New Member, just saying Hello
Hey everyone, I am new to the forums, just thought I would say hello. Have been lurking for the past couple days, and I must say these forums are fantastic, a lot of amazing work shown on here.
I am just finishing up my BA in legal studies, and have decided to change my life path and go back to school for Video Game design. Just started to get into modeling again.
Cant wait to get back involved in this realm of life, and start bouncing stuff around on this forum. Will take me awhile to get to the level of competency that many of you hold mind yah.
I have a couple questions too if you guys dont mind, and I am not sure if *General* is the best place for it, but I will give it a shot.
As i am just trying to break into this field, I have been trying to gather some software. It seems there are a lot of tools on the market right now, and as I have been reading job applications, they state proficiency in a wide range of programs. So far i have been trying to learn Max, Maya, and Zbrush, but I have also seen a lot of posts about SoftImage and Character Studio. Any suggestions of which programs to stick to?
Secondly, as this is a switch in career plans, I have been doing a lot of searching of job postings, and I have seen a wide range of salaries. Everything from 20k - 70k. Obviously money is important to a job, and I wanted to get a clearer picture of what to expect when entering the job field (a couple years from now, but still wondering)
Thx for reading this, and sorry if its in the wrong section. I look forward to conversing with you guys as my future hopefully goes into this career path.
I am just finishing up my BA in legal studies, and have decided to change my life path and go back to school for Video Game design. Just started to get into modeling again.
Cant wait to get back involved in this realm of life, and start bouncing stuff around on this forum. Will take me awhile to get to the level of competency that many of you hold mind yah.
I have a couple questions too if you guys dont mind, and I am not sure if *General* is the best place for it, but I will give it a shot.
As i am just trying to break into this field, I have been trying to gather some software. It seems there are a lot of tools on the market right now, and as I have been reading job applications, they state proficiency in a wide range of programs. So far i have been trying to learn Max, Maya, and Zbrush, but I have also seen a lot of posts about SoftImage and Character Studio. Any suggestions of which programs to stick to?
Secondly, as this is a switch in career plans, I have been doing a lot of searching of job postings, and I have seen a wide range of salaries. Everything from 20k - 70k. Obviously money is important to a job, and I wanted to get a clearer picture of what to expect when entering the job field (a couple years from now, but still wondering)
Thx for reading this, and sorry if its in the wrong section. I look forward to conversing with you guys as my future hopefully goes into this career path.
Replies
Are you looking to do character art? Environments? Animation?
You mentioned Character Studio which leads me to believe you're interested in character modeling. Max, Maya & ZBrush are all good packages to start from. My best suggestion is to try out all the major ones (Max, Maya, XSI, Modo, etc.) and go with what feels the most comfortable.
As for jobs - it's hard to say. It depends on your location in the world and experience. Being a junior you're going to start @ the low end of the spectrum, I'd reckon anywhere from 30-45k to start but its really hard to tell.
Enjoy, I like forward to your posts.
Yeah, I definitely am interested in character modeling, however I would really like to explore all realms of game design. Before i started my degree in legal studies, I used to be involved in some HL Mods. This was back in highschool however, so long ago, lol. Did some basic character modeling, weapon modeling, and world creation. When Unreal came out with their sweet free world building software I started getting into world design, using static meshes and what not. I have unfortunately not had very much experience since then, and am now just getting back to it as i realize what I really want to do in life. The only real application side of things that I have stayed involved with is texture work. I have done a fair amount of UI work, but just basic hobbiest stuff. Mostly for just some friends work, or basic WoW UI work.
Where abouts in Ontario did you live, and likewise where abouts in BC are you? I have a friend who went out to BC for school, started working for EA, and now works for Pirahna Games.
Now I'm in downtown Vancouver.
You should definitely choose a specific area you want to specialize in. Most studios won't be looking for a guy who can do environments, characters and animation (I'm sure its a bonus if you can do all three really well). But if you want to do characters, just focus on characters. Another bonus is (and will land you a job so much quicker), if you are a decent texture artist. Modelers are a dime a dozen these days, but it's really hard to find someone who can knock up a mean hand painted texture.
Pick up a few SDKs that some of the dudes here have modelled up for texture practice.
http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=56973&an=0&page=0#Post56973
Oh, and most importantly. Be open to the crits you get on here, because most of them will be the best crits you could get. A lot of industry guys with tonnes of experiance, so you've picked the right forum to be apart of.
-caseyjones
Good luck with everything and I look forward to your pimps.