Help plz

Started by
6 comments, last by _Kyle_ 18 years, 7 months ago
Hi. I am new to these forums, but I truely came here to seek opinions on my art and what I should do about college and my career path. First off I'll tell a bit about my self. I'm 18 years old doing freelance 3D Environmental Modeling. I do NOT want to character model, because I find it highly boring and well I just simply don't know anatomy nor do I care. I enjoy designing 3D worlds and making objects for those worlds. I guess you could say I want to be a game environment modeller (makes the levels/maps, but dooesn't program them). I also do not want to do texturing. My passion is in the creation. Not the make-up to put on the creation. I don't exactly know what career I'd fall under in the gaming industry, but I hope some of you can help me on that. I am currently using Maya Unlimited 6.01. Also I have been modeling for about 2 weeks now. So judge it based on that please. Here is my art: My website (thecursed.cjb.cc) -Desk (http://thecursed.cjb.cc/kyle_l/art/images/desk.jpg) -my RL comp desk -Hand (http://thecursed.cjb.cc/kyle_l/art/images/hand.jpg)-my SECOND model -Lamp (http://thecursed.cjb.cc/kyle_l/art/images/lamp.jpg) -my RL lamp -Sword (http://thecursed.cjb.cc/kyle_l/art/images/sword.jpg) -my FIRST model I'm open for positive suggestions and comments. Also my website is currently a game review site, which I am converting it back to a FULL art site. So if your wanting a place to host your art then contact me from the site. Thanks.
Advertisement
Welcome to the forums, man.

Let's start with your goals - you want to eventually become a level/environment designer? These are viable job opportunities, but you're really selling yourself short if you're limited to some basic worldly objects. You're going to have to possess one seriously impressive portfolio if the only thing you're willing to offer is environments. You might not care for character modeling, but theoretically you should be well-versed in your 3D software enough to produce any type of "object".

Presentation is everything. You can't walk into a studio looking for a job with a bunch of gray shaded renders. You need fully realized and developed images. Look at some professional architectural renders, or any photorealistic 3D interior. Beneath it you'll usually find some relatively simple geometry and wireframe foundations. Take away all of the painstaking touches in the rendering process and you've got a seriously unimpressive image to show off.

Take your computer desk - right now it's a bunch of differently scaled primitive boxes organized to resemble a desk. It's basically something anyone could have produced with a 3D modeler within about 5 minutes. I'm not trying to belittle your work, but the fact remains that to land this sort of job, you're going to have to show that you have the ability to fully realize a living and breathing world from pencil paper to the last few seconds of rendering.

An employer isn't going pick you from thousands of others if all you can do is construct some polygons. A studio won't hire a 3D modeler who only possesses skills that fit into one small portion of their work pipeline. They take someone with a wide variety of skills and then plug them into the pipeline. What I'm saying is, you can't expect to make it simply by being capable of taking someone's concept, turning it into some polygons, and passing it along to someone else to texture it and render it. You're only 18 and have plenty of time to develop an enriched understanding of the whole realization process - and I guarantee your goals and opinions change (even if only a tad) within a year of modeling.

Kult House - Fresh Production Media

Ok so what if I learned environment modeling and character modeling with some animation touched in there. I'm horrible at renders/textures =( and I just can't seam to grasp onto it no matter how hard I practice

Also I can't draw.. I have no skill whatsoever on hand drawing. Best ya'd get from me is stick figures upgraded with square clothes lol
Hay there, welcome to the forums...

One of the first things I was taught on my uni course was that simple modeling of things that exist is not art. We were strongly encouraged to study famous artists and develop our own feelings about artistic styles. You see, given a bunch of measurements anyone could make a human model, infact a scientific mind would probably be better than a creative mind. But it takes real artistic talent to portray a fictional character or location based on concept sketches and design documents. For now its great to get experience in your 3D app, but you should aim to be an artist, and not just a copy cat.
------ ----- ---- --- -- -Export-Games.com is searching for talented and friendly developers. Visit our Help Wanted post for more info!My Indie development uber Journal - A game production walk through.
Than am I to just dump my plans all together and do something else? I can't draw whatsoever. My GF is wanting to be a 2D artist and me a 3D artist. She does all my concept art and then I give it life. I like modeling and animation. Also texturing is kinda fun, but atm i'm not to advanced in it. I still havn't learnt how to texture very well in Maya.

I mean couldn't I get a job as a Modeller, Animator, and Texture artist?
I really think you should make a commitment to becoming a good artist, if you really want to work as an artist in the game industry. The best advice I can give you is to be an artist first, and a modeler second. The skills you get from drawing and painting will translate into making better mesh. I would recommend going to an art school that has classes in drawing, painting, and 3d modeling and animation, because it's a good idea to have a solid foundation in a number of different things. I will tell you honestly that when I look at a portfolio the first thing I look at are the drawings and paintings, because you can tell a lot about a persons artistic ability right away, as opposed to models and environments which can be a bit desieving. That being said, I've worked with a number of people that are great modelers, but lousy painters and drawers....I think they're at a disadvantage in some respects, but it can be done. What really matters is your eye and you're design sense. And as for working on your own, start texturing those models!;) Even if you're just modifying photos to use as your bitmaps, understanding how to model something so that it can be textured practically is very important.
Quote:Original post by _Kyle_
Than am I to just dump my plans all together and do something else? I can't draw whatsoever.

If your plan is to read a book or something then magically become a world-class 3D artist in two weeks or two months, then yes, you should probably dump your plans because it's not going to happen. If your plan is to work at it for a couple years and become a highly skilled modeller, that is definitely doable and you shouldn't give up before you start!

It doesn't matter in the slightest if you can't draw yet. You're still young, and it's never too late to learn. But what are your plans exactly? Do you want to go to art school and make a career of this? Or do you want to learn by yourself as a hobby while schooling for something else? Both can work. Regardless, just keep modelling and don't get discouraged that your work doesn't look like the pro's yet. Practice a little every day, and maybe start worrying if in two months you haven't improved at all ... but that won't happen, trust me ;D
I plan to make a career out of it, but I really can't draw and I have been practicing for years. I like doing modeling and animation and such. I been wokring with photoshop and am getting better at it so I can make my own textures. I also plan to go to a school centered around games and not just an art college.

This topic is closed to new replies.

Advertisement