3D art and high school
Over the years i feel like I've kinda been drifting out and in of 3D art. Slowly however I've been developing and passion for it and it's something i definitely want to pursue. I'd love a job in the industry one day, although if i can't do that i'll probably go Indie or something. I'm only 16 though and there's a problem that comes with that, school. Because of school i'm constantly having to choose between working on my craft and doing school work. What's even worse is that I've always been considered a studious, person destined to become a scientist or something. Rarely am I acknowledged as a artist and because of that there's a pressure to keep my grades up, (i'd imagine my parents and teachers wouldn't want me doing this if my grades started falling). But because i have to focus so much on school my art skills don't develop as fast. Another thing i enjoy doing is program but it feels impossible to do 3D art, programming, school, and everything else in my life.
I hope I've described my problems clearly enough. I guess what i'm asking is if anyone's gone through a similar experience before, and if so how'd you deal with it? I know for sure i'm not the only 16 year old 3D artist out there.
-Thanks in advance
I hope I've described my problems clearly enough. I guess what i'm asking is if anyone's gone through a similar experience before, and if so how'd you deal with it? I know for sure i'm not the only 16 year old 3D artist out there.
-Thanks in advance
Replies
Made sure I got to uni first (USC for me). SATs, ACTs, GPA maintenance, APs, SAT II's, Boy Scouts, and college applicaiton essays. Lots of after-school academy, as expected of a Korean boy. A part of the rationalization was better Uni --> more opportunities.
Mind you, I had colleagues who just went to art academy instead, ended up going to prestigious schools like Art Center in Pasadena, or LCAD. One of my highscool classmates is currently an associate Concept Artist with Riot Games, Brandon Liao. I was really jealous at the time of his skills, felt like I was missing out. "What was I doing with my life being better at liberal arts and math?"
Then, once your GPA doesn't matter, you burn sacrifices at the altar of art.
It comes with its tradeoffs as with anything else, but was able to get a lot done surprisingly. I think my QA internship at Blizzard freshman year happened just because I decided to work on a senior level project as an artist as a freshman.
True but part of the reason i'm doing this now is so i'll have a good foundation when i'm in college. That way i can be ahead of the crowd and hopefully meet like minded artists. Besides, college is 1.5 years off for me, can't wait that long.
But I have to think, and I can't verify this after the fact, there's a big difference between a community college that has a vague game design course that actually teaches low-level Maya modeling (extreme example here)
vs.
An expensive uni where one of your professors was the lead game designer on several Uncharted titles, you're working on making games with fellow like-minded student developers who end up at places like Microsoft, Industrial Toys, Blizzard Entertainment, etc for internships and post-grad jobs at some point, where said games can be seen in-person by professionals in the industry at semi-large events called Demo Days where there's free food and drink.
I made up for foundational art work on my own time. Did I get a job as soon as Brandon? Naw.
Trade-offs. I could have done acapella. Didn't (and I LIKE to sing. A lot.)
You can wait. You might not be as fast as Brandon Liao, but I'm going to think God made me a little more crazy and eclectic and not so SUPER focused on just art for a reason.
Heck, I got to art direct 18 external artists on a 45 person game development team for The Maestros. We got Core Overload AND The Maestros, with the teams, to present at the Intel booth at GDC. Not a lot of students, I think, get that opportunity across several unis.
Where do you go to school? What unis are you looking at?
I don't know, i've never considered studying game design in high school. My dad seems against it cause he says it's too specialized and i've heard horror stories about crap game design programs at universities. I'd have no idea where to look. Right now i'm just learning on my own. This expesnive university you describe sounds awwesome though.
Trojans have been around for more than a century. We don't screw around (as a uni).
If you have any questions abou the IMGD program, feel free to ask.
What the, i thought i replied to this but i guess it didn't go throught. Anyway, are their any artistic requirements to get into this program such as skill level and the like. What's the atmosphere like, and the general improvement rate among students (that you've noticed).
My point is don't sweat it too much. Study what you like (3D & Programming) but make sure you're well rounded. I studied hard for 3D modeling and somehow found myself as a 2D asset and animation specialist. It doesn't even match what I went to school for. Reality was I was a classically trained artist already on a new job doing 3D modeling and they needed someone to do 2D. Instead of hiring new faces they had me switch departments and I did well enough they promoted me and boom, I'm a specialist. My portfolio doesn't even have my 3D work in it because its been too damn long since I've made anything.
Yeah you're advice sounds good. Sometimes thought it's hard not to sweat it because i'm always seeing people who are way better than me at 3D modeling and i'm worried about getting left in the dust. It doesn't help that some people say if you don't specialize in something you won't get anywhere. A silly fear perhaps but sometimes it gets to me.Still from what you and JadePanda are saying i'll try and relax. On another note,where did you go to school at, just curious.
Just make sure that you're better at your craft tomorrow than you were today. Self growth is the key since the world will always one up you.
(edit: both of these guys i met when i attended "The Illustration Master Class". So i recommend you look for classes or workshops like it. Working with master artists warped me forward skill-wise more than college or anything before it did.)
To put it simply, it can be very difficult balancing school work with art. I'm currently in university working on a CS degree and anybody that has done CS at an even remotely reputable school can probably vouch for how much work it is. It basically translates to working a full time job for free, and you'd probably end up spending at least 60 hours a week if you wanted to get A's and graduate on time (unless you are one of those bastards that just gets the tests, assignment testcases, and homework answers from somebody who already passed the class.) I figured it would be important to mention because when I was in high school, I got mostly A's and still had a bit of time every day to do art, but in college I sometimes have to go weeks at a time without doing any art simply because I'm swamped with work.
If I could go back in time, I'd do a few things differently:
1.) I would take as many classes at a community college that would transfer over to a 4 year university as possible for my desired degree. Community College classes are way cheaper than University courses, and from my experience, they really aren't any different in terms of lecture quality (teach yourself everything, seriously.) Grading is usually less strict and the teachers genuinely want you to learn. I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but with all the money saved from getting community college credit, you would be able to purchase licenses to any software you want or need. You could also pick up any necessary hardware, get yourself a nice monitor setup, and probably have tons of money left over for some hookers and cocaine!
2.) Don't bother trying to go for a "hard" degree, it will eat up your time and will probably be next to worthless if you want to enter this industry. At the end of the day, your degree really means nothing, your skill will speak louder than anything else to employers. I've seen people who majored in things like English who end up in lead programming positions at different companies. All you really need to do is practice on your own time.
3.) Don't get upset if you aren't currently working towards your dream goals. You have a whole lifetime to develop literally any skills you could ever want in any field. Just because you can't do art right this moment doesn't mean you can't do it some other time. A few years ago my only desire was to become an artist, but everybody in my family thinks art is worthless bullshit. This naturally led to a lot of fights and suddenly I was depressed and didn't want to do anything. It took me two years to overcome that horrible feeling of emptiness, but I learned that it doesn't matter what I spend my time doing right now, because 4 years from now, none of this will mean anything and feeling upset over it is just a waste of time and energy.
Plus, there's always the idea of a backup plan. With 3-4 months of serious practice, basically anybody can teach themselves programming to the point where they can get an entry level job (outside of the games industry, at least). An entry level programming job would be something great to fall back on if you ever find yourself in a position where you are out of work. The value of having a backup plan differs from person to person, though. Some people might be fine with having to re-locate to work at a different studio, but others may hate the idea completely.
EDIT: Sorry for the wall of text!
I'll speak for IMGD only.
There's a work sample submission. This could be anything, but it better be your best. A classmate got in with a MLG Halo 3 Montage when I entered the program, if that speaks to what they'll accept. Making great game art or any kind of game would probably nail it.
What's probably more important are the essays you have to do the USC app and then USC IMGD in a separate app. The prompt I chose for the IMGD app was write about an intense emotional experience, to which I used getting kicked on the floor by my parents and bleeding a bit because I got detention as an example of my seething rage. It was a pivotal point during a childhood narrative of over-discipline from my parents.
Atmosphere: Eclectic, though generally, everyone wants to do something with games. Certain trends do exist though. For example, I was dumbfounded for the longest time why all these freshmen were wasting their time not making a video game right now. What were they paying the school for? This pride stuck around with me for a long time. What happened for me was that I hung out and worked with a lot of upperclassmen and didn't get to know my fellow classmates that well because I made a decision to imemediately get to work on Advanced Final Games Projects on a volunteer basis.
Improvement rates vary. It's up to you. The school doesn't hold your hand, it just gives you opportunities. Up to you to see how far you can take it. For all I know, someone might get a change of heart and decide to do something like Accounting if that catches their fancy. There's probably a lot of opportunities for Accounting majors here as well. My perceived barometer for people's success in the major amounted to "Are they getting internships or equivalents? Are they getting jobs or equivalents coming out of graduation?" Which is sad, because this became a judgment card for me.
Don't be this info really helps. Your right, i do need to get rid of this, "i'm suppossed to a scientist mindset". It's not worth keeping really.I also accept i won't always have time to work on art, but it's hard sometimes, because it seems like i'm running out of time and at some point all will be lost. As for a backup plan that's hard for me to think with I can't imagine myself doing anything but making games at this point. It's the one thing about myself that's really hard to change. Even if i do, do something else to me it'd only be temporary although i suppose things change.
-Thanks again, your info was helpful and got me thinking.