is there situations where you need to concept as a 3d character artist?

focus_method

Hi,
I know there is a job position called 2d concept artist and 3d character artist. It's not the same. The roles are not the same , i am aware of that.
So, the pipeline goes basically on getting the concept art from the concept artist and you gather additional references (if needed) and you execute it into 3d. Somebody will say simply as that.
But something is telling me that it doesn't work like that always. There must be a pain part. (also i am aware about capturing the soul of the character pain part)
Why companies hire 3d character artists with some 2d artistic backgrounds, or fine arts? i assume because of that. So they can handle those sitautions by themselves. A lot of 3d character artists knows how to draw in 2d characters, so its a plus but im wondering how is that vs those who dont know how to draw or concept but are pretty much good in sculpting of anatomy and props.

I'm asking this just to know what to expect when getting a task of creating 3d character for production. i mean if that is a job.

thanks in advance

Ruz

I have seen a lot of jobs in the last few years where they seem to ask for an ever increasing list of skills.

Not every 3d artist can concept and vice versa, some concept guys are not in to 3d modelling texturing so much.

if its asking for 2d concept art first, then i am pretty sure yuo have to have that skill.

I am not a concept guy, but it did not stop me having a career as a character artist/modeller, alrthough i did start off in 2d illustration

Brandon.LaFrance

In my experience, concepting skills are not a requirement for our 3D character artists. Generally if a concept that we're assigned needs clarification, we can usually discuss with our lead, concept team, and/or art director to hash things out. If time permits, our concept artists are usually happy to give us a paint-over. Having said all of that, having strong drawing and painting skills have been a huge asset to me as a character artist. Its so much faster to just make your own paint-over, then kick it up to your lead for a quick yes/no, rather than having to go through discussions with two or three different people for feedback/adjustments/approval. A picture really is worth a thousand words in these cases.

pior

Outside of some very specific scenearios when a studio lets their 3d artists design their own gear sets or items, such 2d skills are not so much listed as a requirement for the expected day to day tasks (besides maybe paintovers, as stated above) but rather as a clue that such skills will play a part and potentially tip the balance during the hiring process. In other words : a 3d artist who has solid 2d fundation skills will undoubtebly be faster and more efficient than someone without such a background.

That doesn't mean that one will be asked to create 2d artwork on the job though. Rather it means that an understanding of 2d visual codes is, indeed, a soft requirement to do the job well. For instance it doesn't matter if a 3d artist is able to spend hours modelling an anatomically correct eyeball, anyone can do that. However knowing how to fake a cast shadow or a shiny highlight or a wet tear line in the context of stylized art (or even realistic art) to create a lively look, or why emphasise this or that element of the design to convey it well in 3d can only come from a solid knowledge of illustration, painting, animated cartoons, and so on.

If anything one could also add photography to the list too - as only people who've used cameras with different lenses can fully understand how to interpret reference pictures, especially for faces. Of course one wouldn't list that as a requirement, but that could very well come up as a question during the interview for instance.

All that said, one could also argue that all of the above is self-evident and that it isn't really worth listing in the job description in the first place, especially since a quick glance at a portfolio says it all (usually bad presentation = poor 2d skills). But maybe doing so can help trimming down the number of applications.

And of course it all varies depending on studio culture and also art style. The more lightweight the art style, the more porous the disciplines are ; and people are more likely to wear multiple hats in smallest teams. No need to be a master painter to make prop assets for Katamari Damacy - and as a matter of fact, if I am not mistaken the studio leveraged students to help with that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy.

Brandon.LaFrance

Well put, @pior. Your point about photography is spot on, as well. Not only for understanding perspective, but practice in lighting and composition that is important in photography is also directly applicable to many aspects of 3D art.

The further along in my career that I progress, the more I'm finding that the most challenging part of our work has much less to do with its technical aspects (How do bake? What this button do?) and much more to do with the fundamental elements and principles of design. These things tend to be much easier to practice and explore in other mediums - such as drawing and painting - but the lessons learned there transfer directly to our work.

Ruz

well i did n't say that 2d and 3d exist in isolation, just that unless you are very good at concepting, you are more likely just going to be doing the modelling and texturing, if you have the texture skills that is.

I 'could' knock up an illustration, as I started out as a 2d artist, but 'concepting' is to me entirely different and not my strong point and would struggle to do it as a job

In fact the cocnept might take me longer to do than the model

Don't get me wrong though,wish i had the concepting skills too, really nice to have that as a skilset on top of 3d modelling etc

but I suck at that really ha ha

having said that i have met concept people who are not 'as' good or maybe not as focused at 3d modelling or texturing, Maybe they prefer the immedicacy of sketching/jotting ideas down

Just depends how your brain works i guess and its simple , if you have the extra 2d skiils that's great, but if not I would not worry about it and apply for postions that yuo can do

sacboi

"I 'could' knock up an illustration, as I started out as a 2d artist, but 'concepting' is to me entirely different and not my strong point and would struggle to do it as a job"

Agreed, for example I'm a classically trained portraitist so if hypothetically placed in a production environment would invariably likewise prove a challenge to interpret an AD's direction.

Ruz

I think because doing finished illustraion is much like creating a 3d model ie it's a finished piece, but having the confidence to actually quickly sketch a cool character and ti have that great design sense is another matter, sniff, that's not me

Blaizer

Concept skills are very useful to express ideas.

For a modeller position, you are not asked to be the "concept guy", but you must know how to draw, at least well enough to express ideas (just the basics), like with the overpaint of a 3d model, for example. 

If we need to make a change because a concept is quite abstract, we point it out to the concept artist in order to make the final changes in the design. A drawing is the best language.