The Best Way to Become a Game Artist without Paying the Big Bucks
Lauren Hodges reasons that with today’s freely available tools and knowledge, you may have everything you need to build your CG skills. She compiled a great list of CG resources (and it includes BlenderNation, so I won’t argue with her ;-)
Lauren writes:
So, you want to become a game artist, but you don’t have the money to shell out $80,000+ for a degree? Then look no more! I’ve created a simple roadmap that’ll help you become a degree equivalent Game Artist. Keep in mind these are all my opinions and this is how I’ve been developing the majority of my ‘Game Art’ skills.
This is a garbage opinion. It is not that I do not (somewhat) agree with her but after looking at her portfolio, she has ZERO game industry experience. Taking a few online classes is not the same thing as sitting down in a room with professionals and learning properly how to build a game. Learning from online classes is akin to learning to vacuum with neither a wall plug nor a carpet. You NEED to see how the parts fit together on a real project. The ability to run the software is about 15% of the job.
Dude, it seems you’re not even 25 yourself yet (judging by your LinkedIn), and you’re going to talk that harshly about her, as if you’re 35?
I don’t even think she’s claiming to be a seasoned game dev by any means–she appears to be a graphic designer, sporting a novel interest in game dev.
Though, while she does come off as just a bit naive, I don’t think the basis of what she’s saying is entirely wrong. Truthfully, you don’t particularly need “game industry experience” to know how to make a game–and a good one. It certainly helps, but it’s surely not the only way. I say that, because, for about 20 years now, I’ve witnessed this truth in plenty, long before this modern bandwagon appeal of game development.
In the early 2000s, I tinkered with some of the earliest “modern” game engines back before Unity and Unreal Engine were around, thankful for my programmer dad and any advice I could scrape from game dev forums. In the 90s, I’ve had slightly-older friends who were creating games as hobby, often on par with their favorite SNES and PC games like DOOM, back in the golden age of modding and hacking apart games.
And still today, I know guys doing things with Unreal Engine 4 that even bigger studios aren’t close to touching. There are hobbyists out there inspiring industry professionals in places like Polycount. Though, it’s nothing new–it’s always been this way, even before I was born in ’87. Even back in the 60s and 70s, honestly.
Back a bit before my time, there were guys making ASCII games at home, and making arcade-style games in the bedrooms. And as technology grow, so did their hobbyist ventures, keeping close in step the whole way. Sometimes, they’d even get their work noticed at SIGGRAPH or some other geek convention. Of course, without Google and Twitter around then, and back when computers were “nerdy,” nobody cared to notice the scene much. But it was well and alive.
The entire industry started from these guys learning on their own, paving the way for all institutionalized learning and industry alike. If it was possible to do back then, it’s infinitely more possible today. I would say the industry that you speak of are even catering to that fact now–look at all the accessibility of cutting-edge tools and vast networks of knowledge and dedicated networking sites available online.
The problem isn’t so much how you learn, but how you apply it. Yeah, you can’t be all head-knowledge about things, and an industry job’s a great way to learn, but that doesn’t prevent you from gaining experience on your own, or working with autodidacts likewise mastering their craft. We’re now see “AAA independent” game development stabilize and grow ever stronger, all while many AAA companies increasingly struggle to survive.
Industry is but one route to experience in this domain–even more today than ever yesterday. I mean, Epic Games didn’t tailor their cutting-edge game engine (UE4) and open it to this direction in game development, all on mere whim. Tim Sweeney, a guy who was one of such young guys out there, tinkering with games at home, honing his craft in his bedroom, was bright enough to see that game dev’s just coming full circle again.
It’s entirely possible to develop an industry-quality game without school or climbing the industrial ladder. You see many of UE4’s improvements? They’re contributed by various people, most of them just folks mastering their craft, with little industry experience. The system works. And yeah, tools are just a portion of the pipeline, but honestly, before recent trends in free and affordable software, it was the hardest to access.
Her article bears some merit, to those just getting started in the game dev. I just wish she provided more in the way of a caveat, to how much she’s generalizing with her advice. I also wish she’d emphasize more that this advice is more feasible for the indie dev route than the industrial route–to which most of her advice isn’t well-tuned. Still, I don’t say her article’s “garbage,” nor do I think she merits such harshness.
And don’t worry, folks–that’s as long as I’m gonna reply here on this page. Hahaha!
I have nothing more to say. ;)
Nice to know I still seem young to others! I am in fact 35. I am therefor talking in an age and experience appropriate manner.
Yours is point is valid. It is very possible to get a game design job with no formal education.
My point is also valid. My point is that learning any skill is easier and more solid when you have face to face instruction from someone who has done it.
I am concerned that the original poster is not actually a game developer. Her assertion is at best guesswork.
It is too easy for people to read into it that it all evens out to be the same thing and it does not. The resources she cites are good but there is the human interaction that is missing.
The DREAM of game development is that only your art skills matter and that is not (commonly) the reality. It is the exception not the rule.
You could have left a constructive comment without being a jerk.
Thank you for your feedback. I had considered being less blunt. I really did, and I Am sorry that my level of candidness is offensive. The reason I choose to use such strong language is that this type of logic is poor and ill considered. She makes statements about an industry she is not a part of. I have students who drop from educational programs citing the ability to ‘learn the software for cheaper online’. They go nowhere. They loose money when educational programs update to stay current and must retake past classes as a result. I view her logic as as dangerous and treat it accordingly. The online training she cites is GREAT for getting your feet wet or learning a bit of new tech but it is a poor substitute for a solid person to person education at the core of any professional background. She IS correct that schools like Full Sail have poor and out of date training modules. That is a pitfall for ‘for profit’ schools to tackle. Again I apologize from the bottom of my heart but, I choose my words with consideration and upon reflection, reaffirm them.
I think it’s really cool you responded so positively. I’m a college instructor for animation and games as well – and trust me I completely agree with you. I also care a great deal about quality animation/game education. In fact, I am equally as intense when it comes to the subject.
The educational history for animation and games is incredibly young in comparison to many other subjects.
Totally agree with Dustin, she don’t even know what she’s talking about.
Regarding the softwares, I like the open source / freeware propaganda, but again this is a proof that she didn’t know a thing about game industry.
I really like Blender, I do. I’m using it for all my personal stuff, but I’m also working in the game industry since several years, and believe me, if you only got Blender as a 3D Software on your resume, you’ll always be a second choice regarding people who’ve learned most common used 3D packages : 3DSMax and Maya (except if you want to go indie). Same for Gimp. Better use Photoshop. It’s sad I know, I wish it could be different, but it’s the truth.
Regarding the learning, today, you don’t have to pay to learn how to use softwares, just go on youtube, you’ll find a lot of tutorials from professional people. And it’s for free.
If you really want to work in the industry, you’ll have to work hard everyday, be passionate about it, have a solid portfolio. Post your works on forums, ask for advices from people who have more experience than you, learn from them, don’t work alone on your side. And keep in mind that there’s thousand of people out there that are waaay skilled than you, and there’s always will be, so you’ll only have to work harder.
Schools are expensive, and you’ll never know if you’re in a good one or if you’re wasting your money. But some of them will learn to you teamwork and you’ll make a network with people you like, which can be handy to find a job. It’s not a must have but it can help.
Agreed. This might be a slightly helpful article, but unless you have actually proven your point by being an established veteran, that title is very arrogant.
About Blender in the industry – we recently standardised on Blender + Substance Designer/Painter + ZBrush + Adobe for our small studio. We are admittedly an indie studio, and you’ll see an overweight of proprietary software in that list – but I’m quite tired of hearing the common wisdom of “3DS Max or nothing” that they teach around here. I’d be really miserable if I were forced to use Maya or Max all day.
As for advice for becoming a game artist:
– “Always do work” in the field of your choice as Penn Jillette puts it. Don’t stop just because you have another job to pay your living or study something else or whatever.
– Find a community. Go to the jams, do mods online, engage on a forum like TIGSource or Polycount.
– Make friends with someone who’s not like you. To make it professionally, you’ll need to work with people who are good at budgeting, planning, producing, UX-testing, game designing, doing PR etc. If you only hang out with the introvert artists/programmers, you’ll never learn to work with those people (and they need your skills just as much).
I didn’t self titled myself as a “established veteran”, just said that I’m working in the industry since several years.
And by the way if you read me well, I’m totally agree with you, and if I were in an indie compagny, or trying to make a game by myself I would never give money to Autodesk. Blender is a great solution and have nothing less than 3DSMax or Maya, and that’s why I’m using it on my free time, and also because I’m so sick of using Max all day long at work, it’s heavy, it crashes take a lot of time to launch… But I’m not making the industry. It is what it is.
I just not want to mislead young people who wants to work in the industry. In most of the game studio, people with 3DSMax or Maya will be the first choice against people who can only handle Blender. Even if for my case, I’ll be glad to hire someone who can also handle Blender.
And because you talked about Polycount, I guess I’m not the only one thinking this :
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92760
And I also think that it’s a bit weird to read this Lauren Hodges who seems to never have worked in this industry giving advice for it.
Hey, sorry, I was clumsily trying to agree with your criticism of the article: In my sentence here: “… unless you have actually proven your point by being an established veteran …”, the “you” refers to the author of the original article. Sorry for using such clumsy phrasing and being so unclear. Maybe I should have said:
“This might be an article that contains a few helpful links, but for Hodges to title it like that without having apparently broken into the industry herself looks a little grandiose.”
Again, apologies. Didn’t mean to imply that I found you arrogant.
Nor am I really angry at the original article, I think it’s written with a lot of enthusiasm by someone who naively happened to title it in a way that could sound a little arrogant. No biggie.
On hiring: I actually look for people who have worked with more than one 3D application, then I don’t care what they are. Then, the difficult step of divorcing general principles from button placement has been taken – those people will pick up Blender or anything else relatively quickly if needed.
No problem, it’s just a tiny misunderstood ;)
No problem, it’s just a tiny misunderstood.
Awesome article, but I might not read it carefully, I think she forgot to add and/or mention Krita (the paint software), Inkscape(I think) and My Paint, and yes I know she mention(and I quote)”Keep in mind there are TONS of different programs to choose from.- Lauren Hodges” but hey is and awesome program to mention too, anyways awesome article.
Some of the comments are a bit harsh considering up until a few years ago game art degrees didn’t even exist. The article is just a reminder to newbies that there are different methods to breaking into the industry still, game companies have been saying for years that they don’t care what degree you have, it’s all about the portfolio. Maybe some people are just really annoyed they spent a phenomenal amount of money on something when they could have done it anyway with a bit of motivation. Just a thought.
^ Thank you.
I think people tend to forget that for decades now, game studios have been hiring the likes of hobbyist game modders and talented hackers.
And yeah, even today, most studios won’t even look for a degree, unless perhaps you’re going for a more technical role or a senior position.
The game industry has always oriented more towards what you can do, rather than how you learned it. And in this “AAA indie” era, where independent status is meeting AAA quality, and where even industry veterans like Epic Games are totally embracing it full swing, success in game development has only become even more available and more possible.
I personally know rather mediocre artists with senior-level jobs, and have seen very talented people who are merely hobbyists.
I know of guys who are entirely self-taught, now working for big companies (like Amir Abdaoui, who got hired at Sony just from his YouTube videos, showing off his craft). I know of folks who have degrees, and that route really worked for them.
We learn in various ways, can find different routes to success, and have seen all sorts contribute to the advancement of the game industry.
Regardless whether you learn in school, on the job, or honing your craft at home (or a bit of all), it’s all about how you apply yourself.
Oh, yeah, and also by getting to know as many people as possible! Polycount and Gamasutra are your friends! Hahaha!
The title of this article is right.
Of course you can become a game artist without spending money in a school. But as good as you can easily find a job? Not sure.
I don’t like the fact that you have to spend a lot of money in a school to get a job. I don’t think you can get better teaching from school than a great video tutorial on the Internet. But schools give you a network, and allow you to talk to people who already work in the industry as they teaching you. And if you’re good enough you can get a job from them.
On the Internet you’re nobody. Just someone in the middle of lot of people who wants to do the same job as you. Go get a job with this. Good luck.
On the other hand, you can actually easily create your own game and sell it without any help. If this article is about that, ok why not.
But we’re not back to the 90’s where anyone can get a job in the game industry without being a God. There’s too many talented people on the market, and you really have to be over the top if you want to get any job.
You’re talking about success stories. There’s not so many people that are so talented, self-taught that can find a really good place in an game company without knowing anyone.
Hey people in briefs:
GO HELL.
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For Lauren: All the best, thank you for the content.