Sculpting combined with ConceptArt
polycounter lvl 6
Dear Folks!
Are there jobs out there which will require you just to sculpt stuff (concepting) without:
- worring about the polycount
- make sure the topology is right
- etc etc
Is this just "wishful thinking" or is it like "you have to know this stuff because it it belongs together" or is this even a "plus" on your career-seeking path?
I just assume that rigging is a complete different field
Are there jobs out there which will require you just to sculpt stuff (concepting) without:
- worring about the polycount
- make sure the topology is right
- etc etc
Is this just "wishful thinking" or is it like "you have to know this stuff because it it belongs together" or is this even a "plus" on your career-seeking path?
I just assume that rigging is a complete different field
Replies
This is not a 100% true statement, but this is the best answer to your question.
I could say that yes, you've got jobs that rely pretty much solely on digital sculpting, they exist, working for collectibles/action figures, 3D printing, alien and critters concept art, niche departments in high end VFX...
Jobs that are either :
- extremely rare
- dominated by a very few handful of 20years+ exp rockstars
- require another skill like 2D
- possess their own technical hassles
- unreachable until a very long time and experience
Do you want to base your life career on that type of job ? Base your life career on 1 software ?
Why would someone hire a guy that can only sculpt when you've got 10 others that can sculpt better AND poly model, write shaders and scripts, optimize, design, unwrap UVs, light, texture, render, and paint ?
What if at some point you absolutely need to poly model something for some reason, or you can do something in the latest ZBrush version only, but the studio only has a 4R7 license ?
I saw your sketchbook thread and it looks like you're just starting, well let me tell you that :
- learning about topology and technical issues is 10000x easier than mastering anatomy/shapes/design/ideas/concept art
- it is absolutely normal to feel the way you do about tech when starting out
- you will get it if you try enough, maybe even fall in love with it
- you're gonna be able to make products of a much higher value and price
- and most importantly : you're gonna have a stable career
You can be a good sculptor and luckily land a few gigs here and there, but if someday your luck vanishes and suddenly you're not able to find anything and you run out of money and become unable to pay your taxes, well that kinda sucks.
Fortunately, today you've got everything you need online to feed on information, tutorials, tips n tricks, the polycount wiki covers a lot of the fundamentals and if you happen to struggle on a particular subject you can post here and receive help quickly.
Note that I'm mainly talking about 3D here but if you really wanna take the concept art path, know that it isn't undoable but the competition is way fiercer. Being able to design both in 3D and 2D is definitely a plus in terms of speed but ultimately it's just gonna boil down to presenting ideas and solving problems, not making pretty pictures or outstanding sculpts.
But definitely keep doing what you love, and keep sculpting !
I would recommend focusing on either monsters or humanoids and really pushing the detail, since that's the kind of work that gets noticed.
It is possible to make a career in this field, but it will take time. You should be on the lookout for freelance gigs from figure companies, possibly contact collectable companies to provide services.
Knowing the full pipeline also doesn't guarantee a job, the market decides a lot as well, but once you're truly good the right companies will have work for you.
You could also consider making your own designs and trying to kickstart those.
Also pure sculptors do exist in games and film. In the sense that they know the pipeline but the character team works in such a way that all they do is sculpts. Its an internal thing so as a general rule better to show you know the full pipeline.
It is not that i completely locked out the other stuff i listed, if it requires it, i have to learn it. I was just curious if it was that way.
But just for for the sake of completeness:
What would be the pipeline of a "caracter artist" (is it called character artist?)
Just to be clear i meant now not as an "conceot artist" bit as somewone whose base his sculpt on someones else concept.
OT: This forum is just great and informative!
model and sculpt the high poly mesh
retpologize for a low poly mesh
uv map your low poly
bake from high to low poly
texture your low poly
rig your low poly
animate the low poly
add vfx to the low poly
revisit model six months later and realize you don’t remember how you commented and labeled everything and it take you longer to improve everything by small degrees (all this in the context of a full game production)
Regardless this, it is a nice list! Thanks again
I always thought, "drawing is my thing" so i want to become an concept artist (what surprise),
but a few days ago i rediscovered my love for character design (instead of environments).
Just befor i started to draw, i thought i will give it a try with ZBrush, and DAMN this is pure joy (even with this GUI)!
My second try of ZBrush
So the real question is:
Are there Jobs which combines concepting characters in ZBrush (and maybe texturing/painting them in SubstancePainter)?
I ask this because all jobs i saw are bound to other areas which are (for myselfe, i do not want to offend anyone) so uninteresting like:
- look that the topology is right
- rigging the model
et cetera, et cetera
Is this just "wishful thinking", or is this job i am searching just "Game Character Designer" forcefully bound to the other stuff mentioned?
Sorry my bad english by the way
You could probably work your way into any type of position if you really try, but it's probably wisest to develop a very marketable skillset first, and then once you are in the business work on the side to develop yourself more towards a specialized role. My dad worked as an engineer for 15 years before he was able to become specialized enough to start his own contracting business. You might study some of the zbrush guru's like Pavlovich to find out what their story is.
But keep in mind, guys who blazed their own path, didn't necessarily intend to. Most likely they just developed some niche interest and got good to the point that they had something very unique and useful to offer.
"a nice break": this actually really makes sens
btw, this thread seams to be duplicated published soehow, i asked the admins to delte this one,
so if you dont mind, maybe put this post into this thread:
https://polycount.com/discussion/203264/sculpting-combined-with-conceptart#latest