changing direction
polycount lvl 666
i get the odd feeling that I should have been an environmental artist rather than a character modeler.
I see so many great character modelers out there, makes me weep:)
I think that doing environments could be a bit dull in parts, but if you get a good scene going on, it could be really fun in terms of setting a mood with great lighting etc.
It could be that I just need some new challenges, but I do think that I may have more skills in terms of narrative and design and it might be wise to give it a go - but on the other hand I have spent 15 years doing character art so it would be tough to change now and I would get paranoid letting my skills in characters go.
It seems that there is little requirement for my kind of work now, so it might be wise to branch out anyway
I see so many great character modelers out there, makes me weep:)
I think that doing environments could be a bit dull in parts, but if you get a good scene going on, it could be really fun in terms of setting a mood with great lighting etc.
It could be that I just need some new challenges, but I do think that I may have more skills in terms of narrative and design and it might be wise to give it a go - but on the other hand I have spent 15 years doing character art so it would be tough to change now and I would get paranoid letting my skills in characters go.
It seems that there is little requirement for my kind of work now, so it might be wise to branch out anyway
Replies
Maybe we should have a "character artists branching out" thread in p&p so theirs a place for all the env artists to go when they want a good laugh (or have a few spare facepalms available)
Also I think you have an edge as char guy doing env art. I still encounter many env artists who're still clueless with ZBrush and anything organic. Should be a good thing if you can use those skills when doing environments.
I also wouldn't differentiate character artist pay vs. enviro artist pay. They're both highly specialized fields with their own unique sets of challenges.
I say 'do what you want.' If you want to be a successful character artist, then keep honing those skills. If environment art interests you more, same thing. I would never view enviro art as a step down from char art... both are very important.
I will say this - there are FAR more jobs for environment art than there are for character art.
I can't help but think it's this fact that has created so much interest in environment art generally speaking.
Reading back through some older threads, I came across Kevin's post on environment versus character work, and how far fewer people were creating environment art portfolios and how many aspiring character artists there were. Now, it seems to be the other way around. Seems like for every one character we see in P&P, there's at least five (or more) environment works-in-progress. Is this because environments are getting more love these days, or do people still see environment work as a means to an end?
I often wonder how many people posting in P&P genuinely want to do environments primarily, and how many would still rather do characters and see environments as either easier, or an easier way 'in'. Of course, it's pretty obvious who most of the people that genuinely want to do environment work are when you look at their work.
Maybe this isn't the case at all, of course. Not trying to start any character versus environment pissing contests, either - just been thinking about this for a while.
Sure there's a part of me that would love to know how to make awesome boobs and space marines but eh. I get to make bots and tanks aswell so I'm happy.
My closest friend is an environment artist, and I simply couldn't make the shit he makes. Its not even that I relate to characters more. I just suck at making environments in general. I never grew out of seeing the hero against a skyline background in my head.
well its pretty simple how many chars do you have in a game and how much environment are you going to see? Usually you have a few characters and a hell lot of environment and even if you have tons of characters they are based on a rule system or user created/changed, there is just much more neede for env than for chars
TBH as a character artist I am purely someone who builds and textures stuff , I don't do concepts although I have a fairly creative mind.
I am thinking though that Illustrating humans is not as exciting for me lately.
There is only so much you can do with a character and was
thinking I could use environments to set a good mood and perhaps express something more than I am doing now.
Even just the learning process might just inspire me a bit as I have become a bit stale of late.
So yeah I don't see env stuff as second best, just another step in becoming an allrounder.
I will probably have a go at something in UDK soon
No, you've got that all wrong.
Screw you lowly Character Artists. Stop trying to take us amazing Environment Artist's Jobs!
Hah!
Characters, environments, props, all is 3d, and doing great characters... you will do great environments, no doubt. One thing is clear for me, for characters we need more skillz, so you should not worry if you have a good imagination imho.
I've been doing all kind of works in all these years, and i like more the term 3d generalist or 3d artist than any other
the more you know, the better ^^
BTW, some friends are working on their portfolios for a job as "environment artist", and they say it's the best entry position to gain EXP as game artists. Characters are a small fraction of a game compared to the environments, so it's logical to see more jobs for that nowadays.
If you get to do the majority of the work in an environment then it can be really rewarding. Especially the set dressing and lighting stages.
The big plus for me is that there is so much more you can do with environments along with the variety of things you'll be making. I might be making tiki torches and umbrellas one month, then an industrial complex the next. I'm researching all kinds of cool interesting things just to make sure they're built correctly and have the appropriate details.
With characters,
"hey how many arms and legs on this one? Oh... bipedal again huh... ok..." "When are we going to do a spider?"
"A spider no way this is kitty cat dance fever, girls hate spiders"
"but I really want to make a spider..."
"You can make a cat, that walks on its hind legs, has a human face, no fur, no tail, oh and has human hands."
"sweet... I'll get started on that... meh..."
With environment art,
"Hey I really want to make this really cool retro air conditioning unit I dreamed up over the week"
"crickets..."
"Cool I'm making it!"
"Hey I'm going to put this 2nd tier on this area over here, with some health and an easter egg"
"Sounds cool, are you sure you'll have time?"
"yeah"
"Have at it"
Once you have anatomy down I guess you can work on fashion but normally that's tightly controlled and approved by someone else. with environments it just seems like there is more freedom and more variety.
I think part of you really has to like mechanical things and architecture. It all seems pretty simple until you start to dig into it then you're neck deep in a ton of things and its up to balance it all perfectly.
On top of practical issues, it just feels good to grow your skillset and learn. You feel more capable as the scope of things you can actually build increases. You're already a badass with characters, i'm sure you'll destroy the fields of prop and environment art. Godspeed Ruz!
You also have to be willing to trudge through harsher optimization/lower texture limits/bug fixxing.
This needs to get made.
On topic: Both jobs are cool, and share a lot of skills, though it seems to be the common stereotype that characters are better at organics and environment artists are better at hard surface objects. Going from one to the other (either way) would seem to provide a wealth of experience modeling and texturing some very different things with a very different mindset.
If you have the chance to try it out, I would go for it.
Theres tons of environment freelance gigs out there that look kindly on character art experience