What do you wish you learned earlier /before you graduated/ got a job in games/ etc ?
null
I'm going to be a senior and working on my thesis for college this year soon, and the imposter syndrome is kicking in in a major way, I didn't get to do an internship or work on art much over the summer due to a family emergency so I felt like I really got left out on an opportunity to learn more and be more prepared to be a senior/ graduate, so I'm asking not only to make myself feel better but to look for opportunities to learn more.
So what do you wish you learned earlier? This can be any type of art, doesn't matter.
I'm still learning but I honestly had wished I'd learned trim sheets earlier, I only recently "got" them.
So what do you wish you learned earlier? This can be any type of art, doesn't matter.
I'm still learning but I honestly had wished I'd learned trim sheets earlier, I only recently "got" them.
Replies
Admittedly, it was a little justified because my computer is very weak. Even now, I can only do so much without hitting memory limits.
But sticking with Photoshop for too long lead to some bad habits when it came to texturing. Being able to paint directly on your models instead of just looking at flat UVs in a photoshop document is a huge difference.
It also would have introduced me to a lot more topics. Learning how to bake out curvature maps, creating smart materials, material layers, layer masks etc.
I also realized had I learned it, I would have gotten my first job in the industry. In my first job interview, I was told they were looking for someone who could use Mari. I made the mistake of saying I only knew Photoshop but I was quickly getting ready to move onto 3D painting software.
Might just be me or whoever, but we focus on our careers early on, probably too much, or obsess over it.
It's that work/life balance that can be rough, when you focus more on work, and less in life or health.
Things happen in life, in general, and it's not like college will teach that. You might get some advice from mentors or others who've been in certain situations, but there are times where it's just like the fear of the unknown.
I feel like I'm jaded as hell, but there are some sort of phases in life, where once you deal with it, it won't hit it as hard if you ever come across it, next time around.
I should have left zbrush alone for like, six months.
Regarding modeling, I dunno. I try not to look back and think about what I could have learned earlier, because there's just too much. Maybe in a few years, I'll look back on today and wish I had started to learn FX, or level design, etc. Just got to keep moving forward.
Being ~okay at the holy quadtrinity (model - texture - rig - animate) will make you far more employable than somehow who can only make substance graphs for example.
So I went to college to be an actor because I loved the entertainment industry. But you know, I realized I wasn't super invested in acting as a career path. It was more for fun and to be involved. But I guess I was attracted to the glamour and fame of the prestigious position.
I WISH I had learned earlier in life that's it perfectly acceptable to just be a part of the industry. And being a technical asset to any production is a blessing in itself. Be it movies or video games, I'm just happy to be creating art with a talented team.
So to answer your question, I wish I would have realized I could be a backstage team member much earlier in my life. Now I'm scrambling to make up for lost time learning the technical skills (Ue4, 3DS Max, Nuke, Python, etc.)