Aspiring 3D Artist questions

RKM3D

Good day everyone!

I am a 27 year old public servant aspiring to learn and eventually have a job in making 3D Environments. The problem is I do not know where to start. Here are the following questions inside my head.

1. I mainly want to do 3D Environment, is that okay? I am interested in making characters too but if I have to choose one, designing the environment feels better.
2. What software should I use? And what should I learn first.
3. I mainly want to focus on 3D Game Environments, any links for me to start with? Is there a difference in 3D processes between mobile and triple A games?
4. Lastly, is it too late for someone like me to learn 3D?

Creepezel

1. It of course is. Everyone in the industry have it's specialization. Character artists, enviroment artists, VFX artists, etc,

2. I would say Blender because it's free, begginer friendly due to amount of tutorials it have, and if later you would want to try Maya or Houdini, no problem because mostly techniques are indentical. In Blender you just have to learn basics and master it, before transfering somewhere else.

3. I don't remember tutorials I watched, so can't recommend, but there indeed is difference between AAA assets and mobile games. You see, phone is weaker than pc so it needs even less tris than pc could handle. But I've never touched that topic deeper though.

4. Of course not. Everyone can become 3D artist, you just have to be dedicated to it and not give up at some point.

Good luck in your adventure with 3D !

Rangaros

1. Environment art is a specialization and there are sub categories of that such as material artist, lighting artist, etc.

2. Blender is a great and very viable tool in the industry. It's a great starting point for just starting out.

3. My best advice is scroll around youtube and artstation and find what you like and see if you're more into stylized/realistic. Also a big difference between mobile games and AAA games is mainly technical. There are some stylistic differences sometimes but a lot of it has to do with technical aspects such as tri counts, texture sizes, and stuff like that. Right now focus on just learning the basics and some of the lingo and then look more into seeing which path you want to go into.

4. It's not too late at all! Every day you don't at least do something is a day you could have been. So best to start now

My advice is don't be intimidated by all the amazing artwork on artstation. Everyone starts at the bottom at some point.

Also artstation, artstation, artstation. Start building your visual library. Good luck and have fun and forums like Polycount are great places