[xXxPZxXx]

I know a lot of you have been in a situation close to mine and I would love to see if I could get some advice.

Many of you are living out your dreams as artists, well I am 17 and have decided that I want to have a hand in creating video games for a living. Or something that will help create the end product. sooooo I have tried my hand at level design, texture making, modeling, concepts, well you see I have dabbled in everything and I learn fairly fast and in each case I got to be "competent" that is where my problem comes in I am going to be a senior in HS next year and I feel that I should start honing my skills in one field but I have fun doing everything (even painting)
Now there is no company that is going to want someone who is decent at everything they need someone who is a master of a skill. Well I guess that is my problem this summer I figure I should start really honing my skills in one area (I am worried because I see the caliber of drawing on this forum from kids as young as 14) so I feel behind.
Then there is that trouble that all the colleges that offer degrees in game design make you have a portfolio cause they want to see what you can do with traditional art and I have NO traditional art experience really. I figure I have my senior year and one year after to go to community college to make a portfolio. dunno if I can do it in that time... Ok I realize now that I wrote this entire thing and there really isn't one question that I asked that you can answer but what are your experiences? anyone else during high school know that they were behind? what did you do? Thanks for reading if you stuck with it. Just feels good to get it out sometimes :/end rambling

[SpiralEye]

Most of the 4000+ members of the forum are NOT making a living doing art. But anyway, to get a portfolio done in a short time, you better work your butt off. Act like it's a full-time job and paint and draw like a mad-dog. Paint from life (or draw from life). And do it all day. A lot of it. If you aren't sick of it, you're not doing enough of it. Or something. Rework the same painting over and over, trying to improve. Then use all of the pictures in your portfolio.

all this. . . IMHO.

[PandaX52]

I used to feel the same way, putting pressure on myself to learn all about video games and stuff, almost in a panic because I felt I was competing with everyone and I had to get incredibly good, incredibly fast in order to break into the industry. After a while, I realized that all that pressure I was subjecting myself to sort of de-motivated me to reach that goal and made attaining it seem less gratifying. I've also had some work experience at a small graphics company and had a taste of what being paid to work in front of a computer everyday is like. It's kind of depressing and tiring, for me at least.

So, just recently, I've put all my plans on hold, taking a deep breath, thinking about what I what I really want to do.

The bottom line is, Video and Computer games are fun to play, and therefore, making them must be fun, right? More and more people are catching on to this notion, and more competition for the gaming jobs is the byproduct. The competition makes people have to work harder and be more dedicated to get into the industry.

I know it sounds corny, be true to yourself, really think about the kind of person you are and what sort of things make you happy, then find out how to get payed for it!

BTW, I AM a senior in high school and I graduate the day after tomorrow! YES! I plan on attending the community college and dabbling in subjects like history, literature, art, and science, nothing is set in stone, and that's the way I want it.

[ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: PandaX52 ]

[Flinthawk]

Okee, here goes...

Basically, I started doing art seriously even later than you did. I didn't even try drawing human characters until I was midway through my senior year of high school. Before then I did nothing more than a few t-shirt designs for sports team and such, just for personal enjoyment. I didn't even take art classes.

Well, I got accepted to my school of choice, Digipen Institute of Technology...as a programmer. After three semesters though I realized that I liked doing art more (even though I was doing great as a programmer). I never thought myself good enough though. I was always comparing myself to some of the best guys out there and I knew that I shouldn't be breathing the same air as those guys did. Well, anyway, I tried out for the 2D/3D Animation program at the school and they accepted me based on the entrance exam alone.

I did a year in that program before a company snatched me up and put me to work and a year later I'm here now at a new company and playing a major role in the look and feel for the games I'm on...never did I think I'd be this far along. To answer your question on specializing though...it depends on where you go. I'm not specialized in any one thing. I WANT to specialize in concept art and illustration but that's not all I do. My last job, at a small company, involved mostly the building and texturing of 3D environments. Towards the end I started doing some concepts and building vehicles and other random things. Here at this job I'll probably be doing a little of everything.

Now, if you want to work for a big company, I've been told that you should have something that you specialize in because they like to 'assembly line' the process and make sure that each and every person knows everything there is to know about their little task. If that's what you want to do then pick something and just do more of that than anything else. Don't stop doing the other things, simply shift more time to one of them so you'll get more practice in.

So anyway, hope all my rambling helped in any way. If you want to see where I'm at in my artistic development now, as a reference, check out my homepage by clicking on the little homepage icon above my reply here. All you see there was done this past year, 4 years after I started taking up art seriously. Nothing special there...just showing you the work of someone who started later than you which means you should have a decent shot, too, as long as you work as hard as I did. Oh, and if you want to check out the school go here. Basically, if you can show them that you're serious about getting into digital art, be it through traditional artwork or 3D models, levels or PS paintings, then they'll consider you (that's not to say that you shouldn't try and create a traditional portfolio though...that's ALWAYS a good idea).

-Flinthawk

[y0]

man i wanted to go to digipen ever since i was in 6th grade...im a sophmore...well uh i went to the site, and since i turn 17 in the middle of the first semester, i wont qualify for it =(

[Etict]

quote

Quote:

Ok I realize now that I wrote this entire thing and there really isn't one question that I asked that you can answer but what are your experiences? anyone else during high school know that they were behind? what did you do? Thanks for reading if you stuck with it. Just feels good to get it out sometimes :/end rambling

Well, I got my computer when I was 14 years old, and from the first day I, for some reason, started using PSP to create some webgraphics, etc. Years went on, and I found myself doing 3d with Pov-Ray. It wasn't anything REALLY serious, but I just kinda liked it, altho I spent very much time to it. My highschool time was a bit painful since I didn't read that much really, because of the graphics.
So at the end of the highschool and afterwards I did a bit of this and that over the internet, basically anyone who asked for my help (writing tuts, info, graphics, whatever), I generally helped everytime.
It took some time before a company abroad took some interest in my works, and frankly, it was pure damn blind luck that I got the job.

SO at the moment here I am, sitting at the office, it's 8:25 am since I woke up pretty early, and I'm a 3d/2d-artist in a game company.

mm. coffee.

I think most stories are very much different. I think there's lots of shit before you get what you want (the position as an artist), I was just damn lucky. I also wrote lots of short-stories, and I was actually planning to get some serious money out of it (maybe a game-designer or whatever?), which was ridicilous (well actually i DID get some money out of it, but that's a different story .

[Chris]

game programming is tough, very tough. it is more complicated then business programming by far. 80% of people who goto those gaming colleges drop out after 6 weeks, highest dropout rate then any other type of school.

So if you are serious, know C++ language like the back of your hand. The language not the concept, you learn that in school, but the keywords, how C++ executes code, etc. That stuff you need to know before going into a game programming school.

[edible snowman]

ill bet the reason its hard is because it uses complicated math/physics. i assume anyway. most of the people who program around here are wannabe nerds that aren't actually that smart. i would say if you have a good knowlege of complex math, you'd do fine. but i dont know what im talking about. with the kind of name you've chosen, it looks like you could have a career as a porn star.