Do I need programs such as zbrush etc at the moment?

TannedBatman

Hello people, I am studying games design at college currently and focusing on 3D modelling and have been doing it for about 4 months now. I would like to know wether I should be getting and learning zbrush and substance painter etc at my stage and or what is a good idea to do at my point. Currently I make my models and uv map them in maya and then texture them in photoshop. So is it worth learning substance painter and sculpting programs now or best at say a university or after college. I see all these people on YouTube and art station using tools like zbrush, substance painter and marmoset and I don't have those and was wandering if it's necessary to learn it early on or when these tools are supplied to me. Thank you.

pior

"Hello people, I am studying games design"
"is it worth learning substance painter and sculpting programs now"

Taking game design literally (as in : you wanting to be a game designer, and not a game artist), then : no.

These tools are used to create high-end assets (which themselves are a huge time sink, especially these days when a lot of artists only know how to do bruteforce sculpts and have no clue how to build proper game models efficiently). By definition, a game designer will never need to touch tools like Zbrush or Substance, since creating assets is not part of the job.

But again this is just me taking the term "game design" literally. I understand that many so-called "game design" courses are actually about game art, so take that advice with a grain of salt.

If anything if you want to be a game designer making games from scratch, your best bet is probably to stick to very simple models and learn a bit about animation. That way you'll be able to create games like these all by yourself :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWbZ0mZsWIc&ab_channel=TombRaider
Good luck.

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

TannedBatman said:

Currently I make my models and uv map them in maya and then texture them in photoshop. So is it worth learning substance painter and sculpting programs now or best at say a university or after college.

We dont buy all this Shit just to have it lying around.

If I didnt Need substance... would I have it? No.
I get what I need to do Great Work.

If you cant afford it... do Great Work anyway. Then you'll get a Ton of cash... and you can afford it.

Few would be honest enough to say this.

Alex_J

If you want to be an artist, you'll probably need to know how to use Zbrush and Substance. 

If you aren't sure that you want to be an artist but want to learn more, find a time when you'll have lots of free time and mental energy, and try out the free trials of one or more programs like this, and also find some good tutorials to help you get started.

poopipe

If you want to give sculpting a try, grab sculptris - it's much less weird than Zbrush and it's free.

antweiler

There is no reason not to try tools like ZB or substance. It you see no point, skip it, but you you will learn that there is no limit what a human can learn and remember. What I mean is, learning a tools like ZB or painter, which are focused on a intuitive creation process, will not hinder you to learn a lot about game design as well.