What should i be?

[Asorson]

If you are not an artist already you will have a very hard time becoming involved with the art side. Likewise if by now you are not very technically competent you will have a hard time becoming a programmer.

What it boils down to is everyone that I know who works in the industry has been doing what they do since as long as they can remember. Long before they ever considered college, or making a career out of it. I don't know very many people who were just a "regular joe" and decided when he/she got out of high school that he/she wanted to be an artist or programmer, and suceeded.

People like that exist, but they are rare. Very rare. And they have to compete with the others who have been drawing or programming since we were old enough to lift a pencil or a keyboard.

It's never too late to start. But don't expect to be competitive after just two years of college. Most of the time it takes much longer than that (usually 5+ years) before you're good enough to start getting paid.

[ilka]

i would like to thank you for taking some of your own time and answering my question.

i wanted to be a artisit in 3dsmax,
or a game programmer.

thanks again

ilka

[WulfHF]

Well I have a university degree in Computer Science. I was hoping to become a programmer once I was out of school. During my last year, I had a lot of free time since all my computer core course were all done. So I picked up 3d modeling. I've been doing it for a year and a half. I worked on that day and night when I had free time becuase I enjoyed it and I wanted to be better. I got good at modeling and texturing and so I decide build up a portfolio.

Now I work as a 3d modeler for a flight simulator company in Montreal. I got hired becuase of my 3d skills and my computer programming background.

So you never know what you'll end up doing. Just practice practice and practice and whatever you like doing.

[ilka]

true say

i should practice, practice, and practice

i would like to thank both of you for repling to my post.

[Thorka Mae]

Hi, i got a question, since i have almost the same problem. I've been modeling as much as programming and last year i started studying computer science. But the problem is, that actually my interests are tending more to modeling, and the cs-study isn't as interesting as i thought. I took programming mainly because ther's a better chance to get a job, so my question is, does the 3D-industry take only people with a good artists degree and/or experience or do they also take guys if they've modeled for a long time and are really talented? To be more precise: Is such an degree really needed?

[Andy741]

Your demo reel will be one of the first things a company sees if you go for 3d animation.

[Asorson]

Originally posted by Thorka Mae
Hi, i got a question, since i have almost the same problem. I've been modeling as much as programming and last year i started studying computer science. But the problem is, that actually my interests are tending more to modeling, and the cs-study isn't as interesting as i thought. I took programming mainly because ther's a better chance to get a job, so my question is, does the 3D-industry take only people with a good artists degree and/or experience or do they also take guys if they've modeled for a long time and are really talented? To be more precise: Is such an degree really needed?


The most important thing is your work. There are lots of people who do not have degrees or any formal educatin working in games. If you are a programmer on top of that you might be suited for a "technical artist" position. Technical artist often does things such as rigging, scripting, mocap cleanup, and serving as a liason between programmers and artists, on top of regular modeling and animating and stuff.

[Thorka Mae]

Thx for the answers pals, i really appreciate this. I'll create a portfolio and give it a try to get in that business. :beer:

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