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Game Art vs Game Programming

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Hey all. I'll be going to college in a year and a half (no, this isn't another college thread), and I'm stuck. I love making video games, and I have no doubt that's what my career is going to be. The problem is, I love both game art and game programming. I would be happy doing both, but it seems that you have to pick between one or the other, especially when choosing a college to go to. I know this is primarily an artist's forum, but it would be lying to say there aren't any programmers registered on this forum. What do you guys think about the two? I'm not asking for anyone to chose one for me, but any information about pay, how easy it is to get a job through one or the other, job security (big one), and anything else you guys want to say is very much appreciated!

A little about me:
I'm currently a junior in high school. I'm number one in my class, which doesn't matter so much in the industry, but I can get into almost any college I want to. I've been doing game art for the past 2.5 years. I started with Blender, and, realizing the industry standard was Max/Maya/etc, I'm learning Max. I'm still more proficient in Blender, and I work slower in Max, but it's pretty easy to transfer skills from Blender to 3ds Max. Just gotta practice more.

I started learning Java about the same time as when I started learning Blender. I've moved over to UnrealScript and the UDK, and I know enough to make stuff really happen. There's always more to learn, and I have a long ways to go, but I love it.

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  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Engineering pays better and gives you more career flexibility - engineers are more sought after and can more readily work in other industries where their pay will be considerably better than what they could have otherwise earnt in games. It's also as you'd expect generally much more technically demanding; you probably want to have a very good foundation in math to work as a games programmer (Pure mathematics, Mechanics and Algorithms in particular).


    Ultimately though, you need to decide which it is you prefer doing. You don't want to pick one path only to decide you don't like it, then end up either abandoning what you've learnt and moving on, or retraining for something else entirely.
  • joeriv
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    joeriv polycounter lvl 7
    Simple.

    Do both, and decide for yourself wich one you like to do most.

    On the programming side, do some smaller games (blackjack and that sort of stuff) and move over to things as writing small 2D games (mario for example).

    If my knowledge of the american school system is correct, you are still young (less then 18), still enough time to expirement and try things out.

    In either field you will have to put in a lot of time/effort into "making it in", so if you aren't completely happy doing it, but just doing it for job security (or other similar reasons) it's probably not going to turn out great.

    Anyway, I'm tired, and I hope that sort of made sense :p
  • Kwramm
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    Kwramm interpolator
    Middle ground would be tools programmer / tech-artist. Good tech artists are always in demand, probably more so in the future. Although it can be difficult to break into this job. Check out tech-artists.org for more info on this career, e.g. look for the tech-artist interviews, which are quite interesting where people talk about their job and how they got into it.
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 14
    Programmers and engineers pay more and give better flexibility. If you go the game art route, well you have less career options. Though this is really a personal question that you need to answer. You can always do art or programming (a lot of programming stuff can be found for free online) in your free time while you learn the other. Something that might be looking into is technical artists. We get to do some art and write code/scripts to help artists.

    EDIT: The interviews Kwramm was talking about. Derped and forgot to add the link
  • Mark Dygert
    Blend the two together and become a technical artists?

    They do art and write code a bit like a wandering cyborg samurai.
    Artists fear and respect their technical prowess because they make roadblocks evaporate and find new ways to grease the pipeline that enables artists to be more artistic in a very technical field.
    Programers eyeball them oddly for their ability to interpret artist-speak, which to them is normally incoherent dreamer babble about color, shapes, light and some nonsensical thing called a silhouette which for some reason explains their constant overuse of polygons... which they suspect is just lazy artists talk for "I don't want to optimize that". But tech artists can't be trusted by programers because they can typically sniff out lazy programer technical jargon, rendering it powerless. Rendering their efforts to put artists in commas like a snake charmer, null.

    Tech artists typically get paid more than your average artists (but less than programers) because they can straddle the gap and bring the two sides together. They often are roles filled by people who love to solve problems and get bored if they have to do mundane tasks day in and day out. Their side projects often lead to pretty significant advancements in tools or boosting the visuals or performance of the game.

    It's not uncommon for them to bounce between scripting new modeling tools, helping other artists automate mundane tasks, to doing FX work, rigging up characters and animations. It's handy for an artists to dabble in the dark arts of programing, those people don't get let go easily, unlike the artists who end up needing some kind of technical assistance.

    When it comes time to trim staff who are you going to let go;
    A) The person who helped pioneer a new way of working, that helped the entire art team by writing 200 lines of code in 30min
    Or
    B) The guy that could never quite figure out how to stack his UV's effectively and always went over his polygon budget... and has a portfolio full of unfinished zbrush sculpts, of aliens but is working on environment art?
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    I agree with Mark, a TD role may fit you best.

    And try to stay humble.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    You can't however go to school to learn both ;)

    (but you can go to school twice)
  • Muzzoid
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    Muzzoid polycounter lvl 10
    Yeah but art school sucks as a general rule. Programming school doesn't suck as much afaik.

    That being said i would say that becoming a good artist is a far harder skillset than programming. But this is just my experience. I am making full games by myself after 6 months of coding. I wasn't anywhere near that equivalent after 6 months of art.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Muzz wrote: »
    I am making full games by myself after 6 months of coding.

    Using what :p?
  • Ryan Clark
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    Ryan Clark polycounter lvl 18
    I recommend a CS degree with an art minor. Can't go wrong covering both bases.

    But you don't need to make a firm decision at this point. Or any other point, for that matter. Freshman year, take classes in CS and Art. After that, just keep taking whichever classes seem interesting. Eventually you'll graduate with a bit of paper. Doesn't really matter what's written on it.
  • EarthQuake
    I think the advice suggesting you get some sort of computer science degree is very good, having a degree is much more important as a programmer/engineer than it is as an artist. CS courses tend to be better than "game art" specific course as well, though I would recommend a traditional art education over a "game art" degree, as the technical aspects of game art can be learned by anyone with ambition and free time.
  • James Ordner
    Thanks for the input everyone! It's always great to hear from people who actually work in the industry.

    To be honest, I never really knew working with both game programming and art at the same time was a viable option. That cheers me up a great deal :)
    They do art and write code a bit like a wandering cyborg samurai.
    Artists fear and respect their technical prowess because they make roadblocks evaporate and find new ways to grease the pipeline that enables artists to be more artistic in a very technical field.
    Programers eyeball them oddly for their ability to interpret artist-speak, which to them is normally incoherent dreamer babble about color, shapes, light and some nonsensical thing called a silhouette which for some reason explains their constant overuse of polygons... which they suspect is just lazy artists talk for "I don't want to optimize that". But tech artists can't be trusted by programers because they can typically sniff out lazy programer technical jargon, rendering it powerless. Rendering their efforts to put artists in commas like a snake charmer, null.

    Haha, I'm loving your description! With a job description like that, who wouldn't want to be a tech artist? :poly121:
    Ryan Clark wrote:
    I recommend a CS degree with an art minor. Can't go wrong covering both bases.

    But you don't need to make a firm decision at this point. Or any other point, for that matter. Freshman year, take classes in CS and Art. After that, just keep taking whichever classes seem interesting. Eventually you'll graduate with a bit of paper. Doesn't really matter what's written on it.

    I had thought about this before, though I'm still not completely set on which route to go. The more I think about it though, the more it seems to make sense. From all that I have heard, from here and other places, a CS degree is much more valuable than an art degree, and understandably so. I have looked at Digipen, with their mixed CS and art game-based curriculum, considering taking their RTIS CS course with their art courses on the side. I have heard mixed feelings about Digipen though, and it's sooo expensive. I'm not ruling out any options for college, and I'm trying not to get hooked into being set on one.
    Andreas wrote:
    And try to stay humble.

    I'm sorry if I seemed otherwise. I was only trying to explain my situation.
  • seforin
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    seforin polycounter lvl 17
    ok Im going to give you a QUICK run down of my own experience


    ART-

    pro- art more reward visually, quicker feedback from others etc.More easier to quickly present ideas, has a large pull of things you can go into (character, env,technical etc)

    cons- higher amounts of competition, higher insecurity job wise, not as well respected as other aspects of development (both pay and prestige when talking to average people,highly dependent to get things done past pretty pictures (in example prototypes of game ideas etc require more effort since you will need a coders help at some point)

    Programming

    pro- Higher pay, way more job security and flexibility (your not limited to just the game industry for example) More prestige when talking to people, can actually get a product put together or tools put together without being dependent on others.

    Cons- Higher amounts of workload(building full parts of games in code/functionality etc) , high amounts of math involved and technical thinking, General frustrations of creating tools but usually cant give a visual return for what you make (AKA programmer art) ,

    Honestly Past that I cant think of cons that arent like very "specific" for a coder. via persona wise. (Insecure/hermits/weirdos etc, but the same can be said about artists)


    Anyway just my 2 cents. And this is coming from someone who has seen/worked with. People who get highered and fired all the time and being told "its the way of the industry"

    Vs having coder friends who are still working the same jobs they started almost 4-5 years ago.
  • JacqueChoi
  • gray
    in sounds like you have been working on the art side more then programming. if you are good at it and people agree that your good at it then you should keep working hard on your artwork. study classical western painting and sculpture. anatomy and architecture.

    if you like programming also you should try to learn a language that professionals use. you have the time and you should push yourself to lean how to code the way professional programmers learn. scripting in programs is nice but lots of the hard math and code is swept under the rug. its going to hinder your programming when you need to switch to a language like c++, python etc.

    do you like math? are you going to take calculus, linear algebra etc? that is the sort of skill you need to really get a grasp of 3d programming. if your not going to take math at that level then you will probably not be ready to do 3d programming at a professional level. you need to think about that seriously.

    i also like art and programming. but programming and math is something i learned after getting into 3d art. it is a long hard road. there is a reason why most people do one or the other. it takes a lot of work to get either skill to a professional level. so you might end up doing one side professionally and the grow into a position where you can do both. so if your better at art stick with art and learn c++ on the side. if your a math wiz then learn art on the side.

    trying to do both at the same time to the same level might make you ok in both skills but not great in either one. keep that in mind because there is a high level of competition in both fields. and at this point at a lot of studios the term "tech artist" almost means the same thing as "full time programmer" and you need both the math and programming skills in a compiled language like c++ to fill those positions.
  • Muzzoid
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    Muzzoid polycounter lvl 10
    TeeJay wrote: »
    Forgive me if I'm talking bollocks here but I've always felt that people will find programming easy or impossible. It seems you have to have a certain mindset to do well at it.


    I thought exactly that was for 4-5 years before i said fuck it and made a game.

    You just have to truly be with it for a few weeks. Whats hard with programming is that you need to understand at least a certain level of stuff before you can write anything, and up until you understand that level it feels futile.

    After the first few weeks of hell and reading it gets fun.

    Ambershee, I'm programming in an engine called MOAI. It's a c++ engine but all game code is written in lua. I can read c++ i just haven't put the time into learning to write it yet.

    I dont think it's anywhere near as difficult as what engine programmers are doing, but the fact is I'm making game logic, writing my own state managers and animation systems, and added stuff to atlas interpreting code as well as writing leader boards hooking up to servers.

    So i wouldn't say i am anywhere near pro level in 6 months, but i can definitely make indie games i can sell.

    Back on subject I don't think learning both at the same time is terribly productive, you really have to be with the one you choose at first till you hit pro levels, as both are really hard to do. When you hit that level you need to switch gears and focus on the other one with the same amount of vigor for that same amount of time. Though not many people do as they are already working and learning a completely new skill set can feel futile after you already have the one.
  • Ryan Clark
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    Ryan Clark polycounter lvl 18
    Definitely don't be intimidated by the gnarly parts of CS. Pursue it as long as it's fun. If you find a point where it ceases to be fun, then pursue something else for awhile. Same goes for art. The only way to know what you enjoy is to try it. That's why people change majors all the time.

    I never cared much for math in an academic setting... had to retake vector calculus. But once I got into 3D programming, everything seemed much more approachable. Suddenly the vectors weren't just abstract piles numbers... they were heroes and monsters and rays of light. Context makes a HUGE difference to me: I'm only good at math when I see it as fun.

    I do think it's smart for a game artist to take (or at least audit) a CS class in computer graphics programming. Because having some familiarity with the machinery behind the curtain will help you deal with problems down the line, even if you never write a line of code.
  • Ryan Clark
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    Ryan Clark polycounter lvl 18
    One more thought:

    If you don't love the prospect of dealing with engineering degree requirements (typically a bunch of additional classes in math and laboratory sciences), look for a school that offers a Computer Science BA, or a similar program. The lighter courseload will give you more flexibility to study different subjects, such as art. (And nobody cares whether a computer scientist has a BS or a BA. We're not licensed engineers.)
  • gray
    Ryan Clark wrote: »
    I never cared much for math in an academic setting... had to retake vector calculus. But once I got into 3D programming, everything seemed much more approachable. Suddenly the vectors weren't just abstract piles numbers... they were heroes and monsters and rays of light. Context makes a HUGE difference to me: I'm only good at math when I see it as fun.

    the key point here is that he DID take vector calculus an studied CS. i see some artists start programming games with libraries that are made for hobby games. they do not require any real mathematics programming and the level of code is not so deep. do not be fooled into thinking that that sort of programming will get you very far if you have to work in a professional environment where you really do need to know calculus and linear algebra and work 'under the hood'.

    that is just a warning for artists who do a little programming and think they have climbed the mountain. that sort of coding is more like a small hill.
  • Vault Dweller
    Programming is not as hard as people make it out to be. If you're banging your head on your laptop trying to figure out your issue, you usually typed = instead of ==, or something simple like that. But these things go away after a while.

    It's fun writing large programs with absolutely no serious errors, but that comes with practice.

    Perhaps programming is not "hard", and syntax is certainly the least of your worries. But doing game programming, you will at times deal with very complex problems, especially every time you try to innovate. Game programming is no joke, it is often much more challenging than any other area of software development.

    And perhaps contrary to popular belief, you have to be very creative in order to solve some of the problems you encounter.
  • Ryan Clark
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    Ryan Clark polycounter lvl 18
    Yet-Another-thought:

    Regarding digipen, I would avoid for-profit schools categorically. They're all far overpriced. Take a few semesters at a community college, then transfer to a four-year non-profit school. There's no particular advantage to having game-specific classes, as opposed to CS and Art classes. Definitely not worth the pricetag.
  • Ninjas
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    Ninjas polycounter lvl 18
    you can make a game without art, but not without code.
  • Ryan Clark
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    Ryan Clark polycounter lvl 18
    Ninjas wrote: »
    you can make a game without art, but not without code.

    Sure, if you have a sufficiently narrow definition of art. (eg. excluding written words or procedural art)

    But seriously, all this penis-measurement doesn't address James' question. I'm thinking this thread may have been poorly-titled. Something like "help me choose a course of study" might've been more to the point.
  • Ryan Clark
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    Ryan Clark polycounter lvl 18
    Muzz wrote: »
    I don't think learning both at the same time is terribly productive, you really have to be with the one you choose at first till you hit pro levels, as both are really hard to do.

    I disagree. Learning both is a great way to start. But I wouldn't expect to "level up" in both skills at the same rate. Chances are you'll find yourself enjoying one activity more. You'll naturally spend more time at it, and inevitably become better at it. But that will happen naturally. There's no need to choose in advance. Just play around.

    And even when you find yourself becoming more specialized, having some degree of ability in both disciplines will be invaluable if you want to work on solo experiments and projects.
  • Kwramm
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    Kwramm interpolator
    I recommend talking to some game programmers to get a better overview. Game programming is just as diverse a field as game art when it comes to specialization. e.g. there's a difference if you program gameplay in Unity or if you do low level GPU programming on a console.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Ryan Clark wrote: »
    Sure, if you have a sufficiently narrow definition of art. (eg. excluding written words or procedural art)

    You can make video games without art. You can make video games with no visual output at all.

    They still require code.
  • WarrenM
    I'm not sure what point that makes though. That code is more important? I disagree.

    On the OP topic ... I've done both so I speak from experience here and I'll say that I find art to be more rewarding but that's a personal thing. You can't do both, at the same time, in a large studio. You'll have to choose as there's just too much to do and you can't spread yourself that thin. As an indie developer, sure, wear both hats - but be prepared for living on zero sleep. :)
  • James Ordner
    So from what I gather, programmers have better job security, higher pay, and, if my game dev career should fail :poly122:, I could more easily find a job in another computer science field. Artists on the other hand get less pay, and their job is not as secure. However, if you love it, it's worth it. A tech artist is the in-between guy, but according to WarrenM, that's not likely in a large studio setting.

    Tech artist sounds like a pretty awesome job, getting to do both! I know I wouldn't fully specialize in either one, but that's not bad if I can do both. Taking computer science classes in college and always practicing art on the side should do it, right? I don't think there's a tech artist "degree," as far as I know, I just need to keep practicing both sides?

    Thanks again for all the advice! :)
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    A tech artist is the in-between guy, but according to WarrenM, that's not likely in a large studio setting.

    Oh no - it's more likely! A lot of studios have a couple of tech artists floating about. Warren's point was more aimed at 'don't expect to be able to both program and do art in the same job unless the studio is really small and you have to fill both roles'. Technical artists in my experience tend to be more programming orientated; for example programmers who specialise in animation would be able to animate, but they'll spend their time programming rather than working with content generation.
  • WarrenM
    Yes, agreed, Technical Artists are sort of the middle ground here because they generally DO some programming but it's mainly on tools or scripts. They don't often write code for the actual game or engine. They write code that facilitates content creation or effects generation.
  • Kwramm
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    Kwramm interpolator
    Actually the programming aspect for tech-artists is moving towards "proper"programming and away from just writing small helper scripts as pipelines and engines are getting more sophisticated. e.g. Unreal 4 will be scripted in C++. MEL/Max Script is replaced by more powerful object oriented languages such as C# and Python. Full fledged automated pipelines found in big studios like EA or Ubi require multiple TAs/coders who have to work as a team and employ proper techniques to produce easily maintainable code. You'll come across unit testing, databases, object oriented programming, revision control systems - all stuff tech artists didn't have to deal with 10 years ago.

    A CS related degree is definitely useful for tech artists who want to specialize in tools creation. However I strongly encourage everyone who wants to be a TA to actively create art as well! That's the only way you can put yourself into the shoes of your clients aka the production artists and experience the tools they work with first hand.

    I'd also like to mention that tech-art too offers specialization. It's not just all coding. Riggers and VFX artists are also often considered tech-artists, at least in the games industry.
  • roosterMAP
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    roosterMAP polycounter lvl 14
    I WAS going to school for a computer science degree and did art as a hobey. Then, I got a job offer at id and dropped out to take it.
    In programing, a degree is very important, but in art, the portfolio is the only important thing.
    If you chose art, remember that simply doing the course work is no where near enough.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    Programming and artistry are often put at odds with each other. This is largely due to the personalities that each discipline attract. Most programmers tend to be focused on logic, while most artists lean towards emotional expression.

    The truth is that both disciplines require a healthy degree of creativity. It's just that programmers execute their creativity through problem solving, while artists usually execute it through visual expression. The real difference is in the tools. Artists use visual mediums, while programmers use a cerebral medium.

    It is actually rather rare for an individual to be gifted in both logical reasoning and visual expression. This is why it is not common for modern games to be produced by individuals. There is usually at least one artist and one programmer collaborating together on a single title.

    While it is certainly possible to be trained in both disciplines, don't assume that you will be the best at either. Broadening to learn multiple skills can be useful, but you will always be falling behind those who choose to specialize. While it is a viable path, be prepared for the frustration that this can lead to.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    roosterMAP wrote: »
    In programing, a degree is very important

    Take it from a games programmer - it really isn't. A good portfolio is just as good.
  • JacqueChoi
  • joeriv
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    joeriv polycounter lvl 7
    I would have to disagree with that to a certain extent.

    It comes down to this, you only have one life, and if trough certain circumstances you want to go into art at a later age (and really want to do it, not a spur of the moment thing).

    Then why not do it and give it your all, atleast you tried, and you don't have to look back at it later thinking "only if I had tried it".

    So it seems kind of weird to basicly go "oh you didn't start drawing at a young age, to bad for you, go do something else".

    He probably isn't even 18 yet, and a lot of people don't figure out what they really want to do/love to do untill later on, it happens.
    There is already enough discouragement in this type of thing to start with it.



    Also kind of disagree with "oh just do programming then" as if that is such an easy thing.
    In my opinion it's a field, if you ever want to become good at it (and get into the games industry) you will be spending as much time on it, and it's as hard.

    Anyway, sorry if I maybe misenterpreted something in your post.
    And just my personal opinion, maybe being still a student and not actually working I might be wrong.
  • James Ordner
    ambershee wrote: »
    A good portfolio is just as good.

    What would a programmer's portfolio consist of? Programs they wrote?
  • slipsius
    If you like both, I would say go into programming, and do art on the side. Programmers pretty much have free roam of how they do things. they may be told what to do (who isnt?), but when it comes down to it, you can code any way you want. For artists, its all about creativity, and within the workplace, that is not always as easy as you want. You dont get free roam. You have to follow specific guidelines, specific artistic direction. It can be tiring and wear you out. So keep the artistic stuff for when you're at home, doing your own thing, how and when you want.
  • James Ordner
    slipsius wrote: »
    If you like both, I would say go into programming, and do art on the side. Programmers pretty much have free roam of how they do things. they may be told what to do (who isnt?), but when it comes down to it, you can code any way you want. For artists, its all about creativity, and within the workplace, that is not always as easy as you want. You dont get free roam. You have to follow specific guidelines, specific artistic direction. It can be tiring and wear you out. So keep the artistic stuff for when you're at home, doing your own thing, how and when you want.

    That actually doesn't sound too bad... Plus, at home, I can take all the time I want to and not have to be rushed, as well as having full artistic freedom like you mentioned.
  • CloudChiller
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    CloudChiller polycounter lvl 8
    In order to be an efficient programmer you have to be stubborn and never give up. YES, you are going to get errors in those 200 lines of code you just wrote and NO, you are not getting the exact line number. There is a lot of trial and error, imagination and patience involved in programming, not just syntax and writing code.
  • CyberGameArts
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    CyberGameArts polycounter lvl 7
    I am actually in the same position as you(a junior as well :P ) and I love doing both. At first I kinda wanted to learn both at the same time so I can eventually make my own game and make mad money :P (oh god, what a noob I was back then :D ) Kinda didn’t work out because I got into this indie dev team where I then was forced to choose one profession and I devoted all my free time to improving my art. The weird thing is that in school I am more of the math and science guy, and sometimes I really miss programming. However in a way I love the visual aspect of art, whereas in programming you only see lines of code and then how other ppls art behaves according to what you scripted. And now a days games get tend to measured by how good it looks, and great art definitely is a big determining factor. I think it’s false to think there is absolute no science behind art at all, there are constantly problems to be solved that require technical knowledge, if you are into problem solving. I personally think I am going to college for programming, just because you really don’t need a degree for art and secondly one you are done with college you can still decide which way u wanna go(if you actually work on your art in the meantime)Also I don’t think that game art schools are that good in general, they don’t teach you anything that you couldn’t learn by yourself. I guess the same goes for programming, but that’s like saying I am going to teach myself astrophysics in a way- it will be a “bit” harder to succeed. Also if you do decided to take this route you can become a Tech Artist like everybody said before(which I am aiming for) Anyways those where just my 5 cents .
    Sorry for the grammar- was written on an iPhone :P
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    What would a programmer's portfolio consist of? Programs they wrote?

    Pretty much. A graphics programmer is likely to have demos of visual effects, an AI programmer demos of AI behaviour.
    slipsius wrote: »
    Programmers pretty much have free roam of how they do things. they may be told what to do (who isnt?), but when it comes down to it, you can code any way you want.

    Good lord no, that would be chaos. There are standards to adhere to, a defined architecture, various procedures to ensure build integrity and you have to bear in mind that other people are working on the same parts of the codebase at the same time. The only freedom you get is in approaching the problem you're trying to solve, and that's what you're hired for.
  • Vault Dweller
    What would a programmer's portfolio consist of? Programs they wrote?

    Render engines, full game engines, tools (editors, exporters, etc), various GitHub projects, web applications, etc. Could be anything really.

    BTW: You don't just "write" programs... They are developed. It's not the same thing, you write a few lines of code, but software is something you design and architect and engineer.

    It sounds condescending when you phrase it like that.

    A concept artist doesn't just doodle.
  • JacqueChoi
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 14
    Kwramm wrote: »
    Actually the programming aspect for tech-artists is moving towards "proper"programming and away from just writing small helper scripts as pipelines and engines are getting more sophisticated. e.g. Unreal 4 will be scripted in C++. MEL/Max Script is replaced by more powerful object oriented languages such as C# and Python. Full fledged automated pipelines found in big studios like EA or Ubi require multiple TAs/coders who have to work as a team and employ proper techniques to produce easily maintainable code. You'll come across unit testing, databases, object oriented programming, revision control systems - all stuff tech artists didn't have to deal with 10 years ago.

    A CS related degree is definitely useful for tech artists who want to specialize in tools creation. However I strongly encourage everyone who wants to be a TA to actively create art as well! That's the only way you can put yourself into the shoes of your clients aka the production artists and experience the tools they work with first hand.

    I've slowly been trying to ditdch my bad programming habits and learn more good programming practices/unit testing (though for the stuff I'm working on is on a strict/established pipeline). On side note, fuck Photoshop scripting :P
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 14
    The weird thing is that in school I am more of the math and science guy, and sometimes I really miss programming. However in a way I love the visual aspect of art, whereas in programming you only see lines of code and then how other ppls art behaves according to what you scripted.

    I disagree with this. There are many ways to make programming not just looking at lines of code. Shaders, art demos are fun ways to program. Also data visualization is a fun place to do some programming that can flex your art/creative skills.

    EDIT: Not sure why this got double posted :(
  • Joopson
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    Joopson quad damage
    If you like both, why not make your own games? For the Appstore, xbox, or whatever?
    Lots of money there these days, if you know what you're doing.
    And if you teamed up with another artist/programmer, you could make something really cool.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 19
    JacqueChoi wrote: »
    There's no socialized Education in the USA. They have to pay upwards $250,000 for their education, so experimenting with various fields isn't really an option.

    That's the for profit private school cost - it's pretty sick that kids these days are racking up Ivy League levels of debt for trade school levels of education (you could probably go to Harvard for less with scholarship money)
  • acitone
    Do you guys think it's possible for an artistic type to be able to be logical enough that he/she becomes also a good programmer?
  • Joopson
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    Joopson quad damage
    acitone wrote: »
    Do you guys think it's possible for an artistic type to be able to be logical enough that he/she becomes also a good programmer?

    Yes. I think there is no question about this.
    In fact, I think this field of art requires quite a bit of logic, on its own.
    Material definition, edge-loops, all that, is not simply artistic; it's creative problem solving. Much like programming.

    Our minds are capable of quite a lot, if we care enough about the subjects.
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