Absolute beginner seeks advice
Just stumbled onto polycount, and it took me maybe a minute to realize this was a good place to ask some talented people how to do what I want to: make high quality assets for video games (models, textures, animations). I am aware this is a many-year-long goal.
I'm a 24 year old teacher and my background is in math/education/computer science. The problem is that I have zero artistic experience or training, and very little skill.
I recently spent a couple hours working from a 'how to draw' book with pencil. Most notably I did a 5 second sketch exercise several dozen times, but was still having problems with consistency. I also don't think the book was very good, but it did teach me a few things.
So how do I go about undoing two decades of neglecting the right lobe of my brain? I can devote a minimum of 5 hours a week, and a maximum of maybe 12.
Thank you for your time.
I'm a 24 year old teacher and my background is in math/education/computer science. The problem is that I have zero artistic experience or training, and very little skill.
I recently spent a couple hours working from a 'how to draw' book with pencil. Most notably I did a 5 second sketch exercise several dozen times, but was still having problems with consistency. I also don't think the book was very good, but it did teach me a few things.
So how do I go about undoing two decades of neglecting the right lobe of my brain? I can devote a minimum of 5 hours a week, and a maximum of maybe 12.
Thank you for your time.
Replies
I'd likewise put myself into the "absolute beginner" category, with a background in computer science.
I know there's a lot of talent and experience around here, so I was wondering how viable you all thought a career in digital art (whether it be game-related or not) could be. How possible would it be to survive as a freelance artist of some kind? Or is working for an established studio the only option? Or is digital art something that you do only in addition to your main "day job"?
I would be happy to work insanely hard to get a job doing something that I loved, but it can be very discouraging wondering if it's possible at all.
This brings me onto the subject of practice times. Perhaps i'm burdened here by my musical background, where you'd constantly hear people saying "you must practice 6 hours a night" and so on. When I first tried to learn pencil drawing, I instinctively applied the same reasoning. How do you apply yourselves to learning all the various disciplines required by your art?
I mean, when it comes to say modeling, texturing, rigging and animating a character, for example, how do you practice these varied disciplines? (Not to mention the preliminary concept drawings themselves) I would imagine each of these to require a great deal of practice time - do you build a schedule of some kind? Is it foolish to even consider learning something like 3D modeling before you've mastered "traditional" art skills?
Which makes the most sense - working say, 5 hours a day to learn drawing and sketching, then moving on to digital art after reaching a certain level at that, or working a few hours a day on both "traditional" and 3D art from day one?
Like the OP here, I really need to do something to reverse the neglect of my brain (both lobes in my case!) and i'd really appreciate any help you could offer. Thanks in advance (I hope it isn't considered rude to post such a question as a newcomer here).
Are you going to be self taught or go to school? Both paths have there pros and cons, its really matter of how you learn and want to learn.
What type of 3d art do you want to do? Animation? Game art? General CGI? All these things are 3d art, but each are a different discipline.
Once you figure that out, dig even deeper into the discipline, if you would like to make video games, then do you like to model characters or do you like environments?
The last thing you need to ask yourself and the most important, how badly do you want to do this? If its a true passion, you never ask yourself if its worth it, you know it is and you will do whatever it takes. I have had to personally sacrifice many things. I don't spend as much time with my girlfriend, family, and friends. I don't own a car, or buy new clothes. So 5 hours a week is going to probably take you 10 years to become proficient enough to get a job in the industry. I on average spend between 70 and 80 hours a week learning. I have been doing 3d art for little over a year now and still feel like I have another year before I have the portfolio I want.
So once again, how badly do you want to become an artist?
What is the 10000 hours rule? The 10000 Hour Rule is just that. This is the idea that it takes approximately 10000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill.
For instance, it would take 10 years of practicing 3 hours a day to become a master in your subject. It would take approximately 5 years of full-time employment to become proficient in your field. Simply work out how many hours you have already achieved and calculate how far you need to go. You should be aiming for 10000 hours."
This is worth having in mind when starting, not to be afraid of it but being aware that becoming good is putting in those hours to at some point walk out of the Valley of Suck. Don't give up, there's always room in the industry for someone who works hard!
Fun fact, a disney/pixar animator put in 18000 hours of work before getting his big hit. Let's just say it varies.
It would help to see something u did but generally my advice would be: get an anatomy book, sit down and learn how to draw the figure. That's it.
I mean I got ok at sculpting, in a few months the rest is a carefull eye and refinement.
For it to be all in your brain so you dont neeed all that then probably ten years yes.
Very few people have a passion for something, very few people really know what they want to do. You cant really have a passsion for something you dont know how to do.
You dont need to learn to draw to do other stuff(3d model etc), there are no rules. It depends on you do you need to learn to draw to understand form?
Try focusing on learning what you want to learn now because you want to learn it. Practice a little bit each day, no matter how much, you may find you progress quite quickly(except for texturing godammn why can I not get that).
There is a lot to learn and quite a few areas to focus on. You listed off a barrage of things that each take years to master so you need to narrow your scope a bit. I think its best if beginners sample a little bit of everything and see what they like, but balance that with what is more likely to get them a job. Once you master one thing and land a job you can come back to other areas that piqued your interest. Working at a small studio can help you explore those options since you'll typically wear a lot of hats. Where at a bigger studio you'll probably be highly skilled at a one thing and expected to excel at it.
You should find a game engine that supports your favorite format and stuff your content into that engine, its the best way to show it off. For a lot of people that is UDK, Unity, Source, Crytek or half a dozen other engines.
A studio will take the best candidate, period. Sometimes that is someone with zero shipped titles under their belt, everyone has to start somewhere. Your job is to make them feel as comfortable about taking that risk as possible. They should look at your portfolio and say, "oh no shipped titles huh, I thought these where from a game?"
They won't take pity on your passion and invest in training you. You need to preform at the expected level. There are some specific pipeline things, that you just can't know before hand, things like exporter/import procedures, shaders and materials, optimization procedures that kind of stuff. Sometimes your lucky and they've released tools to the community (you should definitely learn those) But generally pipeline knowledge will probably take a few days or a week to learn the basics and sometimes months or years to master but its generally not something they demand.
You should be able to hit the ground running and slam out assets. That's what they're looking for when they say they want experienced people. You have just as good of a shot as someone with 5 years experience if your portfolio is up to the right level.
So what to zero in on?
Character Artist: Probably the least technical of the jobs and the highest demand for artistic excellence. A studio typically has a handful of very dedicated character artists and they will more than likely do more than just characters. These are very competitive high profile positions to get and the fact that there are few of them per studio makes them hard to land. Makes it Where I work we lean on them for concepts also because they are so artistically talented and can crank the 2D work out like no body's business.
Character artists tend to focus on:
Anatomy & Character design, generally proficient in 2D.
Sculpting and modeling.
Common materials found on characters, skin, leather, cloth, metal ect...
Topology and deformation.
Prop Artist: These guys are pretty much like the character artists but they make AC units, trees, lamp posts, sidewalks, store fronts. Because there is so much to create, these guys make up the bulk of the head count on the team, typically. They're also more likely to be hired late in production as the need grows beyond the current team and be let go first when the content needs are low. They normally don't do much level building or lighting.
Prop Artists tend to focus on:
Mechanical modeling, also known as hard surface with possibly some sculpting.
Architectural knowledge
Just about any material found on any surface.
Optimization of triangles and materials.
Environment Artist: These guys go by several names, layout artists, level designers, Sr Environment artists bla bla bla. These guys can model props and often do, but generally lay out levels, script triggers and scenes, do lighting and optimization and generally build the game world. They're knowledge is pretty propitiatory to the pipeline and they typically stick around and are a core function of the team. They tend to have an easier time sticking around when the pink slips come out.
Environment Artists tend to focus on:
Game editors and layout.
Lighting and color theory.
Architectural knowledge.
Scripting scenes and optimizing levels.
FX Artist: These guys generally make fire, smoke, spells, explosions, bullet sparks all kinds of in game and cinematic effects. Typically the effects pipeline is very specific to that studio and that game, but there are several constants that flow across all studios. FX artists tend to be slightly more technical than model jockeys.
FX Artists tend to focus on:
Particle emitters.
Creating various effects any way they can, by hook or by crook.
Animated shaders and other scripted sequences.
Technical Artists, are a bridge between art and programing, having a foot in both worlds is a pretty valuable skill to have and those people tend to do pretty well in the industry. Normally they spring up out of the Environment artists positions or from Animation. To them code is a tool not nonsense and they wield it much to the amazement of the artists.
Technical Artists tend to focus on:
Scripting in MEL, Python or maxscript.
Writing tools and plug-ins that assist artists in either the creation of assets, the rigging of characters or stuffing it all into the game.
Personally I fall into the "slightly more technical than artistic" category too and its a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because I'm self sufficient I can almost always solve my technical problems on my own and I often solve them for other people.
A curse because I'm not as polished artistically as I would like to be. But mostly that comes from neglect and just being interested in all the technology, there is so much you can focus on and so much that interests me its easy to become a jack of all trades master of none when its normally better to be a jack of all trades, master of one.
There is a lot more I could write but this is running long and I'm now late for work... heh
Long post short:
I started learning 3d 3 years ago when I was 24, I don't have any art background besides high school blowoff classes. Much more can be accomplished though in that time span if you plan your path and read the polycount wiki. Just realize you probably won't be employable for quite some time, and that obviously doesnt mix too well in your late 20's.
don't waste your time with that for now
you said you have a math and computer science background and that you have little to no artistic skill.
instead of just going all out and starting with the basics, going from 2d, kicking ass with concept art and modelsheets and what nots, to modeling, texturing AND animation!
I'd kinda say, based on your math and computer science knowledge, maybe a technical artist or animator would be a .. may sound bad for saying this, easier .. fit.
instead of doing all the character work, just focus on shaders and technical solutions, or characters and rigs!
just a thought ;D
The problem I'm having is not having enough time to practice with school and everything else competing for my time; that should fix itself when I finish school however and then I will be able to put in a reasonable amount of time. whilst lack of art knowledge hasn't really held me back so far I don't think (I'm not the most neutral judge of that and I'm sure it would have helped), I'm not sure it will continue that way.
Thanks vig for the long post, really informative.
You will learn quicker if you have a mentor (such as with an online workshop or post your WIP here or GameArtist and get critiques).
You'll find out real quick if you really enjoy it (and perhaps find your niche).
Moral of story: Tourist walking along sidewalk in Manhattan asks a Taxi driver "how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Cabbie replies "practice, lots of practice."
After that I would visit eat3D, the old damaged pillar is their first and most prolific tutorial it does a great job of teaching the most common techniques to a standard Base Mesh > High poly sculpt > Low poly > Bake > Materials, pipeline. Their fountain tutorial is also amazing and covers more software than just 3dsmax > mudbox > 3dsmax.
I also agree that practice, practice, practice and more practice is the best way to get anywhere. I also think that the faster you start stuffing your creations in games the better prepared you will be to hit the ground running.
In whatever area of interest you decide to pursue you should take care to learn enough about the jobs that interact with your assets so you can make the best pieces possible. If you're thinking about being a character artist you should learn enough rigging and animation that you know how joints will deform and preform. If you're going to be a prop artist, building modular is key, keeping to a grid and properly placed pivots imperative for the layout artists to be able to use your assets effectively without problems.
These are the little tells in a portflio that let people know if you're ready or not.
Wish they would hurry up with the dozer part 2 though
Practice any time you aren't asleep - and then you will dream of quads
At least I did not so long ago
Now I understand that artist can wear many hats all just depending on the size of the studio. But from my understanding, an environment artist and a level designer are almost always different jobs.
Am I wrong?
Designers don't generally need pretty looking art to figure out if something is going to be fun or not, but he has to be conscience of draw distances (too far is bad), boundaries, and always having a general idea of what the space is "supposed" to be, rather than how it actually looks. That's the artists job
I would ask you this: Want to be a character artist and have zero art skill? Don't worry, google "The Structure of man" it's on a website called alienthink. It costs about $60 but it's fantastically fast at teaching you anatomy and decent drawing skills. (I sucked at drawing but now I'm getting pretty good, although all the information can be free else where, the methods the guy teaches you gets it into your brain easily.)
The other good course I could suggest is "3ds Max 101" at eat3d. only 21 hours and it teaches you everything you could need to know to get started in modelling. Though this doesn't apply for game art it does teach you 3ds max pretty well.