How to retain focus
polycounter lvl 13
I'm pretty sure many of us have this. At times we get distracted and couldn't really focus on the work we love to do.
For me, I love 3D modeling but there's another conflict of interest that I have.
I got competitive with the Soul Calibur series since Soul Calibur 2 and with Soul Calibur 6 coming out on October 19th it re-sparked the competitive side of me. For the first time Soul Calibur 6 is coming out to the PC and because of that, this got me focusing on planning what hardware components to buy for a build that is good for competitive gaming and 3D production work.
In a nutshell the reason I became less focused on my current 3D projects is because of my competitive spirit in this 3D fighting game and the plot to build the perfect rig.
What steps would guys recommend for me to retain my focus on 3D modeling? Is there a way to balance my focus on other interests?
For me, I love 3D modeling but there's another conflict of interest that I have.
I got competitive with the Soul Calibur series since Soul Calibur 2 and with Soul Calibur 6 coming out on October 19th it re-sparked the competitive side of me. For the first time Soul Calibur 6 is coming out to the PC and because of that, this got me focusing on planning what hardware components to buy for a build that is good for competitive gaming and 3D production work.
In a nutshell the reason I became less focused on my current 3D projects is because of my competitive spirit in this 3D fighting game and the plot to build the perfect rig.
What steps would guys recommend for me to retain my focus on 3D modeling? Is there a way to balance my focus on other interests?
Replies
I also have difficulty nowadays playing games for a while without looking over the environments and wanting to make some awesome art.
I've actually playing less and less games because I feel my time is better served focusing on a career.
I only start playing games now when my renders start taking hours and I need to to pass the time. But it's just not the same anymore. I just want to keep making 3d models and texturing forever.
Three hours playing games
or
Three hours in career investment.
Happens every day. Replace games with whatever might be relevant.
Nothing. Just time fizzled away that you will forget immediately.
You spend a year working in 3d -- which is very much like a challenging game in itself -- and at the end of the year what do you got? Maybe a good job, or some art you can sell.
If you're planning to get paid to be a competitive gamer, personally I would understand that. eSports athletes do work, and they get paid well if they succeed like regular professional athletes.
It doesn't sound like you're planning to make a career of competitive gaming.
Maybe it's time to treat game art competitively. You're fighting Paul Fish, that kid down the street, the artist in Malaysia, the Norwegian who's been stuck at home because of snow, and the rest of Polycount for the limited number of game art positions in this industry.
If you're not going to put in the work to be here, then someone else will.
Shouldn't that be enough to keep your competitive spirit desire for instant gratification in check ?
And by then, I'll have hopefully bought a better computer.
Ahem ^^^
Sometimes you got to be lenient on yourself. Sometimes you got to be your own shrink. But sometimes, you just need to be a Drill Sergeant and put a boot in your own ass. If you find yourself making more than one excuse a week, it's time to put on the D.I. hat and get fucking hard on yourself.
I didn't stop working on my portfolio, but I can't rush it. I'm a person who hates rush. You can see how in this thread I said I'm dedicating every hour to 3D modeling. If a date is approaching and I don't feel the quality isn't good enough, I'll still take two more days to help make it better then before.
It's just a natural part of me. At my last job, I let my manager know this and he had no issue. Once he realized I was a person who showed up to work everyday, and fought to push his work ethic above others, he didn't mind.
But I mention I'm not aiming for speed. Speed will come when I finally have my own home. Where I'm currently situated, rushing is the last thing I want to do.
It's also not just the portfolio I'm working on. I still have something else I said I was going to show on Polycount in the near future. It's just that due to the current timing right now and situation, I have to put it back before it's ready to be shown to the public.
In my case, I do a daily quota of around 4-6 hours (depending on the time available) during weekdays that I dedicate for 3D. The remaining time are spent talking to teammates, reading emails, exercising, resting, etc. I agree that there are a lot of distractions throughout a day that come to take away your focus, but I know that if I dedicate around 5 hours per weekday for 3D, then that will 25 hours spent in 1 week, and 100 hours in 1 month spent for 3D. That's enough time for a portfolio piece.
But I work on models/commissions on the lump sum to keep things interesting.
If you only work on your 3D, you'll hate it, you'll suck the passion out of it and it'll show in your folio.
Playing games let's you see what other studios / artists are up to and can inspire you, an important part of becoming a good artist is soaking up art through TV / Film / Games (In my case) and letting that fuel your own creative fire.
So for me, 100% production gives diminishing returns. I prefer to run at like 60 - 70% and the rest is enjoying other media, I actually end up creating so much more work because of it. I killed myself to get into the industry and it took a couple of years before the fun came back to my portfolio and fun = quality.
You only need one good piece to get hired.
- go to work
- come home, family time
- working late at night at the portfolio
But in order to get that one good piece for the portfolio, i guess i have to "push" myself so hard to keep reaching this one piece, until than i can "relax" the strive.
My advice to myself back then would have been: "Give yourself 1 full night to only hang with the family, get a couple of hours of gaming in here and there" as I completely believe going 100% negatively affects your work overtime as it becomes a chore instead of a passion.
Unless you're studying a piece of work or reference I've found myself going into the artstation wish and wonder hole too many times while working on my own pieces. It can demolish your productivity sitting there and looking at great artists and wondering what you could be "blah blah blah".
You'll find that the initial use of willpower will get you into the "zone" so to speak. Also, sometimes you just never get there and that's when it times to just knuckle up and go through that wall. Keep working.
What everyone else is saying in terms of balance is extremely helpful but you shouldn't use it as an excuse to stop working when you just don't feel like it. Exercise, keep joy and entertainment in your life of course, but when it's time to work it's time to work. It's not time to play games if you want to be making them.
Also practicing self discipline now will have huge pay off later down the line. If you feel like you wasted the day playing video games when you go to bed at night that means you did.
That way I get to watch a bit of gameplay too.
But as an game artist, save for engine integration if that is my task, there is little to no input i can give about the gameplay especially in a major studio, unless I'm in level design or the like.
I mean I appreciate the games a studio makes but I don't think its my place to tell them how to do gameplay, unless I'm hired for the task and they ask.
That said I'd have a few pointers to improve gameplay experiences.
I highly doubt OP is playing games to become a better game artist. I've had so many classmates give the exact same reason. We had a lab in school meant for game dev work and the lot were using it for "competitive gaming". They had to be kicked out way too many times.
Very few of those type of game artists stayed on in the program.