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callumreyesfutureworks2 · 8 years ago

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Route To Industry

The role in the games industry which I hope to achieve is that of a 3D environment artist. I have always been amazed and inspired by the whole new worlds and environments that can be created by the medium of games. Ever since I have been playing games, the environments within have been a keen focal point of my attention. It is a very frequent occurrence for me to be playing a game only to spend long periods of time simply observing and inspecting the environments when I should really be completing an objective. However the inspiration and motivation I get from well made environments in games is a welcome distraction.

I hope to use this assignment to find out what I need to do to achieve my goal of being a 3D environment artist in the games industry relating to both indie and AAA development. I will focus mainly on the type of skills I will need to be successful and also what my portfolio should include to best demonstrate my abilities and attract possible employers.

My first avenue of research involved looking into the online portfolios of 3D environment artists in the games industry. The reasons for me doing this was to:

- Get a feel and understanding of how successful artists present their work. How important is good presentation in relevance to attracting, impressing and holding viewers

-What type of works should I be including in my portfolio? Should I show a range of works consisting of different styles or should my portfolio be more focused?

-What software and skills are the people I am aspiring to be like showing?

With these questions and research aims I started to view portfolios.

The first portfolio I viewed was by Clinton Crumpler: http://www.clintoncrumpler.com/

Upon loading up his website/portfolio I was instantly drawn in. Not only from the glimpses of beautifully rendered examples of his work, but also by the professional and aesthetically pleasing layout and presentation.

The majority of the page is taken up by a variety of Mr Crumplers work which, when clicked, takes you to more of his work related to that specific project. The work on his home page instantly draws your eye and quickly demonstrates his experience and skill set. The render and image quality is very high and the layout is symmetrical. This symmetrical layout was something I found visually pleasing and I suspect that doing this could possibly convey, subconsciously, the notion that Mr Crumpler is professional and organised. The ordered presentation of his work certainly gave me this impression.

The next thing I noticed was the variety of work Mr Crumpler presented. From the homepage you can see that he has the ability to produce assets of different types from landscape to props, to buildings and vehicles. Although it is clear Mr Crumpler mainly works in producing realistic looking/ life-like assets his presented work isn’t repetitive.

Although the visual style isn’t too varied, in terms of realistic looking assets, Mr Crumpler displays his ability to create high quality work for different themes. The main example that demonstrated this was his work on Gears of War 4 and the “Swarm” assets from said game. Yes, the graphic style was realistic looking, but Mr Crumpler demonstrated his ability to generate very high quality ORGANIC environments, showing his skill set is not limited to the artificial/ man made.

I found this interesting as what it meant to me was that even if I wanted to specialise and focus on a particular art style -at present time I am mainly inspired and motivated by graphically realistic environments in games. Not to say I don’t take inspiration from more stylised games- it doesn’t mean I cant show variety in my work. Seeing this work by Mr Crumper has made me want to start learning the techniques to create this type of organic environment assets.

With Mr Crumpler working on a AAA game like Gears of War 4 I wanted to find out the role he had in the production and therefore the additional skills aside from modelling and texturing I may need to know or could benefit from knowing if I were to aim to be an environment artist on a AAA title.

Mr Crumpler notes “ My primary roles were creation of all the materials, meshes, textures, and some effects for the pods, tendrils, skins, decals, goo, and crystals. I also worked with other teams to establish spline setup, blueprint creation and usage, bio-luminescent lighting, explosion effects, and other aspects of swarm integration and look development for the game.”

This enlightened me as it showed that simply being able to create a model and texture it too a high standard may not be enough. I will likely be required to, or at least benefit from, having skills in these other areas. Although this is a relatively daunting thing to think about, I am glad that I know what may be required of me and I can begin to learn these types of extra skills. This is definitely something that will impact my route to industry in terms of the heights I can reach, I feel.

I began to research information about what the role of being a 3D environment artist might be like on a day to day basis. I found Tanner Kalstroms’ article called “So you want to be an environment artist?” to be a useful read.

https://www.gametextures.com/so-you-want-to-be-an-environment-artist/

It begins by showing how the working life of a environment artist can be a long and demanding one, especially during crunch time. Long hours and little sleep can be expected when deadlines approach. However Tanner goes on to explain that these times are always bad “ Sure, the video-game industry can have some darkness, some bad PR about “crunch time”, but don’t let that fool you. It’s not always bad, in fact, most of the time it’s the complete opposite. Being an Environment Artist can be a treat. You get creative freedom, you get to indulge yourself, experiment, and try new things every single day”. This was something I was pleased to read as creative freedom, even if limited, is something important to me as one of my biggest desires in terms of working in the industry is to be able see my own work and influence on a game that is played by multitudes of people.

The first skill Tanner speaks about being beneficial and somewhat required for environment artists was confidence. Tanner makes it clear that it is not only important for you to have confidence in your work but also in yourself to speak your mind when you think a decision isn’t correct. This had an impact on me. I am a confident person but sometimes I will refrain from pointing out flaws I see in other peoples design decisions because I don’t want to hurt their feelings. However this made me realise that it is likely for the best of the team and the project to speak my mind when I see something wrong, even if I myself turn out to be incorrect.

Tanner then went onto talk about concept art and how the common lack of it means that I as an environment artist will have to source my own inspiration and ideas for a variety of sources.

“What does this mean to you? Well, you have to be prepared. There are going to be moments where you’re faced with a task and you have no direction aside from a vague “Make something cool.” from your director. This is that moment when you have to turn to your resources, be comfortable searching the Googs, looking through art books (Which you probably should start collecting as soon as possible), and looking through concept art online. You will need to compile this information, you will need to make it into meaningful direction for yourself.”

This information was important to me as sometimes, although I like being able to add my own creativity to my work, when there is no direction uncertainty sets in and my work can take a hit. This is due to me questioning myself whether my design choices are correct. However after reading the article I now know this is something I will have to improve or become more used to.

Tanner closes this part of the article with this “ it’s important that you know that video-game art is not all copying concept art verbatim. It requires you to build, and it requires you as an artist to be at the top of your art-game. This goes right back to the matter of confidence above.” This is something that will stay with me.

Tanner then spoke about the importance of interaction with other artist you work with and learning from them. Those who are not prepared to learn from others will fall behind over time. Learning from others in your studio is something likely to enable a lengthy career.

I started to read the comments on the article and somebody asked about how should an aspiring artist build their portfolio. This was a question I was wondering myself. Tanner had responded to the comment and mentioned the monthly noob challenge by Polycount. I had never heard of this before so I went to check it out.

The mothly noob challenge features a challenge for artist to create a 3D environment, based off of concepts provided, within a one month time frame. Those that partake then post their results at the end of the time frame and can compare and receive feedback with and from others.

This is something I think I will definitely start to take part in. Not only will it boost my portfolio but it will also challenge me to create scenes that I might choose to avoid if I was given the opportunity. This will surely increase my skills as a 3D artist and also prepare me for situations where I have to model something out of my comfort zone.

Towards the close of Tanners article they make a point about the importance of pride in ones work. Tanner makes a statement that I will bear in mind “ people who make those one extra steps happen are the ones that get noticed, and those little details that a prideful worker, and an average worker make are what set exceptional apart from extraordinary.”

One of biggest statements that stood out to me was “ As a company-runner, and person who helps lead artists I’ve learned that I’m looking for the type of pride in regards to ones work. I can’t stand artists who don’t take pride in their work, who turn in things they’re not proud of; who do not take the extra mile.” This stood out to me because it gives a good insight of what people are looking for when it comes to artist and that I should always be proud of my work, and if I am not then I should improve it.

Looking at Job

I then decided to look at job advertisements online to try and get an understanding of some of the key skills and requirements the role of 3D environment artist frequently demands.

Average salary: £30,000

This was the first job i looked at :https://www.totaljobs.com/job/artist/creative-personnel-job68721553?WT.mc_id=A_RE_IDPPC_MP0_ORG_0

This advertisement was for a AAA studio working on a high end console game which required an environment artist.

The salary stated was £160 per day.

The advertisement then listed the responsibilities you would undertake and desired skills the company would like you to possess.

Taken from the advertisement-

Your duties will include:

Create outstanding Environment artwork that sets a high quality bar for the rest of the team.

Help others to consistently reach that bar by mentoring and guiding more junior or less experienced colleagues.

Contribute to the set-up of suitable pipelines and workflows, including prototyping, documenting processes and helping to specify, test and drive to quality tools created by the Technical Art and Engineering teams.

This made it clear that this position was not for inexperienced artists. It was interesting to see the extra roles that more senior artists have to take on. You are to lead by example and motivate the more junior artists.

General Competencies:

Experience with cutting-edge techniques and technology related to environment art and a strong desire to stay ahead of the game.

Able to proactively self-organise and prioritise work for yourself and others.

Able to contribute to guiding and mentoring groups of junior artists, contractors, and outsourcers.

Excellent communication skills.

The first requirement of this ties into previous points made by Tanner I feel. It is important that you have the desire and motivation if you want to succeed in this role.

The second requirement of being self-organised also ties into points made by Tanner. Whereas Tanners example of concept art not always being given was more specific, I feel this shows that you need good initiative and the ability to work by yourself in this role.

Again communication skills are needed.

Artistic Competencies:

Accomplished at all aspects of environment creation, including sculpting, modelling, surfacing, texturing, with decent drawing skills and a good artistic eye for colour, value, tone, silhouette, etc.

Accomplished at scene building, with a focus on composition and an understanding of how this fits with game design.

Able to contribute to the stylistic development of the environment elements

Comfortable working in a variety of art styles.

This section was interesting as it was focused on the artistic requirements the artist must have. This job seemed to mainly focus on the modelling and texturing of components of the environments. One thing that stood out to me was the desire for the artist to be comfortable in a variety of art styles. This strengthens my motivation to take part in the monthly noob challenge.

Technical Competencies:

Understanding of tools, techniques, best practices and technical limitations related to real-time environment creation.

Able to contribute to the technical design of systems, to work closely with the Technical Art and Animation teams to arrive at elegant tools and solutions.

Comfortable at all stages of game development, from concept through pre-production to production.

Comfortable working with (and around) bespoke, in-development tool sets as well as with more mature engines and pipelines.

This was probably the main part of the job requirements that stood out to me. The technical competencies are something I definitely need to work on in order to better my job prospects.

A Specific Company

One of my favourite games for its environment is Dishonored. I spent many hours in this game just looking around at the environments and seeing how their designers and creators brought this games universe to life. I felt like the environment was real and lived in and the atmosphere was palpable. Ever since playing Dishonored it has become one of my biggest inspirations for 3D environment art. Although the art style is not something I tend to go for when creating my scenes, it has inspired me to try my hand at creating a scene with a similar art style.

Arkane studios is the developer behind the game and for this reason I decided to see if they had any job advertisements going for the 3D environment role. I did this as a potential dream goal job experiment to see what type of requirements I would have to fill to be a 3D environment artist for the company.

Arkane Studios listed the following requirements

Requirements

• 5+ years’ experience modeling 3D objects and generating textures

• Deep knowledge of Maya, Photoshop and other asset creation tools (ZBrush highly recommended)

• Exceptional texture creation ability; hand-painted textures is a plus

• Good analytic eye for volumes, shapes, proportions, detail distribution, color and materials composition

• Able to work from photo reference or concept art when available, as well as ability to provide their own

• Able to work within poly and texture budgets

• Strong English communication skills (verbal and written)

• Candidates must submit an online portfolio

The first thing that stood out was the 5 years minimum industry experience. This wasn’t a surprise but it was good to know the time frame I would be looking at before I could get a role in a AAA company of Arkane Studios’ stature.

Again the need to provide or source your own reference material shows up.

Finally “candidates must submit an online portfolio” this affirms to me the need to have a strong portfolio.

Conclusion

So what is my route to industry?

My first goal is to develop my portfolio with the aim to try to create my own website to display my work. I want to take key strong points I felt were present in Clinton Crumplers portfolio.I plan to develop my portfolio by participating in things like Polycounts monthly noob challenge. Part of this is also developing my skills in software such as substance designer.

Another thing I need to take time to learn is the technical side of 3D environment art. Things like particle systems etc.

I also wish to take part in more social meetups and events to get to know and network with other people within the industry. I have yet to have gone to a Manchester Gamers Unite meetup and I think that will be a good start.

In terms of actually getting into the industry I plan on potentially starting a small company with some friends in order to get some experience and also for the creative freedom that could come with that. However if that doesn’t work out or my mind changes over the coming year I will likely try to get freelance work whilst applying for junior environment artist roles.

I would also like to take part in game jams depending on how things turn out.

#DD2000 #futureworks

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pressography-blog1 · 8 years ago

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An Epic shift to video games-as-a-provider

New Post has been published on https://pressography.org/an-epic-shift-to-video-games-as-a-provider/

An Epic shift to video games-as-a-provider

10 years in the past, Epic video games became a completely distinct enterprise. The substitute Engine facet of its business became still basically an AAA undertaking, with developers forking over hundreds of thousands of bucks for access to the era. On the game improvement side, it changed into a one-mission-at-a-time studio inside the center of a decade-lengthy stretch of operating solely on Unreal Match and Gears of Struggle.

Video Games

Driving Games

Matters at Epic are very specific these days. The substitute Engine business version has adapted to the consolidation of the AAA marketplace and an upsurge of small builders and is now to be had at no cost with a royalties-primarily based revenue model. On the gaming side, Epic has multiplied into cell with the success Infinity Blade series, cut ties with the Gears of War collection with the aid of promoting it to Microsoft, and covered up a portfolio of original highbrow homes spanning a huge range of recent territory for the corporation, from the VR brawler Robo Don’t forget to the Laptop and cellular tactical RPG Warfare Breakers.

Overseeing the shift On the video games aspect of the business is Epic’s newly appointed worldwide creative director Donald Mustard, former creative director of Epic subsidiary and Infinity Blade writer Chair Entertainment. Speaking with GamesIndustry.Biz at the game developers Convention closing month, Mustard offered a few perception into what modified.

“Approximately 5 years ago, we got here to the conclusion that the enterprise becomes showing symptoms of a huge shift far from conventional boxed products,” Mustard stated. “And we knew we desired to be moving earlier than all that passed off, so the closing 5 years or so, we’ve got absolutely been reworking the company to tons more of a focal point on video games-as-a-provider and our engine-as-a-carrier.”

The primary fruit of that transition hit cabinets ultimate 12 months with the release of Paragon, an MOBA for Pcs and consoles that place greater emphasis on motion and twitch gaming competencies than the style-standard League of Legends. It arrived on the same time as two other excessive profile “hero shooters” at the least in part stimulated with the aid of MOBAs, Snowstorm’s Overwatch and Gearbox’s Battleborn. Overwatch, as you are probable conscious, grew to become out to be some thing of a phenomenon, powering Activision Blizzard to report outcomes notwithstanding a disappointing yr for Call of Responsibility and taking domestic Cube and Recreation builders Preference Awards Recreation of the year honors. However wherein large hits of yesteryear like Name of Obligation: Cutting-edge Battle or World of Warcraft tended to blot out the sun for competing titles of their genres, Mustard stated that hasn’t been the case here.

Coventry First LLC

“We have a look at the achievement of League, and DOTA, and Overwatch, and rather than us saying, ‘Oh no,’ we say it really is the most encouraging news we’ve got ever heard”

Mustard even shared some numbers, noting that during early December the sport had more than 600,000 month-to-month lively gamers, however, the launch of the Monolith update has sparked continuous increase for the reason that then, with the game now boasting extra than 850,000 monthly energetic gamers.

“We have a look at the fulfillment of League, and DOTA, and Overwatch, and as opposed to us announcing, ‘Oh no,’ we are saying it is the maximum encouraging news we have ever heard,” Mustard said. “Because what that suggests us is a huge hobby on this style of Recreation, and it makes us greater pleased to be investing in that area. I do not need to overstate it, But I type of sense like we’re in this golden age of gaming Because there is one of these extensive and deep target markets of human beings that need to play video games. In case you build a Recreation for a target market, they may come, they’ll play it, they’ll find it irresistible, and they will live. I could not be more glad about the success of Overwatch, as it just shows us it truly is a ripe style to be in.”

Baby Games

That is indicative of a shift inside the industry as games-as-a-service has taken preserve, Mustard stated. Publishers don’t always need a dynamite launch and huge traction proper out of the gate to discover fulfillment anymore. by way of launching video games, paying attention to the early remarks of the community, and then shaping them into the revel in the ones gamers want, Epic believes it is able to construct lengthy-term hits.

“The greater conventional manner we’ve made video games as an enterprise for the closing two decades or so was probably extra like the movie industry,” Mustard stated. “You are making a Recreation. If it’s successful, You’re making a sequel. If this is a success, You are making every other one. It looks like video games-as-a-carrier, which is at the least a huge a part of the market for the foreseeable future, might be extra corresponding to television, or at the least our modern considering Tv. When a person makes a pilot or maybe The first season of a display, it’s now not [wipes hands] ‘Well I positive desire that goes for 10 episodes and then we’re achieved.’ They’re very an awful lot planning for a multi-12 months product that will advantage an audience and hold a target audience for a long time. And that I assume it’s the way you need to design those video games now. you are playing a much longer Game of constructing an audience, retaining and target audience, and delighting that target market over multiple years.”

But simply because the video games-as-a-carrier model can prolong the lifespan of Epic’s games, it is doing the same for other publishers who’ve already embraced the technique. And developers are competing for gamers’ time and money no longer simply towards the other games inside the genre that released around the equal time, However towards final 12 months’ large hits and the evergreen industry titans that date again even in addition.

“How many video games can someone have their head at a time? Is it one? Is it two? Is it one console Game and a cellular Sport? What’s that balance?” “That is a brand new and precise assignment for the games industry,” Mustard said. “Basically, What number of video games can a person have in their head at a time? Is it one? Is it? Is it one console Sport and a mobile Sport? What is that balance? And I do not know that any folks have pretty observed that but. part of the destiny of opposition is, ‘May want to you pull a person away from the modern thing They may be preserving in and pull them into what you’re doing?'”

Mustard believes the key to fixing that project can be supplying something very special from what the established leaders in the area are doing.

“I’m fantastic-deep into Destiny, for example,” Mustard stated. “If I am playing Destiny, and some other Game comes along it truly is like Destiny, I suppose that is truly much less possibly to pull me far from Destiny than a Sport that comes along it really is very distinct. I am probably much more likely to get pulled away from Future by using Crimson Useless Redemption than I’m with the aid of some other sci-fi Future-like shooter.”

For Epic, meaning providing what Mustard describes as “innovative, clarifying, design targeted products” throughout an expansion of genres. So even though he insists that Gears of Struggle and Unreal Match shooters are “nonetheless in our bones,” don’t assume the business enterprise to ever lean on simply one or similar merchandise in that way ever once more.

Aim Provider Portal

“We simply need to make exquisite games that pleasure gamers in whatever style we’re pushing in,” Mustard said. “However we don’t need to be an agency this is in any way pigeon-holed to a positive kind of style or fashion. we are much extra numerous than that.”

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