Making art for games kicks ass

Kevin Albers

I find myself posting on Polycount a decent amount these days. I often end up posting about the difficulty in getting jobs due to over-supply of artists, and similar negative (but realistic, I think) points of consideration. I feel like I tell plenty of people that their dream of establishing a killer career working on AAA games is not really easy, and I assume that this is gloomy, occasionally surprising info to some of the eager newcomers who post here. At times I get a bit tired of my own complaints, so...

I want to say that making art for games really kicks ass. It's amazing to have the modern set of available tools, from art creation tools to freely available, amazingly capable game engines. I've been make game art for over 20 years, and it keeps becoming more and more fun in various ways. This will continue, as tools keep rapidly improving, and whole new technologies are developed that allow this art to be showcased in fabulous new ways, such as Virtual Reality.

Back in the day, software cost a fortune and there was no real way to learn it beyond reading the huge manual for 3D Studio etc.  Now, most people can put together a free or very cheap set of top-notch of kit, without resorting to the gloomy old practice of using cracked software and feeling bad about it. And there are seemingly endless free learning resources online.

Sharing this art keeps getting easier as well. Polycount has been around for years, as have artist's individual portfolio web sites, but of course now we have sites like Artstation and Youtube, making art distribution free and super easy.

I'm having a blast these days making stuff with a workflow heavy on 'me having fun', and light on 'boring technical stuff'. Sculpting assets in Zbrush and being able to see the results in UE4 or Unity with almost no additional work (at least for some assets, which can maybe scrape by using UV Master, Decimation Master etc), totally rocks. It's not the approach for normal AAA games, of course, but sometimes having fun being a creative artist is the goal, as opposed to finishing up milestone tasks for Call of Duty Seventeen: My Little Pony At War. 

A very important thing I remind myself is that the ability to get a job doing 3D art has little to do with whether making 3D art is enjoyable, empowering and a great outlet for creativity. You might have a hard time getting work, but that doesn't have much to do with how cool it is to be able to make all this great stuff.  Once you have the skills, game art is a wonderful mode of artistic self expression, paycheck or not.

- End of anti-Rant -

sacboi

I've been on the periphery of the gaming production space for more years then I'd care to remember, as a core gamer. Picked up my first game from the corner store in 1977, Atari's version PONG and subsequently recalling those halcyon days of my youth, throwing away an obscene magnitude of time playing the thing. Sat in front a big ass cabinet 70s vintage first gen colour TV which I guess probably sparked an ongoing fascination with all things computer graphics. Even up until quite recently after 13yrs self teaching myself hardsurface modelling off and on, implementing VFX asset creation workflows alongside dabbling here-'n-there on low end shite side scrollers, harboured thoughts of an industry career. But to be entirely honest realistically upon reflection wasn't really cut out for it. Put simply, to fecking old-'n-grumpy, a tad egotistical and very much set in my ways. So going 'Indie' suits me down to the ground, pretty much immersed in it's overarching ethos of making stuff 'on the fly' and answering too no one. Anyway at the moment just luv'n the ride.          

seth.

It's not the approach for normal AAA games, of course, but sometimes having fun being a creative artist is the goal, as opposed to finishing up milestone tasks for Call of Duty Seventeen: My Little Pony At War. 


I was with you right until the point where you take a pop at people who work on CoD, way to wreck a positive post.  Dev on Dev violence isnt cool, cant we all just get along?

radiancef0rge

Seth were gunna take you guys out at the next kickball game. You got no idea whats coming. 

Brian "Panda" Choi

You guys play kickball?  WTH?  THAT'S DOPE

seth.

your kickball is no match for our Wu Tang skills

Brian "Panda" Choi

May I play with you guys?

I haven't sported in a while.

I can bring bagpipes.

Torch

What's wrong with working on titles liks CoD? I'm not really into the futuristic stuff they've done recently, but I can appreciate the development and awesome art created for them. Also I'd be very interested to know when the My little pony version is out

Kevin Albers

I have nothing against CoD, or working in AAA. Just a little joke. The idea is that there are trade offs in everything. Sometimes working on a AAA game might be a drag (crunch etc might suck), and would not necessarily be the 'dream job' it might seem to people not in the industry. Maybe someone working as an electrician, and making art in their spare time, would be having a nice fun life, and shouldn't feel like they are missing out by not working on something like there favorite game (whatever that game might be). 

Friendship Is Magic.

seth.

Kevin Albers said:

I have nothing against CoD, or working in AAA. Are you guys really not able to detect an obvious joke?

Laughing at is not laughing with, but whatever man i have a kickball challenge to be getting on with...

Bedrock

The pace at which its all changing is pretty scary, but exciting. I have no idea what the art pipeline will be in 5-10 years or how VR is going to affect it all... there are more exciting jobs out there than game art but most feel stagnant in comparison. I'm happy to be part of it!

Brian "Panda" Choi

In some small part, there's some awesomeness in being able to show off something you've been toiling away at with the help of others to a receptive audience.

I think the most recent piqued moment of "this is a dope thing to do" was back at USC when we were doing our presentation of The Maestros, our Arena RTS

https://youtu.be/0mA4M4kOPGw?t=3m28s

pmiller001

Making Art for games sounds incredibly rewarding, and satisfying. 

marks

"Hey guys, you're not enjoying your career the way I think you should be enjoying your career. You should be doing what I think is right not what you think is right."

C'mon, really dude? 

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

Torch said:

What's wrong with working on titles liks CoD?

Nothing, but anyone who's done so knows it's not sunshine and passion 24/7. Sometimes it really is just "finishing up milestone tasks" like fixing collision and LOD bugs or making goofy hideous camos or cleaning up scans for days. Sometimes it's also very creative and rewarding work. Every job has ups and downs. I don't think OP meant to hurt any feelings

Pandan

Speak for yourself. A dream of mine is to work at a studio working on game art. Small or AAA.

I make art for fun when i can, but as someone who fell for the art degree meme, i'm trying to salvage what i can.