Looking to Enter the Games Industry but...

[Anonymous]

...I have no idea where to start.

I should say that, specifically, I'm really interested in the art side of video games, especially when it comes to modeling and texturing characters.

So here's a bit of my background story:
After finishing up two successful years of community college, I had realized that I really liked the art that I saw in video games, and whether it was just raw sketches or creating full-on models to be used in-game, one way or another, I wanted a career in game art. So, a few months ago, I enrolled in a games based-3ds Max modeling vocational program (or so I thought) because it had a lower tuition cost than any other program I had seen, and seemed to be legitimate. However, in turned out that the "program" was really just an overpriced hobbyist's course (that might be a euphemism, even if I wanted to use what I "learned" there only for recreational purposes, it'd still probably be useless) and now I'm left with virtually no knowledge of 3ds Max, how to make models that export into games, or even how I would go about applying for a job in the industry (assuming I had the qualifications to do so). The fact that I've been out of a real school for eight months isn't helping either.

I apologize if any of you were taken a back by this little sob story, but I thought it best to be honest and let you know where I'm comming from.

So my question is: if I want to enter or get trained to work in the games industry as some kind of artist, where should I start? The cost of going back to school seems a bit beyond my reach, but are game-based degrees the only way to get the proper training to enter the field? Any help would be appreciated.

[siserman]

There is tons of stuff out there, personally i am a motion designer ... but 3d you basically learn by yourself, by watching tutorials ... a great site for game based tutorials is www.3dmotive.com or for beginners www.digitaltutors.com both are pay sites. Free content should also be available on this site and of course youtube offers a lot of materials another free site which comes to my mind is "badking" (google it). There is so much material on this topic in the net you will not cover it in a life time. Yes of course the www.polycount.com
forum is a must have for game artists. I hope I could help you !

[Anonymous]

I can second that on Digital Tutors.

I only dabble in modelling/rigging/animating when I need to lighten the load on my Modellers/Animators, but I learnt pretty much everything I know from them. I'm by no means good at it, but I'm happy to say that I'm not clueless. That's all thanks to Digital Tutors.

And yes, they should be paying me commission.

[Anonymous]

Well, I've been in the industry a good while and seen the transition between a couple of harware generations.
In the old days it seems like there wasn't much need for qualifications and to some degree this is still true today. If you have the motivation to teach yourself then you should be able to produce a body of work good enough to get yourself in the door somewhere.

I started off with buying a 'learn 3ds max book' many years ago and going through the tutorials. I sometimes find its best to get a book as you can go from start to finish and pick up the various skills in a logical order, rather than having no structure and just google search for random tutorial videos.

I did eventually go to uni and get a degree but to be honest, they don't really teach you that much. You could spend half the time, get your head down and put a little portfolio together, show some examples on cg society and get some feedback.

I got my first job by spamming every company i could come across and eventually got a job some 600 miles away but it was a foot in the door and i haven't looked back since. Your real education begins once you are in the work place (you'll find some uni's are a bit behind the times)

Good luck.

[hhayes928]

I'm actually going to school right now, I'll be graduating in the spring with my degree in electronic media. I plan on being an artist as well. During my time at school though I was able to take an actual game design course, its a quick semester and I didn't learn everything, it was mostly about learning how to work in a group and deal with bugs and get a game out as quick as possible that was fluent, with a good story, sound, ect. Anyway, we had the privilage to visit an actual game studio here and everyone I talked to, though pleased with the degree or even if I went on to get my bachelors, said that it's the skill that counts. Some places make require you to have degree in art or computers so that you know what you're doing. My degree has given me the oppurtunity to examine all areas of what goes into a good piece of any sort of media, I'm just taking it and applying it to the game industry.

The company I talked (and as stated by an earlier poster, you should have one together for any company not just certain ones) to wants to see a portfolio of what you can do, even if you don't have a specified degree. Your best work should always be last, keeps it on their mind and usually its best because you've improved over time. I know I have in the last three weeks. Good Luck, sorry this was winded. I saw the point of view from someone in the game industry and I thought it might also help to have a response from someone who is in your shoes now. 🙂


EDIT: Didn't realize the post was from last year, sorry.