what up.. my question is what degree should I get in order to become a game artist.. peace!!

Well, I can give you my take on it, but I''m a college dropout and I''ve never had an art class before. But, and that is a big but, I have some things to say.

Study architectural design, large format photography, digital arts, 3d modeling and animation, file formats, web publishing, anatomy, nature, the various light phenomena such as crepuscular rays, alpenglow, silhouettes, etc., and study composition. Learn about input devices and techniqes, including tablets, 3d digitizers, motion capture techniques and so forth.


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Not sure if all universities offer this, but I know at Indiana University one can do an Individualized Major of whatever you want it to be. Great thing about this is that you can dive in across multiple departments (including all those listed by bishop pass). This also lets you do independent study in your field with an advisor familiar with the concept. At IU, you also must do a final project.

For example, if you were at IU, you could name your major, "Game Design Graphics", or something more specific such as "3d Art/Animation Narratives". I even think someone here has pulled off a "World Game Design" Individualized Major.

I''m considering doing one myself. I''m currently a telecommunications: design and production major with a french and fine arts minor. If I switch to IMP, I''ll be extending the fine arts minor a little more and will possibly take some interior design (autocad) courses as well. It all depends on what you and your advisor want. IU has plenty of people who could advise you because they have a unique graduate program called "MIME" which stands for "Masters in Immersive Mediated Environments". Just to give you an idea of the degree of the program, one of the advisors was one of the designers of Ultima Online. I''m actually hoping to enroll in this program once I get my B.A.

Another benefit to an Individualized Major is that it also lets you take graduate courses as an undergrad.

Also, there are many game design schools out there as well. However, with the IMP you can touch upon areas you may not be able to at those colleges. And, the experience you get from independent study with your advisor and your final project is immeasurable.

- T

you dont NEED a degree to be a game artist. just a pencil and a buncha paper.

I definitly agree with Dazyna! You do not need anything but a piece of paper, a pencil, and a lot of hard work put into practicing. You could spend years in school and not get as much practice as you could in a year without having to deal with other stuff in school like English and History. Trust me, a degree may be flashy, but nothing beats a good looking portfolio. If you are really that interested, spend all your time drawing drawing drawing, and then work on CGing your image in programs such as Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro...and then start looking around for contract work. If you are good enough, the degree will not matter one way or the other, and you will just save yourself some stress and money from not wasting time in school or doing unneeded research papers!
~Niyana

I know a guy who is a pro moeller and all he did was learn 3D Studio Max. He had natural talent though. You can complete a degree and still not have the talent to make it though.

So it is clear that the remarks made since my original post do not belittle my advice, I never said anything about getting a degree. I merely said that the topics I mentioned are worthy of study.

And about learning how to sketch and using a 3d modeler, that isn''t enough. I earnestly sugget you learn every discipline I initially suggested.

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Just teach yourself. By the time I got halfway through school, I knew more than my instructors because I spent a lot of free time studying what the pros had done.Next thing you know, I was hired by Rainbow studios and I didn''t even have an associates degree. After I left Rainbow, I tried to go back to school, but my instructors didn''t have a clue.

quote:Original post by sleepyweasle
Just teach yourself. By the time I got halfway through school, I knew more than my instructors because I spent a lot of free time studying what the pros had done.Next thing you know, I was hired by Rainbow studios and I didn''t even have an associates degree. After I left Rainbow, I tried to go back to school, but my instructors didn''t have a clue.

In my case is very similars, i knew more that my teachers (programmers studies in the university). So i learn that the self study in the game-dev-world is more worth that a long, expensive and useless study.

A artist need only one things :
-a carpet with many (a lot) of works. If you draw nice and fast, you can have a job easily. A degreed only help a little.

Of course, in the art-school, you learn many things, it is not good. Is better to be very-good in a fewers things that be average-good in a lot of things.




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"Cuando se es peon, la unica salida es la revolución"