Student

[agreenster]

Well, for starters, if you have some work to show, then post some links and maybe you will get someone's attention.

If you dont have any work to show, or any experience, I would suggest doing some pencil tests, sketches, etc of showcase some of your talent and ability.

If you dont have any of that, then maybe a good college, trade school or university is a good place to start....

[d4rk]

I also wanted this at one point so I did a little research on it. First what kind of games do you like to play? Think about how they are created. If you play anything like Quake 3 or Counter stike, or Unreal, there is a huge community of people that are dedicated to creating maps and player models and mods of those games. There is alot of info out there if you search for it. A good place to start would be somewhere like http://www.planetquake.com/ you should be able to find allot of links there.

When I was looking at what companies were hiring and what they were looking for, they wanted people that had experience in creating levels (for a level design position) or making/animating player models (for character design) or C/C+ (for game desing). I came across a few positions that only wanted people that had a little expereince doing those things (kick myself for not really learning any of those things). Alot of those things you can teach yourself with resources found on the internet. Unreal just launched a huge contest with lots of prizes and they have a huge site that has info on creating levels and models for their new Unreal engine. I would get started doing that kind of stuff, but also since you are young I would head straight to college.

That is a good place to start though, go to some company website and see what they are looking for http://www.blizzard.com/ has a really good description of what they are looking for and how to apply. Then figure out how to get those skills. College is a good start. You can learn the 3d animation part there as well as some traditional art, though as far as I know there aren't really any places to learn the gaming aspect. You pretty much have to teach yourself the gaming part. But as I've said there are alot of resources on the internet if you look around (sorry no links handy).

If you just graduated highschool, you got time on your side ;) you're still young. Also these forums are a good place to get help on many subjects related to 3d/cg.

sorry I didn't have any links for the gaming stuff, it's out there on the net though if you search for it.

[El_Toro]

Thanks for the info. I don't have much work to show. I only have two models that I've done. One was from a tutorial and the other is a gun. The gun looks alright for beginner I guess. Neither of which have been textured. I don't have much artistic talent, but I do have a lot of creativity, aesthetic sense, I'm dedicated (I've been up for three days straight working on tutorials) and a questionable psychological background and we all know that's a plus. I have a website up that has artwork and stuff on it. I might warn you though, if you don't like obscene language and disturbing imagery I'd suggest you not to go.

f_that.tripod.com

All work on there I did for myself, but I don't really expect employers to be looking at that.

I was mainly just looking to see if anybody knew of any good websites, additional research, etc. etc. and I got that so Thanks.

College is first on my agenda though. I'm getting my Associates in Applied Graphic Design - Multimedia Specialization.

There was one school I found dedicated soley to video games. It's the Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA, but at around $40,000 a year for bills and tuition there was no way.

And on the games subject, all games (that includes PC nd Console). I have a PC and all of three of the latest consoles plus most of the older ones.

Thanks again for all the help.

[baaah888]

hi, im a student in the UK im doing a degree called BA computer games design. (BA is bachalor of Arts by the way)

basically its a good stepping stone for me as the guys who teach me are for the majority ex-industry, for instance my 3ds max tutor is an industry vetran from Eutechnyx, acclaim uk, Rage etc, He's by far the best teacher ive ever had. Im currently looking for a work placement ( i think it would be a paid internship in the USA)

my advice for you would be to do all the tutorials you can find in one 3d package for 2 to 3 months ( and i mean live like a hermit ) then (if you want to be a modeller )start making shit loads of low poly characters, 1000 - 4000 tri's and environments 10,000 tri's. (and if you want to be an animator ) do shitloads of animations, showing both technical and artistic ability. ( something like character studio is a greeat starting place)

Also i sujest you pick a route at present and build from there, you say you want to be an modeler/animator, but you should pick one and just do that alot for a while. then eventually branch out and get better at more stuff.

ive decided im better at modeling so im looking for modelling positions first with animation positions second. This is mainly because for an animators position i would need a show reel and i currently haven't got enough good animation work to show off my ability.

I wont lie to you, with the games industry being a specialist industry with alot of people wanting to get into it, you need to stand out, you need to prove yourself to them, otherwise they wont "risk" hiring a "trainee". A degree that has alot of 3d modeling or animation will help you make a step in the right direction and you will produce alot of work over the next few years for a portfolio. (and as ive found university is the best few years ive ever had)

but in the end if you want something enough and put the time into practicing your chosen field then you WILL get what you want

as a fellow student in your position i wish you all the best mate good luck :thumbsup:

and $40.000 for a year at a college. that just isn't worth it, my uni in the Uk's £1100 fee's a year and about £4000 loan for rent/food/ and other expenses. and my course is 3 years so i'd have to pay back about £12000 to £15000 which is still alot :( but £40,000 is fuking crazy man

[Streamlight]

yea, the best thing you can do is learn as much as you can.. improve your skills.. the harder you work at it the better they will be and the easier it will be for you to get a job... I know it's pretty general advise but that's pretty much what it is about.... get great at something that you love man.. and everything will be good :)

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