Life Changing or Career Building

Teaching students in an industry that is always changing and developing is quite a task. But what to teach and what skills do you allow to develop ? You can’t always keep up with what the industry is doing, but it is however, important to keep up with the current standards.  

3d modelling, is something that needs to be taught. I doubt there is anyone out there who can intuitively ‘get’ 3ds studio max without any previous experience. Learning a new piece of software takes time. Unlike naturally developing artistic skills, software is limited to potential and there is set ways of doing things, like a mechanical progress.  

You can learn pretty much learn anything if you invest enough time and effort into it however. But with a structured learning course this knowledge can be achieved a lot quicker. For instance I tried learning 3ds max by myself, but I was so hopeless, got frustrated and gave up. But having a class of students at the same level around you to confer with is a good natural way to learn  

But what is needed to succeed in the games industry. it seems that technical skills are at the forefront of a decent portfolio determining likelihood of employment. However this is not the case for some developers who prefer graduates with a strong traditional background as well as being able to build and unwrap.

 ‘In a general 3d artist I like to see some evidence of traditional art training as well as solid 3d skills. Most 3d courses do not teach anything like composition or colour theory, just software. It doesn't matter how well you can use a software package if you have no idea about basic art techniques’

Game developers generally look for the employee who is an all-rounder. Working on multiple projects, it is expected to be able to produce work in lots of different styles. So if you’re only making realistic models or cars, you are very much confined to one role in the industry.  

I think that tech skills are majorly important, but having a balance of good traditional skills compliments your work that little bit more. There are different areas in game development where artistic judgment is needed more so than technical knowhow. If you are developing a game environment for example, its fine having all of these realistic assets that you’ve made that look superb, but if you lack the visual skills in basic composition and colour theory, when it’s all put together it might not reach its potential.  

Personally I think that someone who is catered to the technical side of things is bound to be a little less creative.

Tech vs Tradition is kind of like Realism vs Creativity. If two students were asked to model any car they like, im sure the tech head would create a replica of an already existing vehicle, but the creative side of the traditional artist might model the same vehicle but in their own unique way.

Entering a 3 year educational course, it’s important to choose the right institution. What’s great about Game Art Design at De Montfort is that there is a very heavy influence of 3d, starting right from the beginning learning new skills throughout a wide range of software. But we are also pushed to develop our 2d visual skills and understanding which shines through into our 3d outcomes.