Hello guys and galls
Last night I was thinking on a subject that is a huge part of my life, which is: 'How has my journey been so far in becoming a 3D game artist and where will the path I'm walking on, take me?'
What I want with this thread is to have fellow artists share their story in how they started the journey on becoming a game artist, where they are now and where they want to go. Not only for information purposes and to tell a good story but also to motivate others and help them to understand that everybody is struggling with something sometimes. Giving tips to get through the hard times would be very welcome as well.
So because I'm starting this thread I might as well give my story first.
My name is Jouke. Since I was about 6 years old I have been very busy with drawing. I remember those times well. I drew a lot at school, every boring object I could find in a classroom asked for a drawing. I did get in trouble sometimes. The punishment was not harsh and it was just. Most of the time just had to clean it. After school I went home and drew some more. I have had a big passion for it.
I was around 10 years when I started playing videogames. We had a super nintendo and quickly after that we got the playstation. It was when I got the game Tony Hawk Pro Skater when my interest in games really grew. It was my first 3D game. I know distinctively that I wanted to know more about how games like this one are made when I dropped outside of the gameworld in THPS. I saw the level from the outside in and that gave me the trigger. When Medal of Honor Allied Assault came out on pc I was blown away by the graphics. I knew this is what I want to do. Become a 3D game artist and work at a big company. I started researching modifying MOHAA and I came about some tools. From mapping to modeling. Strangely enough I didn't start doing 3D but I jumped into level design.
Then Call of Duty came out, such a great game and some better looking graphics compared to MOHAA. I was still working on level design and learning the level editor of MOHAA. So it was a relieve to hear that the levels in COD were made with the same editor. I jumped to COD and learned a lot more on level design and the editor itself. Just before Call of Duty 2 was released I got more interested in the 3D aspect of making a
game. Not necessarily the creation of a level but also the making of the 3D models contained in the level. For the learning of creating models I used Milkshape 3D. But quickly after I started with 3D modeling, COD2 was released and I jumped into Maya 5 or 6. I can't remember which one exactly. I quickly gained some notoriety from working in a modification team working on "Remember September" for COD2. Not only was I modeling but I also was one of the few in the modification scene who knew how to implement new characters and weapons including animations. There were other teams who wanted me to animate some of the weapons they had. Of course I helped them out. Not only is this just fun to do but you also get some more experience and it's good for your learning curve.
At some point when Call of Duty 4 was released we talked and discussed about porting the COD2 modification to COD4. It was a good idea but the lead level designer and manager had a solicitation at a game company in Germany and was hired. He is now an employee at Crytek, so he is doing very well. That unfortunately was the moment that the modification lost its placeholder. It all fell apart. But it was a great experience and it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot quickly because you are working in a team where people depend on others and you have deadlines which means the push is there. Sometimes it is hard to push yourself but when others rely on you it is much easier to be pushed and find that motivation.
In 2006 I started following the course Communication and Multimedia Design at NHL in Leeuwarden. That was the biggest mistake of my life, looking back on it. Be careful and vigilant of what students and teachers tell you when you come to visit an introduction day. This day is all about recruiting new clients for the school business. What I should have done was visit the school and ask students outside of an introduction day because then you will get the honest answers and stories. Of course there are schools that aren't like this at all, but you have to figure that out before applying to a course.
The course didn't allow me to do a lot on 3D. I would say about 1/10 of the course I could focus on learning and making progress in 3D while the students and teachers presented a very different view on the introduction day. During the first 2 years of the course we would do projects in teams and it was mainly commissions that companies paid the school (so in essence the students) to do. Of course the students would not see any of that money. These commissions mostly were start to finish commission and to be used as real products. That meant that there was no room for me to learn and progress in 3D. We were making games in Flash. Really basic stuff and not fun to do at all. In the third year I finally after pushing the teachers and the examiners board I could do a project not based on any commission that was handed in by companies who paid the school to get a finished product. This was very difficult to achieve but I and a friend did it. I learned a lot that period but again I wasted 2 years on for school money-making-projects but for me staying-on-the-same-level-and-falling-behind- projects.
In the fourth year of the course I worked as an intern in Rotterdam. It was a great experience and learning process. The last half year of the course I made a short animation of a World War 2 British pilot shot down from the sky above the Netherlands. It was again a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. That's because I got the will and the motivation to learn and the fact that school does not force you to do a commissioned project but letting you create your own project.
Then I graduated and I knew that I had a lot to do the upcoming months and perhaps years because I had fallen behind. From time to time during the course I did some modeling in my spare time but the time I had was not enough to notably grow.
Quickly after I graduated I got a job in a local supermarket which took time away from me to learn and make progress in 3D. During the period of 1,5 year I worked as a grocer in the supermarket, I started my own small business in caricature drawing. I did not touch drawing in a while at that time but I wanted to do this. In 1 year I became pretty good in drawing caricatures and I receive a decent amount of commissions now a days. I worked very hard to achieve the goal of learning 2D digital drawing so I could in the future make concepts and realize the concepts in 3D to a final product. But again that period I didn't do a lot on 3D.
When I got fired from that job I wanted to get back in 3D. So sometime in 2013 I did so. Since then I made a lot of progress. I apply for jobs, keep working on my portfolio, am trying and learning new techniques and start applying again and the circle continues. To financially support myself I started working as a newspaper deliverer.
As some might know I also did an art test a while ago and that really boosted my confidence and it gave me a lot of motivation to continue this path I am walking on. I am a realist so I would not continue if I didn't see the chance for me getting a job in this industry. This is what I can do and if I keep doing it like this I will get hired as a 3D artist by a big or small game company which makes great products.
What I advice people to do is be realistic, if you don't have time to improve yourself or don't have the motivation to do so you should consider aiming for something else. You have to spent a lot of time into this if you did not get the chance to learn from teachers in school. Also make a plan of what you want to do, where you are now and where you want to be in a year. Try setting goals and achieve them. In my case I chose and planned to not apply for other jobs that would require me to work 30 to 40 hours in a business where I don't want to be in all my life. I chose to deliver newspapers because it gives me a financial support big enough to pay the rent. Beside that financial support I have my small business which generates enough money to pay all the other bills to avoid spending all my savings.
That's my story
Now it's up to someone else to tell his or hers story and I hope this thread will help people to get motivated and ideas to apply in their own journey.
Last night I was thinking on a subject that is a huge part of my life, which is: 'How has my journey been so far in becoming a 3D game artist and where will the path I'm walking on, take me?'
What I want with this thread is to have fellow artists share their story in how they started the journey on becoming a game artist, where they are now and where they want to go. Not only for information purposes and to tell a good story but also to motivate others and help them to understand that everybody is struggling with something sometimes. Giving tips to get through the hard times would be very welcome as well.
So because I'm starting this thread I might as well give my story first.
My name is Jouke. Since I was about 6 years old I have been very busy with drawing. I remember those times well. I drew a lot at school, every boring object I could find in a classroom asked for a drawing. I did get in trouble sometimes. The punishment was not harsh and it was just. Most of the time just had to clean it. After school I went home and drew some more. I have had a big passion for it.
I was around 10 years when I started playing videogames. We had a super nintendo and quickly after that we got the playstation. It was when I got the game Tony Hawk Pro Skater when my interest in games really grew. It was my first 3D game. I know distinctively that I wanted to know more about how games like this one are made when I dropped outside of the gameworld in THPS. I saw the level from the outside in and that gave me the trigger. When Medal of Honor Allied Assault came out on pc I was blown away by the graphics. I knew this is what I want to do. Become a 3D game artist and work at a big company. I started researching modifying MOHAA and I came about some tools. From mapping to modeling. Strangely enough I didn't start doing 3D but I jumped into level design.
Then Call of Duty came out, such a great game and some better looking graphics compared to MOHAA. I was still working on level design and learning the level editor of MOHAA. So it was a relieve to hear that the levels in COD were made with the same editor. I jumped to COD and learned a lot more on level design and the editor itself. Just before Call of Duty 2 was released I got more interested in the 3D aspect of making a
game. Not necessarily the creation of a level but also the making of the 3D models contained in the level. For the learning of creating models I used Milkshape 3D. But quickly after I started with 3D modeling, COD2 was released and I jumped into Maya 5 or 6. I can't remember which one exactly. I quickly gained some notoriety from working in a modification team working on "Remember September" for COD2. Not only was I modeling but I also was one of the few in the modification scene who knew how to implement new characters and weapons including animations. There were other teams who wanted me to animate some of the weapons they had. Of course I helped them out. Not only is this just fun to do but you also get some more experience and it's good for your learning curve.
At some point when Call of Duty 4 was released we talked and discussed about porting the COD2 modification to COD4. It was a good idea but the lead level designer and manager had a solicitation at a game company in Germany and was hired. He is now an employee at Crytek, so he is doing very well. That unfortunately was the moment that the modification lost its placeholder. It all fell apart. But it was a great experience and it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot quickly because you are working in a team where people depend on others and you have deadlines which means the push is there. Sometimes it is hard to push yourself but when others rely on you it is much easier to be pushed and find that motivation.
In 2006 I started following the course Communication and Multimedia Design at NHL in Leeuwarden. That was the biggest mistake of my life, looking back on it. Be careful and vigilant of what students and teachers tell you when you come to visit an introduction day. This day is all about recruiting new clients for the school business. What I should have done was visit the school and ask students outside of an introduction day because then you will get the honest answers and stories. Of course there are schools that aren't like this at all, but you have to figure that out before applying to a course.
The course didn't allow me to do a lot on 3D. I would say about 1/10 of the course I could focus on learning and making progress in 3D while the students and teachers presented a very different view on the introduction day. During the first 2 years of the course we would do projects in teams and it was mainly commissions that companies paid the school (so in essence the students) to do. Of course the students would not see any of that money. These commissions mostly were start to finish commission and to be used as real products. That meant that there was no room for me to learn and progress in 3D. We were making games in Flash. Really basic stuff and not fun to do at all. In the third year I finally after pushing the teachers and the examiners board I could do a project not based on any commission that was handed in by companies who paid the school to get a finished product. This was very difficult to achieve but I and a friend did it. I learned a lot that period but again I wasted 2 years on for school money-making-projects but for me staying-on-the-same-level-and-falling-behind- projects.
In the fourth year of the course I worked as an intern in Rotterdam. It was a great experience and learning process. The last half year of the course I made a short animation of a World War 2 British pilot shot down from the sky above the Netherlands. It was again a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. That's because I got the will and the motivation to learn and the fact that school does not force you to do a commissioned project but letting you create your own project.
Then I graduated and I knew that I had a lot to do the upcoming months and perhaps years because I had fallen behind. From time to time during the course I did some modeling in my spare time but the time I had was not enough to notably grow.
Quickly after I graduated I got a job in a local supermarket which took time away from me to learn and make progress in 3D. During the period of 1,5 year I worked as a grocer in the supermarket, I started my own small business in caricature drawing. I did not touch drawing in a while at that time but I wanted to do this. In 1 year I became pretty good in drawing caricatures and I receive a decent amount of commissions now a days. I worked very hard to achieve the goal of learning 2D digital drawing so I could in the future make concepts and realize the concepts in 3D to a final product. But again that period I didn't do a lot on 3D.
When I got fired from that job I wanted to get back in 3D. So sometime in 2013 I did so. Since then I made a lot of progress. I apply for jobs, keep working on my portfolio, am trying and learning new techniques and start applying again and the circle continues. To financially support myself I started working as a newspaper deliverer.
As some might know I also did an art test a while ago and that really boosted my confidence and it gave me a lot of motivation to continue this path I am walking on. I am a realist so I would not continue if I didn't see the chance for me getting a job in this industry. This is what I can do and if I keep doing it like this I will get hired as a 3D artist by a big or small game company which makes great products.
What I advice people to do is be realistic, if you don't have time to improve yourself or don't have the motivation to do so you should consider aiming for something else. You have to spent a lot of time into this if you did not get the chance to learn from teachers in school. Also make a plan of what you want to do, where you are now and where you want to be in a year. Try setting goals and achieve them. In my case I chose and planned to not apply for other jobs that would require me to work 30 to 40 hours in a business where I don't want to be in all my life. I chose to deliver newspapers because it gives me a financial support big enough to pay the rent. Beside that financial support I have my small business which generates enough money to pay all the other bills to avoid spending all my savings.
That's my story
Now it's up to someone else to tell his or hers story and I hope this thread will help people to get motivated and ideas to apply in their own journey.