overcoming laziness
insane polycounter
is that even a thing.? having got to the age that i can't be arsed anymore( 52) started at age aroiund 27, but still actively producing work, i am finding ti hard to actually do the final work that make a piece pop ie texturing, various maps etc. believe me it will come to you call
I used to stay up till 5 am to make things work, but now I am more concerned about the back garden.
driving me crazy really, time to either just give up on 3d totally or change careers, 'But' I still love making 3d stuff after doing it since 1995 ish
maybe keep it as a hobby , but then I would feel my last 30 years has been wasted. really wish that companies were not so age predjudice
work is much more technical now and its tough for one person to shine. I have recently started doing env work, which is great,but get to a certain point then can't be arsed :0
Replies
Try this; For each new piece you make, do it in a completely new/different style. Try making lowpoly art that only uses vertex colors, create pixel textures and then build models around them, make transforming robots, etc. Just make random things with the sole purpose of getting your creative juices flowing without falling into old habits.
if it's about your day job then you presumably have the experience and knowledge to move into a less practical/more leadership oriented role? There's a lot of satisfaction in mentoring more junior team members and then taking credit for their hard work and more altruistically there's also a lot of value in spreading years of hard earned knowledge around.
If you cant do it where you're at now then perhaps the grass is greener somewhere else.
if it's about your free time then don't beat yourself up over it - you're not obliged to create constantly, the romantic suffering artist myth is just something we use to exploit the young and naive into crunching so management can go home to our golden castles at 4pm and bathe in unicorn milk
Based on your response to PolyHertz's excellent suggestion I'd sway more to building a bunch of related assets in a way that doesn't take very long
eg.
set yourself a 3000 triangle limit and make a little herd of characters - pick a fun group concept or maybe the cast of a tv show, don't bake from highres models just push some polys around and paint some textures. They'll take 2-3 days each and after a week or two you'll have enough to make a little diorama, then maybe build them a little environment to stand around in , muck around with lighting, do a bit of animation and so on - keep it lo-fi and it shouldn't get stale.
its not a game but it's a coherent world and that's basically all a game is to an artist. (obviously you could make a game out of it after)
alternatively - force yourself into a corner and start buggering about with magicavoxel - that always makes me happy.
Long,
I just do things i want to do in the moment ("small projects")(i.e. a nail, can probably get similar than that but) and eventually it will work out, like i don't do fx or props much but i feel the need or see a cool concept or have an idea and i say to myself "sure why not, lets see what i can do" and boom i surprised myself. (It took a f-ck long bit of time but when i achieved the "goal", the feeling can not be bought.)
Then again i fall into some of those requirements because some positions I've had required them and the CEO couldn't give two shits if that is what i was applying for and i managed to pull it off with zero experience in the situation. I just asked what was needed then after i learned "their" processes i expanded on it and made a "system/technique", that advanced it to a much quicker/simpler method. Was u.i. based thing in photoshop, basically replacing images in some reference/smart layer or whatever it is, i forget atm.(too much rattling around up there.)
Maybe you like being directed? if you do not like directing yourself, so i say learn this next week how to make environment materials in substance designer for your projects?
That should keep the noodle rattling and keep anyone busy, do the "style" you like though so if you like realism more aim for that.
I enjoy going out during decent days, i do not need to but i also take a decent amount of time off that really gets me going in the art category, the more i do not do it the more i want to do it. So other hobbies projects do help with this issue of no motivation or inspiration. Like the other day by complete accident (and was more of a test than anything) i ran 7.3 miles, thinking it was only about 4, so glad i wasn't hurting the next few days but there you go, i again surprised myself.
^Basically saying surprise yourself, learn something not Art related and maybe find interests else were whiling figuring out what you do want to do.
(..Tried to make this short..)
When I was younger I thought that the higher you go up the ladder the smarter, wiser, better people would be. Not the case in my experience. People start dumb, they stay dumb, they die dumb. I've been around some of the highest levels in the US military and they put on a show but when it comes down to it they are doing the same stupid shit private dickhead gets hammered for on a daily basis. It's the same everywhere I've been in civilian world too. Nobody knows anything but once they get an ounce of respect they think they know everything. Then shit gets real stupid.
The people doing the hiring are likely not any different from those they are hiring. I.e. they know little, believe a lot of nonsense, and mostly operate from assumptions - dramatically overvaluing what little experience they have.
So yeah, there probably is a lot of ageism and assumptions like, "if the guy has been doing this so long how come he isn't a manager?" "My grandpa is slow as fuck, this guy will be slow as fuck too."
I don't think there is any way to overcome that other than getting lucky and find someone who actually knows what it takes to get work done and doesn't live in a fantasy world built from assumptions. It seems like games/entertainment attracts people who do live in fantasy worlds though - tv is much worse from what I can tell. At least the grunts doing technical work in games know a thing or two about doing work and some real character comes from that.
Overall the entertainment industry largely seems like a cesspool. Of course you pick out individuals and its hard not to love them but there is a general culture that persist and to me it's an ugly thing.
I think doing a trade for as long as you have and still enjoying it is indication of the perfect mindset and something worth aspiring too but culture tellls people other things. Everybody wants a lot for a little and will do a lot for a little trying to attain that impossible goal. The height of foolishness.
i think you should enjoy more time in the garden. Gardens are lovely and some people will spend there whole life without enjoying a garden.