Am I wasting my time with a Games Art degree?
polycounter lvl 4
Hello new friends,
I hope this is the correct place to ask this question, i arrived here from a related post that was similar.
Basically, my dilemma is that I've been accepted a place at a university to get a degree in 3D Games Art. I will be going there in september. However after reading around the internet I am debating whether its worth the £30000+ student loan debt I will get (I am from England).
Will i waste my time getting this degree and debt rather than studying myself and building my portfolio?
I hope this is the correct place to ask this question, i arrived here from a related post that was similar.
Basically, my dilemma is that I've been accepted a place at a university to get a degree in 3D Games Art. I will be going there in september. However after reading around the internet I am debating whether its worth the £30000+ student loan debt I will get (I am from England).
Will i waste my time getting this degree and debt rather than studying myself and building my portfolio?
Replies
To learn how to draw and paint properly however that's a different story. Harder to accomplish unless you have immense natural talent because you can't compensate that so much with solid craftsmanship.
As an 3D Artist it's my biggest regret in hindsight that i didn't learn more of that as a teenager/young adult. My art is relatively solid but i know that my texturing and sculpting would be better and quicker had i aquired more traditional art skills in the past.
Right now, I'm nearing the end of my 1 year Game Art course. It too was 30,000$. And yeah, I was struggling with the amount of money and get kind of depressed once in awhile knowing how in debt I'll be...not to mention, the starting wages for game artists isn't the greatest. Also hugely competitive.
I think the most important think you can do right now is practice your skills as an artist. Learn how to draw people! Study study study. I think you can learn proper anatomy on your own. Just scour the internet for pictures of naked people and muscles and draw the SHIT out of them. It will help loads.
There are two basic routes you could take; characters or environments/props. Our teachers tell us that to get a job as a character artist, you need to be in the top 5%, and for an environment artist, top 15%. You basically have to be the best. Just keep that in mind.
Do you have any art you can show us?
If they don't mention UDK or Zbrush, I'd say stick to Polycount and work on your own.
But do use your own judgement. Because I know for some people, going to a school helps them learning a lot.
Ofcourse!
Here are 2 sketches I completed for my A-Level coursework
http://i.imgur.com/9ayC1.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rDMcL.jpg
Here are also some WIPs and digital artwork
http://i.imgur.com/tKrw5.jpg
and
http://i.imgur.com/6UIxn.jpg
After I finish my final A-Levels exams I will be getting my hands on some 3D programs and getting a headstart for the course if I decide to go ahead with it
Do you know what you want to do in the industry, or just want to try different aspects of games design? Can you learn autodidactically, or do you need someone to push you? Can you support yourself if you didn't go: can you work an 8 hour shift at a normal job, then go to the computer and work at night and weekends?
Some of this comes down to personal drive. I don't want to sway you either way, but I had a lot of fun at uni, and nothing beats working collaboratively with others who are as enthusiastic and passionate as you are about a project. Have a look at the syllabus, examine your own goals and motivations.
Best of luck!
Oh wait...I actually did...for about 3 months. I left when taught the 3d modeling teacher how to render a normal map in maya which he was covering.
I've learned everything on my own. Took me years to get to this point but it was worth it since I'm doing what I like.
Keep in mind that most of the industry veterans didn't have the chance to enroll into 3d schools... simply because they didn't exist at the time.
I'd that focalizing on traditional art (anatomy, colors etc...) would be the best.
Game production techniques evolves every 2 to 3 years and half the methods taught in school would be outdated by the time you get your degree. In the end only the basics matter and your artistic sens.
For all who were interested to see examples of work students at the university have produced, on the open day the course leaders showed us a showreel to get a feel for it.
Here they are from what I can find;
http://vimeo.com/16137321
http://vimeo.com/24611637
http://vimeo.com/24611625
http://vimeo.com/9065229
Heres the entire range of video reels; http://vimeo.com/uhanimation
The university's Digital Arts/Animation department is slight into 4 different sections; 3D, Games Art, Animation and 2D, thats why there are multiple videos showcasing VFX, 2D animation etc etc
if you do have the opportunity to go to herts, i would personally take it...
If you're like me, you knew nothing about 3D at all, there was no real community (or at least I didn't know about it back then), and no other options, it may not be a waste of time. Under the same circumstances as in '98 I'd study again.
But since you found PC, you might get the 3D knowledge from here and study fine arts, or CS, if you're into tinkering, scripting and the like. Although if you're not a good self learner and have 0 clue about computers, teaching yourself Maya, ZB and other advanced techniques (rigging, lighting, rendering) might be challenging and time consuming on top of your studies.
They can also offer an opportunity to work in game projects with other students (not just art students, programming, designers, etc). I'm not referring to "join a mod team"-projects, I'm talking about project work where everyone is gathered on location and working on it 9-5 on a regular basis. Also with regular guidance and milestones to deliver to your external producers(teachers).
Kind of like what we offer where I work
There is a very big difference in schools in Sweden and the UK though. With all the money they have to spend on their educations it's not even funny. They got student loans to even be able to pay all the tuitions.
Sweden is very lucky in that sense, or very smart considering where our taxes go.
I say it's worth it, if the schools is good. It's a place where you get the gift of time (for money ofc) that you can spend on learning and be on your way to become a pro.
It's not going to be worth it though if you spend all your time there messing around and not working hard. There are always a couple of students that are doomed to fail because they never take it seriously. It's hard enough getting into the industry to spend their paid time for messing around. (then again it's mostly free here in Sweden, then it's even worse)
I would rather hire someone who has a lot of raw experience but no degree. So many times, people with college degrees in the creative arts actually stink at doing what they were "trained to do".
If your really awesome at game art design and you have the portfolio to prove it, go do some interviews and go see what people say.
You can check odesk and get some good work of there if you haven't built out your portfolio yet.
Hope this helps!
If you can motivate yourself, all the tools are available online (I've done it), and save yourself tons of debt.
MOST schools programs are piss poor representations of game development. There are a select few that actually know what they are doing.
Going to University to study Game art is like buying time. Everyone is buying the same amount of time and those whom use that time wisely will be the ones whom are actually successful.
I myself am from England, I did a game-design degree and wish it was more art based. It wasnt as respected University as Hertfordshire but my lecturers were recently from industry and at well established studios and I learnt a ton. I was one of the few that managed to get a job, in both games and visulisation for tv/marketing; and my first role was gained before graduation.
In regards to the £30,000 of debt; you can't really even consider it. With the new laws/terms provided with the loan; you don't pay ANYTHING until you earn atleast a respectful £20,000 per annum and even then the amount you pay per month is ridiculous small (like £30.00 a month last time i checked). meaning in reality; you'll never ever pay it off.
The more you put into ANYTHING the more you'll get out. If you didn't go to University and put in 8 hours a day into practicing as much as you could via youtube videos, DT, EAT3D etc then you'd get just as much out of it; but you wouldn't gain the networking aspect in the long run.
Hope this helps anyway.
Cheers
Dave
And i can say that i have learned much more at home while studying with 3dmotive, digital tutors, vimeo and youtube.
Im a bit sad because we have not much teaching lessons, but for me its ok. I do not have to pay because army is paying that
Not Much Lessons for a lot of money! :O
One thing is good and this is: Working in Teams on small projects and communication with the Industry and with other students.
Its like you want to paint , but you only learn how to use the brush, all its tricks, how to make longer strokes, use drypaint effects but...you never learn to composition nor study anatomy, so you are left with a tool and you havent got the ability to use it properly.
So much relevant advice here, even after 10 years. Thank you.