Education and a career in the CG industry
polycounter lvl 8
tl;dr in red
Ive got some questions regarding a career in the CG industry and my level of education. The reason i say CG industry instead of games industry is i dont want to rule out offline rendering for motion pictures and what-not it'd be nice to get an answer for both the CGI industry and the games industry.
Im basically a self taught modeler, texturer and animator, and I've got extensive knowledge of 3ds max, photoshop, CryEngine2/3, Adobe After Effects and some knowledge about Adobe Audition. Also got a good grasp on the asset creation pipeline from high poly to low poly to skinned and animated game asset.
so anyways, Ive had a lot of people tell me that if you dont get educated enough, your career will hit a dead end sooner or later. The problem is that everyone who has told me that basically works in an IT firm or some big corporate office, and Ive never gotten an opinion from someone who actually works in the industry (until now hopefully) Im currently only a finnish high school graduate, but I'm about to go to Uni for information technologies next Autumn. If I go through with that I'll be a Master of Science in Technology (DI) in about 3-4 years
The reason im not going to school about game design or CGI is because there really aren't any good schools for that in Finland.
So now on to the actualy question: lets say i landed a job in the industry before I graduate from Uni, and If i do get a job, I wont be going to Uni (since odds are the job will be abroad). Would you guys think it would be smart to hold hold off and finish Uni and get my degree before moving on to work in the industry?
Ive got some questions regarding a career in the CG industry and my level of education. The reason i say CG industry instead of games industry is i dont want to rule out offline rendering for motion pictures and what-not it'd be nice to get an answer for both the CGI industry and the games industry.
Im basically a self taught modeler, texturer and animator, and I've got extensive knowledge of 3ds max, photoshop, CryEngine2/3, Adobe After Effects and some knowledge about Adobe Audition. Also got a good grasp on the asset creation pipeline from high poly to low poly to skinned and animated game asset.
so anyways, Ive had a lot of people tell me that if you dont get educated enough, your career will hit a dead end sooner or later. The problem is that everyone who has told me that basically works in an IT firm or some big corporate office, and Ive never gotten an opinion from someone who actually works in the industry (until now hopefully) Im currently only a finnish high school graduate, but I'm about to go to Uni for information technologies next Autumn. If I go through with that I'll be a Master of Science in Technology (DI) in about 3-4 years
The reason im not going to school about game design or CGI is because there really aren't any good schools for that in Finland.
So now on to the actualy question: lets say i landed a job in the industry before I graduate from Uni, and If i do get a job, I wont be going to Uni (since odds are the job will be abroad). Would you guys think it would be smart to hold hold off and finish Uni and get my degree before moving on to work in the industry?
Replies
Always continue to learn new techniques though. Continue growth no matter where you go.
The thing I would really think about in your place that do you have talent in art or engineering? It is rare that people have both. If you are good at math, physics and think about in that sense a lot you should be an engineer. If you are better than average at drawing, painting, sculpting, you should get an art degree, or work full or part time on a portfolio.
That said, I am pretty good at math and physics, and i'm only average at drawing (i was probably the best drawer in my school but on polycount's level im not that good)
So far i haven't had to do much 2D drawing to make game art, and im a lot better at sculpting and modeling in 3ds max than i am at drawing.
I cant really say if i'll be cut out for the CG industry on the engineering side because i really dont have a clue about computer engineering right now (will probably change if i get my degree) but i am really hoping to get a job on the art side of the industry. I dont know why but creating visual content has always interested me more.
heres some of the stuff ive done so you can judge for yourself if im even vaguely fit for the job:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1549318&postcount=3583
http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=310&t=85665
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96985
i know most of that stuff is simple first person weaponry (which i understand is mostly the stuff hobbyists do and probably wont cut it for a full time job) but assuming i finish that last project im working on right now it'll include full body models and animations as well as lots of offline rendering candy and physics
Edit: should have read your whole post, this doesnt seem possible for you in this case :P