Viability of a 3D Character Art Career
vertex
Hi guys, I'm new here and want to ask everyone's thoughts on what the prospects for a character art career in 2017 are? I've been a longtime lurker, and have seen the industry change quite a bit over time. The bar for quality keeps getting pushed higher and higher, leaving new artists with many years of learning. I've also seen threads here mentioning the small number of AAA character art jobs, and the tens of thousands competing for them. Which begs the question, is going after this as a career a good idea? Not to be a downer, but there are so many other fields that have more job opportunities, with higher pay and could also be potentially enjoyable.
I really do love character art though, and am seriously contemplating this as a career path. I don't have kids or anything, so I am not really tied down with obligations such as moving somewhere. My concern again, is people repeating to go after environment art just to get a foot in the door, and that character art jobs are exceedingly rare for artists. I love the notion of following your passion no matter what, but bills have to be paid and I want to start building a future for myself. A future that enables me to start saving for the future, to be able to go places and enjoy things with family members or my girlfriend. There is the option of having a full-time job while pursuing character art, but with people working so many hours full-time, can you really compete with these people? I know this is hard realism, but I want the honest truth, with no sugar coating. Are there plenty of character artists with great portfolio's that just can't get in due to there just not being the jobs? Or are there positions open that haven't been filled because there's no talent to fill them out there? (I'm skeptical of this possibility, as character art is very popular, and numbers wise I feel there would be an overabundance of talent, if anything)
I know this could be seen as a depressing or negative thread, but it's really just me asking some tough questions as I am honestly curious for people's thoughts. Have any of you all considered different careers? Or are you doubting the current path your on? Thanks again guys!
I really do love character art though, and am seriously contemplating this as a career path. I don't have kids or anything, so I am not really tied down with obligations such as moving somewhere. My concern again, is people repeating to go after environment art just to get a foot in the door, and that character art jobs are exceedingly rare for artists. I love the notion of following your passion no matter what, but bills have to be paid and I want to start building a future for myself. A future that enables me to start saving for the future, to be able to go places and enjoy things with family members or my girlfriend. There is the option of having a full-time job while pursuing character art, but with people working so many hours full-time, can you really compete with these people? I know this is hard realism, but I want the honest truth, with no sugar coating. Are there plenty of character artists with great portfolio's that just can't get in due to there just not being the jobs? Or are there positions open that haven't been filled because there's no talent to fill them out there? (I'm skeptical of this possibility, as character art is very popular, and numbers wise I feel there would be an overabundance of talent, if anything)
I know this could be seen as a depressing or negative thread, but it's really just me asking some tough questions as I am honestly curious for people's thoughts. Have any of you all considered different careers? Or are you doubting the current path your on? Thanks again guys!
Replies
3D, Graphic Design, Cinema, Concept art, they are ALL just branches of design, there are pro studios with the quality bar raised very high, as you rightly say, but there are also indie, med, advanced, pro... there are studios, agencies, companies and corps that recruit all levels of skill.
If you want money maybe pursue a career as banker instead, because art and design are very hard and the skill level keeps increasing because softwares for real time rendering like octane and keyshot keep appearing and softwares like quixel and substance keep showing up that allow you to have amazing results with little effort.
I've had jobs with indies, AAA, VR companies and started out as graphic designer in a very low quality studio, many years ago, which was what my portfolio at the time led me to land on, I still got paid enough to make a living. What is really the problem?
Have you seen unemployment numbers? I'm not putting down the industry but as the economy worsens, you see competition arise everywhere. But people still put up with it because the choice is either working or being forced onto the streets.
I also don't think having a great portfolio but not getting a job is an excuse. I saw a comment on here lately that was saying "other people have great work but aren't getting noticed for it". But whose fault is that? If only merit mattered, what does that say about the people who instead of waiting for things to happen, made it their own initiative to promote themselves in a way that catches far more people's attention?
The real question is how much you want a career in this, given the slim odds? Or would you be happier if you were financially more secure, and had game art as a strong hobby?
Yeah I've looked for those kind of statistics. Most I've found is that the industry as a whole is growing, since video games are expected to continue gaining in popularity. With outsourcing though, and normal industry turmoil, I think the outlook is maybe only slightly better than it is now. Hard to say, really.
Yeah concept art is definitely more competitive, but 3D is still definitely competitive, specifically character art, with potentially only 500-1000 jobs worldwide. Those numbers I feel really bring it into perspective. Indie games are cool, and great for experience, but as far as making a living are not really particularly viable. Statistically speaking, most indie games fail. Is that a reason not to make them? Absolutely not, but you need to be in the right financial/life point in order to pursue that, as you're going to be burning through money. Lots of Indie dev's have other jobs as their main monetary income.
Yeah it can be easy to lose sight, but I think it's really important to keep in mind the competition you're facing, and the amount of time and luck that goes into having a successful art career. You don't want to be in a position where years later, you've done some portfolio pieces that have received great feedback, yet you cannot get a job to support yourself because the industry is too full. Even if your work is great, I don't believe that alone is the same entry point into the AAA industry as it used to be. Especially with great schools pumping out strong graduates now, like Gnomon, and University of Hertfordshire.
Having said all of this, would I still pursue this for a career? I'm gunna say that personally, my goals are leaning towards getting a secure job, and pursuing character art outside of my main job, with the goal of making it a full-time job. I need a job regardless, so it may as well be something that will give me financial security.
If you had kids, you would learn more about character than 1,000 years of school could teach you.
About character? As in morals? I don't disagree with that haha, not sure why that's directed at me though.