Do I Belong Here?

Employment
1

Hey Duderz,

I just graduated from college and I love me some video games. I’m an artist, who works in mostly with physical medium. Paint, pens, pencils that kind of stuff. I am having a heck of a time getting on the right career path. My concern is that my talents will be overlooked by my dream industry. I have some experience coding, however, it is very limited. I feel that with the advancements in technology and software are making hard-coding less and less of a requirement. Is is this right? Are there Jobs out there in the industry which don’t require years of coding experience. I’ve got most of my work online http://coreymcgilton.daportfolio.com. Any help this forum could give me finding a job or what i should be doing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Corey

2

There’s dozens of sites around with tips for getting into the industry. Try a quick google search. Places like Polycount.com, thechaosengine.com, gamedev.net all have threads on advice for budding artists.

From a quick look at your folio, you really need to concentrate on the type of art that goes into games, 3d modelling, tiling textures etc. As far as coding goes. You don’t need to code to create art for games, but some technical ability will always help.

3

Hey Thanks I just went onto gamedev.net and it’s great. My main concern is that I need to create more digital work. I agree that some technical ability will help me. I feel that my hand would be useful for the development of games.

Is there a market for artist in AAA titles or would I be better going to an indie game studio? I would like to find my place in the gaming space but im worried about being overlooked.

4

Well computer games are a digital format, you need to work in a digital format. There’s almost no need at all for the physical art formats in games beyond concept art and character sculpture. Even in Indie games that is the case.

5

there are tons of opportunities for artists in videogames, and there is always a need for strong “traditional” skills as well as technical skills. Check out Blizzard games for example, every single texture is essentially a hand-painted image. So I would not be turned off by lack of programming skills, 90%+ of artists in gaming do not program at all.

But you are correct when you say you need to have more digital work; in fact you can not even get an interview without a digital portfolio for review. The reality of the situation is that the artists are responsible for creating all-digital content and delivering it “properly” into the engine, with the exception of concept-artists. So it is important to not overlook the need to produce digital assets and understand all the technical constraints upon doing so. You will not be able to get a job as a production artist without a very solid understanding of Photoshop at the very least.

To this end, you should check out some job listings for game artists, even though most online postings require 2-3 years experience, it will give you a clue as the what is expected of an artist on the technical side. here are a couple good examples:

Model Artist (Ubisoft Montiplliar) - Ubisoft | Welcome to the official Ubisoft website

Texture Artist (Sucker Punch) - http://www.jobtarget.com/c/job.cfm?keywords=art&site_id=101&jb=6124685

Character Artist (Rockstar Toronto) - http://www.jobtarget.com/c/job.cfm?keywords=art&site_id=101&jb=6040364

6

I would also find positions you are interested in getting into, and youtube people with these kinds of portfolios. There are good ones and bad ones out there, but if you watch a ton, it will give you an idea of what you need to produce. I have to be honest, “wanting people to not overlook you” isn’t going to do anything. You have to be so radiant that they can’t overlook you.

7

first of all thanks for all the advice. your comments have given me more than a jump start towards my goals. I know that I need to find something that I’m interested in, the trouble is finding it. The job market is “to be honest” very intimidating.

Sorry but, I’m not sure what “you tube people” have to do with my situation? Unless it has to do with production value and amount of content being produced. It would be in my best interest to sent myself a goal to produce more high quality digital work. Before I begin blanketing employers with my resume and portfolio

Your are right about forcing myself to the to the front, and I guess it’s only my own fault if I do feel overlooked. As far as experience goes, it does seem like many positions need a couple years in the industry, which makes it hard to get your foot in the door.

8

“to be honest”… yes it is intimidating. Every single person in this industry has been where you are standing, and every single one has worked their ass off for years and years to get to an entry level situation. You’re not alone, and it is frightening. If you really want it though, with all your heart, you’ll keep going anyways.

I think you misunderstood, don’t “youtube people”… “youtube” people’s work. Example:
(modeling reel)


(concept art)

The reason doing this is applicable to your situation, is it will let you know where you need to go to achieve your goal. It is possible, just take one step at a time. Knowing your final destination is that first step.

9

Hey man,

I’m in the same position as you, an aspiring Game Developer, and there are tons of things you can do to learn more about Breaking In, as well as preparing yourself.

I would suggest joining up with IGDA (International Game Developer’s Association) or at least join their forums. Their thread on Breaking Into the Industry was very helpful, and you can get some heavy useful critiques and blunt answers to your questions as well. Watch out for Tom Sloper though, he’s a scary prowler if you’re not careful how you ask questions, cause he’ll tear you a new one ;P!

The other great site that I use a lot is, www.gamecareerguide.com, they have a ton of feature articles written by Entry and Senior level developers, who have great advice for all fields. Not to mention, its directly linked to www.gamasutra.com, which is a great place to keep up to date with Gaming news.

And finally, I think every Game Developer has heard of www.sloperama.com in some shape, form, code snippet, doodle, etc… Another great site, and segmented in every various aspects of Game Development. The answers are concise, informative, and very enlightening to anyone interesting in the Game Industry.

For the most part, Tech-Artist.org is just a place where Technical Artists from the Industry hang out, and while I’m personally going for Level Design positions at the moment, its a neat place to hang out, listen and read their posts to learn and transition yourself into the Technical Artist environment, but from what I’ve read of your responses and questions, I think GameCareerGuide and IGDA.org are much better places to start searching for answers then here.

I hope this helps! I know how it feels, the Game Industry can be very intimidating and secretive sometimes, but look in the right places, and you’ll easily find a smooth cement filled path ;P. But for the most part, its up to you to do the work and research. =)

10

I’ve been gone for a few days. I just wanted to thanks everyone for posting, It has given me a great start. I am going to rework my portfolio a little bit so it better fits the Job I’m going after.

If anyone has further ideas please post them here, I would love all the help I can get.