Self Taught or Animation School?
Edit: As many people have rightfully mentioned I've wrongly attributed my interests in concept art and character design to fitting with an animation course when I should have said fine arts or traditional art, I'm so sorry about that.
I'm two weeks away from finishing High School (Australia) and I'm up in the air about what direction I'll be heading in University. I kind of need some advice from people in the industry, generally game design and concept art, but any type of animation would also be awesome. So I'd like to, put out an arm and see if anyone can give a hand of wisdom.
I was thinking of doing architecture for about two years now, just because I thought it'd be a "safe" direction in terms of a job, and give me time to brush up on not just my artistic ability but also give me a "mastery" in life. But in recent times I've been considering, and realising, how much I'm in love with concept art and character design more than anything.
I know it may be a little naive but I'd love to get a job doing art in the games industry [eventually], and am a little worried if I pursue architecture I'd never get the opportunity to become a concept artist / work in the games industry. Mostly because I'm not exactly sure whether or not they offer art lessons under architectural studies. I may add I am very self motivated to become a better artist though in the long run, would it be possible for me to self-teach based solely on practice?
My drawings always edge towards more abstract creatures and whatnot, I know I'm only young ( 18 years old ) so what I draw like now will change dramatically, but I'm definitely more driven by artists such as Creature Box and Bobby Chiu, sorry about my use of clich
I'm two weeks away from finishing High School (Australia) and I'm up in the air about what direction I'll be heading in University. I kind of need some advice from people in the industry, generally game design and concept art, but any type of animation would also be awesome. So I'd like to, put out an arm and see if anyone can give a hand of wisdom.
I was thinking of doing architecture for about two years now, just because I thought it'd be a "safe" direction in terms of a job, and give me time to brush up on not just my artistic ability but also give me a "mastery" in life. But in recent times I've been considering, and realising, how much I'm in love with concept art and character design more than anything.
I know it may be a little naive but I'd love to get a job doing art in the games industry [eventually], and am a little worried if I pursue architecture I'd never get the opportunity to become a concept artist / work in the games industry. Mostly because I'm not exactly sure whether or not they offer art lessons under architectural studies. I may add I am very self motivated to become a better artist though in the long run, would it be possible for me to self-teach based solely on practice?
My drawings always edge towards more abstract creatures and whatnot, I know I'm only young ( 18 years old ) so what I draw like now will change dramatically, but I'm definitely more driven by artists such as Creature Box and Bobby Chiu, sorry about my use of clich
Replies
that's a lot of different fields eh..
"animation school" is a word that makes me puke, as they usually focus 98% on modeling and texturing (and the results..) and never really have anything to do with animation.
but it seems like you want to do a ton of stuff at once..
a large number of people here at polycount are awesome at modeling and texturing, fall flat a bit on their poses (:poly142:) and I'd say that they probably wouldn't be as good at animation..
but at least they found a direction they want to take
you say that you love concept art and character design the most..I'd say that's your path right there then
I like modeling but prefer posing and animating a whole lot more, so that's what I focused on. sure, I can still model a box or two.. you're not locked to one thing I guess
as for schools.....
hmm.. can't really say..
I'd like to say fuck 'em, but there's prolly somebody here who disagrees and could give you a better answer
Dave Jaffe recently talked about following your inner voice.. try that :poly142:
(not the voice that tells you to burn stuff though.. use that one for when you get a job and the feature creep eats you up from inside)
I've seen nothing but talented people come out of there. However, they're not accredited, as far as I know. You don't get a degree from AM.
Bang for buck, probably the best training in animation you can pay for.
Good luck!
Ah, thanks for the genuine response!
Yeah, to be honest I'm not entirely sure what's covered in Animation courses. I'm more interested in the character / concept design as I said, much more than making animations themselves and I probably should've mentioned that.
The problem is, I don't think there are any specific art courses that cover the kind of art that I'm thinking of. Apart from those two (visual communications/illustration and animation).
Also, for those interested I live in Australia, but in terms of getting a job I think in future I'd be more than willing to move to America if the time presented itself. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Ive heard people like it better because you get to talk to your mentors in live sessions, where as animationmentor.com, its all pre-recorded.
you dont need hardly any experience with animation. just enough that you know how to set key frames and stuff. but the founder of the site has free tutorials that walk you through the basics.
I honestly wish i went that path instead of going to a local college
If you want to do concept art then you need to study fine arts at school or on your own. For instance, Paul Richards is a world class concept artist and is completely self taught. Art schools can give you the fundamentals, citical eye and the environment to really develop your drawing skills. You have some talent but dont forget that schools only go so far. Its importan to be a self starter and if you have the passion, it's never a problem. Avoid game art oriented programs and degrees, more often than not they will waste your money and time.
I think the popularity of games clouds people's understanding. What they should be saying is "I want to be a great artist" instead of "I want to be working on art for games". Sure there are technical and industry specific things you need to learn to work in the industry but those are only second to having a great artistic portfolio.
Also, don't rush to jump into school. It's an old fashioned and counterproductive approach to your goals especially if you are a creative person. Sometimes you're not fortunate to really know what kind of career and passion you want to pursue after high school, hastily jumping into undergrad is not a path to success. Take the time and learn about what it is that you want to do until you align your passions into a career direction. It may take time, years even until you figure out what it is that you want to be. This is a great a great place to learn and find inspiration.
Yar. But also college. Don't do them at the same time though obviously.
My advice is this. Follow your heart. Dont think about job opportunities, don't think about how much time you may need to spend on improving, or how much money you would earn or anything arbitrary like that for now... just think about what YOU WANT to do.
If it's animation go for it 100%, if it's concept art, put all your time into it. If it's Architecture, then forget the games industry (for now at least) and work your ass off on it.
Now, let me clear a misconception up before I go any further. Architecture is most certainly not an 'easy way out'. I don't know what it's like in Australia, but here in the UK, most Architecture courses are 5-7 years. Usually consisting of 5 years in education and 2 years work-based training before you can call yourself an Architect. Add to that the membership of the RIBA (not necessary, but can be difficult to find work, especially freelance, without it) which has requirements for members such as years in the industry, exams and formal interviews.
On top of that, with the recession, I saw my workload go from multiple jobs running simultaneously, to a 3 day week. That said, it's picking up now.
So Architecture isn't any easier, or any more stable than the games industry. Both are difficult fields to get into.
The common factor in both however is going to be that you're selling yourself primarily on the quality of your work. It's going to take a lot of time and dedication regardless of whether you attend a school or not (I'm not going to suggest either way since there's topics on here that cover that and I'm undecided quite honestly).
If you're putting in all those hours, then you need to be 100% sure that you have chosen the one you love the most. For me, after much deliberation, I discovered that games wasn't for me. I tried to convince myself, but my work just wasn't improving and it was basically because I just didn't have the heart to put my all into it. Now, I made the decision to follow up my architecture interests and it worked out great. But that was simply because I enjoy it more, not because it is a better or worse industry to go into.
Thanks for your response. I do very much look at polycount for inspiration, a lot of the work is the cutting edge of things I've seen (particularly the Brawl contest entries, many were awe inspiringly awesome).
I'm sorry about the mixed message thing. I now see my flaw and understand that animation and concept art / character design are vastly different, however I thought there may be the modelling / digital art part of animation that I could apply myself to. It was definitely an incorrect assumption. Once again, sorry about my misconceptions.
I believe you're right about the games industry and how it may have jaded my view on art as a whole. I'm going to have relinquish the idea of studying specifically for the games industry, and think of it more as a visual arts degree.
Thank you so much. I'm very glad I could get a response from someone who's studied architecture. I didn't mean to make it seem like I thought it would be "easy" in any way, so I hope you weren't offended.
I guess one thing I'm hearing a lot here is "Do what you feel is right" which means making the final choice based on personal preferences and something I'm going to give my all. I'll definitely need to give this a lot of thought, with holidays coming up and plans to learn a bit of 3D modelling and continue to practice art I might come up with something.
So once again, thank you all very much for your input. I'll read over all of them again a number of times, I really do appreciate that there are so many professionals that're willing to take their time out to respond.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1355819#post1355819
also check out:
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012343/The-Belly-of-the-Whale
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2755/career_paths_in_the_game_industry.php
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryGameIndustry (TONS of info gathered from various threads like this)
There is the Visa issue, know that all degrees are not created equal and some are totally worthless in that process. So if you do go for something make sure it will actually help you.
Character artist positions are hard to land without an exceptional portfolio and a lot of experience. That doesn't necessarily mean you need shipped titles under your belt but your portfolio needs to demonstrate that you can create game ready models, not just blobby zbrush sculpts of orcs. You don't need to be in the industry to have a professional portfolio but just know that character art positions are few and far between and VERY competitive.
Then, there is the issue that a lot of studios in Australia are folding up, some of them are pretty big studios with big successful titles under their belt. Canada is heating up thanks to massive government tax breaks in very specific areas, so I would look there, its easier to get into than the US. But if the tax breaks ever fold up... it could mean a bust to the boom town.
I personally would study something that would provide you with a back up career, you're young, you never know what the industry will do in the 40-50 years you will be working.
Scary stuff you might not want to read, but probably should.
Unless you're already amazing at concept character art and have a rock solid understanding of anatomy, costume design and mastery of various styles I would broaden your studies to a wider job pool and look into doing 2D environment concept art as well as 3D environment art creation.
Environment art can also be extremely rich and rewarding by allowing you to tell the greater narrative of the game, visually. A great environment artist will tell the player in one look what happened in the game. Where a designer would spend 5min on voice over acting actually explaining it all, more than likely boring the player to death. Once you have production experience under your belt its easier to move up and over into the harder to reach positions.
Why keep a broad range?
1) Small studios are more likely to take a chance on someone who is brand new. Often they look for someone who is "jack of all trades, master of one". You normally get the opportunity to try on new hats and experiment with things you probably wouldn't have contact with in a bigger studio.
2) You have a better chance of landing an entry level environment artist position than you do landing a character artists position. Mostly because of numbers there is a lot more environment art in a game so it requires more artists.
3) You'll be working for the next 40-50 years and I wouldn't be surprised if you wear many many hats over that time, even if you stay in the industry. Locking yourself into only one thing now can hamper your chances at future positions that might not be doing exactly what you love but beat working at subway...
Just be careful not to spread yourself so thin that you never become employable at any one thing. On the flip side you can also focus your training on one or two studios and drive hard to get in there no matter what. It's a bit more of a long shot with worse odds but it does happen, I just don't see it enough to think its the norm.
Good luck!
Thanks. I'm sorry I didn't look into those links before! I'm going to take a break after my tests are done to sit down and sort of, digest everything. Once again I need to apologise about my misconstruing animation courses to my personal interests, you're correct about the traditional art part.
And in terms of the environment art, that's not something I meant to rule out by saying "concept art". But thank you for reminding me. I'm definitely going to want to keep my options open, you're right. So I guess for now it's up to me to decide what's right.
All right, I'm going to have to take a break from this post. There's so much information you've all given me that's going a bit over my head. I'm really going to need some time to digest this, it feels like it definitely is going to be the lynchpin of my whole life.
So once again, everyone, thank you!