From Film to Games, what are the biggest differnces.
I decided I want to switch over to games. I'm going to apply for a few modeling positions (character/creature/organics). I have quite a few years of film modeling on my resume. I'm not to worried about the technical differences at this point, poly count, texture space etc. I am a bit curious about the differences in culture from a film studio to a games studio tho.
Im guessing there is a big range form say EA to a small independent studio, same thing with film. I have heard a wild range of stories from a few people I know so that has not been much help. but in general what are the biggest differences in your experience between films and games? assumeing you have worked on both sides. :poly121:
Im guessing there is a big range form say EA to a small independent studio, same thing with film. I have heard a wild range of stories from a few people I know so that has not been much help. but in general what are the biggest differences in your experience between films and games? assumeing you have worked on both sides. :poly121:
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Unlike the games industry (where it's not always possible due to tech limitations), I loved that they actually followed through on planning first and you could work with a pipeline that wouldn't change very much during production.
Now I don't know if that's the norm in film, but I really liked it.
I take it that games have wild swings in art direction and shit gets pushed back for years? seems that way from the news anyways.
in film things get to segmented and compartmentalized. everyone gets put in a very specialized task and that's all you do. it might seem nice only having to model for instance and not do texture etc. but It makes you a week artist in a lot of skills. so if you want to move to a new studio you realize you are hyper specialized for one studio pipeline.
I'm also wondering about how much design is left to the artist to come up with. It seems that at some game studios modelers do concept design\sculpting. i would love to be able to work like that. in film that will never happen.
I have to stay a bit in the wood work with this atm. I can't have anyone getting the idea I'm looking for another gig. I know people who browse in here quite a lot.
its a shame that jumping from film to games or the reverse is rare. it's a bit of a leap into the unknown I guess. I have always been a bit on the crazy side tho. fallow your dreams and all that. no kids no wife no problems. just art. the creative range in games is just so vast compared to film. and the the freedom with character design is just where I want to be. film is very very narrow in that respect. everything has to match the plates look real with humans real physics etc. that really limits what you can do in terms of design musculature textures etc. and even on the biggest shows there is never really more then 4 or 5 hero creatures. we just end up noodling everything forever.
Best thing to do, is do a couple of low-poly game models to see how your speed and quality holds up.
Absolute truth be told, the only times I've had tremendous problems with people transitioning over from film, is when they are put into a Lead or Director position and can cause tremendous amounts of damage due to their inexperience.
yea I agree if the stuff on your real does not make the cut then you don't get the gig. same in film and games I think. I have no illusions about that.
if you try to jump into it without makeing adjustments in your style, textures, all kind of subtle things you could totally fall on your sword. even if your good on the other side.
@JacqueChoi
thanks for that it makes total sense and is encouraging. I'm taking a few models the whole way through. picking up on all the changes and differences and tightening things up in those areas. getting some techniques down so so i'm not fumbling around trying to figure shit out in production. textures and the overall style are the biggest differences so far. the idea of a spec and diffuse map have really gone out the window in film since gi and sss have come in. and the range of styles you get to do in games is just mind boggling. its hard to figure out what to target. there is everything from photo real to fantasy stuff like wow.
on the downside it's not as creative a work as you might imagine. might involve dealing with 3D scan data, projection of photo-textures, etc.
that's good to know. its the same on the film side. alto the people are doing good work at the cartoon studios. most of those people can't model anything but toon. I just worked on a toon show and it was a total FUCKING NIGHTMARE. I will never work on another cartoon show ever again. I guess realism or at least highly detailed models would be the most natural target to shoot for. I really do like some of the more fantasy tight hand painted textures looking stuff. but I just don't think I will ever get into that style. I think games in general is a step towards a bit more creative freedom compared to film which is enough for me. working with scans and photo textures is a normal part of my workflow.
anyway, perhaps there is more freedom to be had in games but as a character artist you will get subjected to plenty of http://hoveringartdirectors.tumblr.com/ regardless.
I've been working as a generalist for years, and i take almost all the works i can get, adverstising, animation, tv and games... The change is like an ilusion. Once you get used to work with normal maps, realtime shading, and a few things... all is the same imho.
A good work place is an important thing
the horror! :poly122: its truely scary what clowns look like with out there makeup...
I know your right about the usual bs. but at least you generally seem to have far more characters creatures and other shlop to push through then we ever will on a creature show in film, with a few exceptions. even if most of those are probably secondary characters props etc. at least that's what it looks like. and that's what keeps me passionate. having a huge stack of concept to plow through.
Blaizer
hey thanks man every little bit of encouragement helps.
if you're one of those guys, try to bear in mind that your work may pass through several other people's hands and make it as edit friendly as possible. It may feel like you're being anal about it, but once you've been on the receiving end of it you'll understand the frustration.
I agree with you man.