Skill sets

System

Something thats been bothering me a fair bit lately is technical ability and my overall usefulness. Currently im pretty much limited to 2d and im aspiring to be a conceptartist dude. Things are slowly sinking in at the moment as to what kind of broad knowledge i need and its a bit overwhelming, especially when I take a look at the level of work that is seen in across various boards.

I see the games industry as the ultimate place i want to end up and im pondering how far ive got ahead of me before im useful, which is what im really wondering about - Without wanting to offend anyone I was wondering if it would be easier to make a start in 3d? Not to say that the bar is any lower however to be useful in a team as someone whos knowledgable with 3d.

I dont know shit about 3d at the moment and I see it as more of a tool than anything else, so what kinda studies and things do 3d dudes get upto?!

This is more curiosity than anything else as I dont really have the time to make a switch over to something new at the moment.

A-Train

Hey Jackwhat, as i'm in the middle of trying to solve out a problem yet have no solution I'll do my best to reply to your post.

I come from a traditional art background, majored in children's books in my final year of my Illustration BA. I've done life drawing, oil painting, and used various medias to convey imagery. I've also been on a computer since I was a little kid sitting on my pops lap, and remember putting floppy disks in to workstations! So i've always sort of enjoyed the world of computing, and visual imagery. I bought my first Wacom tablet at the age of 17 with $700 dollars made from a paper route. I had to borrow 100 bucks from my best friend at the time cause I only made 600 and I was that hungry for one (yes, I paid him back..hehee).

You can do it man, any traditional artist with the passion and drive can make great things happen. I've heard tons of kids in college in their fundamental year wanting to be great things (cg animators, character designers) all that good stuff.

You're already on the right forum. This has been the most awesome place to learn, since I was a kid on eatpoo.com and sijun.com (doing the digital art thing).

If you don't know anything about 3d, don't get down on yourself. Here are some softwares that you may want to look into: 3ds Max and Maya. I use them both,
but there are so many others that it's not even funny. Most polycounters probably use the one or two that I mentioned. So first, you want a software that others use, so you can get their help! As a beginner that's probably the smartest thing to do.

Then, mainly ask questions! Bug the hell out of people, just ask anything you don't know. Heck, every 3d artist out there was there once! I remember being pretty good with softwares in my CG Anim post grad...but seriously technology changes so fast that I cannot honestly say I never asked questions. Even when I knew about something, I'd ask someone else to see what they thought about it. They may have a different approach, or a new and interesting way to tackle an obstacle.

3d work is about pipelines, but it's also about problem solving. It's seriously gotten to the point with a software like Zbrush you can sculpt just like or maybe even for some...better than clay! There are still technical issues that come up.

So ask yourself those types of questions as well, to see if you enjoy problem solving.
If you hunt for new and unique ways to tackle obstacles in your way. I'd like to see that it's purely art but in 3d...but I'd have to say for a beginner getting in to it that you want to look at things from the technical perspective to.

You need a pretty decent computer, some of the above mentioned software and hopefully a wacom tablet. Ask things you're not sure about, and i'm sure with more and more practice you'll get there.

cgtalk.com is a great place as well as pixologic (creators of zbrush).
google digital tutors and buy a few of their dvd's (for Maya) and you can start
learning the basics of modeling & texturing. You probably want to learn some animation, rigging, lighting and rendering as well. I don't mean to slam all of this stuff down, but there is a lot involved at first...then you realize what you want to do and continue pursuing that.

Good luck man! Hell, i'm moving to the UK in just a few weeks to land a new studio job. Maybe i'll see ya there!

MoP

This is the bit where I ask how old you are...

Because you mention broad knowledge to be a concept artist, and yes, that is usually a requirement (ideas how arbitrary mechanical things work, how organic creatures are structured, how musculature influences movement, weight and volume, generic other stuff) ... but it's not all stuff you have to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of before you can become a "pro".

A lot of the "knowledge" stuff which the pros all show is probably due in large amount to their jobs, and being FORCED to learn things in order to complete a required task. They didn't know all of it before they started doing it, they just started out with a strong set of drawing skills, and a desire to learn and improve.

Mark Dygert

MoP, this is from his site:

About Me
Jack Allen
Fresh out of Art College and now seeking a job in Games! Feel free to Contact me on.

Also judging by the caliber of work on his site, I think he's at a good place 2D wise. Depending on how apt he is at teaching himself or learning technical things he could be cranking out some pretty awesome stuff pretty quick.

Jack,
It's just buttons and menus don't let it freak you out. Sure it takes a little while to learn it, but you don't have to know everything the pros know right off the bat.

You're coming at this from the right place. Its better that you be of a traditional art mind set and learn to bend a 3D app to what you need. Rather then have Zero art talent and try to get in by technical prowls alone. Many try the later and fail because of a lack of the first.''

aesir

Don't settle for learning the skills for a position you don't actually want. Improve your skills until you get the position you want.

System

Hehe, didnt want it to come across as if i was worrying too much because theres nothing that would really change my mind anyway so ill just crank on regardless!

I'm 22 mop... hopefully i didnt sound 12 - I guess people would be learning a lot on the job, maybe i take the comment "look at what work theyre putting out and compare yours to it" a bit too literally.

Cheers vig, ive been drawing a lot of anatomy related shit lately! I should really get around to tryin to do something more portfolioesque than studies! I dont so much as feel freaked out by learning 3d at the moment, more I dont want to have it at a half assed level. I try and keep my mindset on; if im going to do something ill get it up to a good standard before ill switch!

Thats partly why I feel the way i do, I dont really know when im good enough so ill beaver away with studies and whatnot till i find an answer!

cheers though and i dont want this to make me sound like an arrogant tit either. Cheers for the long post too a-train heh, where you moving too? im in the barren wasteland known as Norfolk, nothing for milessssss around.

sprunghunt

One thing I notice looking through your site is that you don't have the same level of specialisation that concept artists I've worked with have.

What I mean is that I've met guys who are 'character' concept artists and others who are 'environment' concept artists. While they can both draw all kinds of things they tend to be really good at one or the other and their work shows this. I've met a few guys who were good at both but they're usually very experienced.

So what I think you should do is concentrate on one or the other until you're at a professional level.

A-Train

Jackwhat, heh no prob...I think I needed to rant on like a monkey shot into space anyways. I'm moving to the city of London! Somewhere in Bethnal Green, which is slightly east of the downtown core. I take it that you're somewhere really far out there in the shire, perhaps the neighbour to Gandolf!