or gameart for that matter. Most schools cost a fortune (well they are cheap compared to the US still), so if you want to do it go to an uni, or another public school teaching courses in that field.
With your english it should be no problem to attend a school in the uk or scandinavia, i would suggest german schools as well, but i guess your german is rather limited and scandinavia is usually english based from what i know.

Well if you are super good you can get an O1 visa, but they are rare and only few companies (the very big ones) do these.

good luck with your progress!

Thanks for your answer! 
I have a few problems, the "degree" that i want to study, isn't an 100% official school, like an university would be. It's just 2 years of 3D learning and other things like drawing for 3D etc
That would count as an degree?

The other problem is that i can't pay my studies outside my country i would love to...
I can't even pay this school cause it's too expensive for me or my family, a foreign country would be impossible.
So i just can go to a general art school, like drawings, sculptures, art history etc, or go to this 3D specific school. Those are my possibilities.

About what i like, i already know exactly what i like. I started with 10 years doing 3D stuff, very simple but well. I did simple animations, some modeling, and few stupid things. So like two years ago, i decided to start this more serious, and i realised that what i love is general modeling and sculpting, so that's my main focus right now :P
But with the school and that thing i can't put all the time i'd like to  

Neox

don't go where you only get a diploma, totally not worth it

TheKlu

Neox said:

don't go where you only get a diploma, totally not worth it

If i complete the school what i get is a degree, that's the literal translation for the word "Titulación".
This is quite confusing beacause here we have a kind of school that is called "Grado" wich is very similar to degree (Gramatically). But it looks like there aren't anything like a "Grado" outside Spain, so i assume "Grado" isn't a degree, and "Titulación" is.
I don't know if you have understand me, this is quite confusing...
But i think when i finish the school i get a degree.
So a degree counts, right? 
Thanks for taking your time with this.

Neox

do you get a bachelor or masters degree? those are viable

yeah it is confusing, the german Diplom was and still is a internationally very well accepted degree, but it is not a diploma grade many private schools offer

i never studied so i have little experience in this matter tho, so talk to actually graduated academics

TheKlu

Neox said:

do you get a bachelor or masters degree? those are viable

yeah it is confusing, the german Diplom was and still is a internationally very well accepted degree, but it is not a diploma grade many private schools offer

i never studied so i have little experience in this matter tho, so talk to actually graduated academics

I don't know where i can find graduated people, even less here.
The only bachelor that is more similar to 3D Art, is the art bachelor, is about drawing, maybe some sculpture and some history of the art, and all the common subjects, like Spanish and others. About masters degree, there aren't any 3D art one for now i think, but i will still look more for it.
Thanks

miguelnarayan

Right. I learned Maya from a online course. Make sure it's aimed towards beginners. If you want a degree along, it happens that the education is turning itself more and more towards online teaching. I've seen bachelor and master degrees online for digital drawing and cg. For me, what matters is the experience you get out of it, not a paper saying you know stuff (diploma)