Advice for a college in Game Art

[Bwog]

Hey everyone. This is my first post here on Escapist cause I usually like to lurk about on Gaming Discussion, however, I started to think this site was a good place to drop some questions that have been on my mind. They're probably tough questions that require people who know the gaming industry or have been to such colleges, but hey, it won't hurt to try.

I really want to get into the video game industry for art. I missed my chance to get into college this fall, on purpose though, since I have no idea what college to attend to learn what I would like. I've looked up a few colleges, such as: Academy of Art University, Digipen, and Westwood College. They all have video game art majors but I need to know whats best for my money and closer to my home. I live in Rhode Island.

So here are my questions I need advice for:

- What are the best colleges in the U.S for art in the video game industry?
- What are some good colleges for Game Art near Rhode Island? (It can be a couple states away)
- Has anyone here on Escapist gone to a college to get in the video game industry that would recommend me a college for what I need?

The three colleges I mentioned are the only ones I have on my "list of potential colleges". If I could get more, or single one out to go to, that would be great.

Thanks for reading. I got a year before I make a move, but its a big decision, and help is always needed.

 

[ThriKreen]

"Video Game Art" is a rather broad subject. You should better define what aspect of art you want to get into: environments modeling, textures, character modeling, concept art, animation, visual effects.

That should help narrow your questions down.

That said, a more traditional background in art would serve you better than just one oriented towards video games. And a portfolio of your artwork would matter more than what school you've gone through, as the most the college can do is help for learning to use a particular piece of software, i.e. Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, Maya, etc.

 

[Bwog]

Ah, so Game Art can be broken down into more categories. I think this can better define my questions, although, I'd would have to say it raises another:

- Out of environment modeling, textures, character modeling, concept art, animation, and visual effects: which would suit an artist who loves to draw a lot? I'd think they all draw at one point, but an aspect like "textures" would seem to specialize in color stuff, so I would have to ask which one would be advantageous to a person who sketches too much (like me).
- What would be the best college to the answer above?

Lol, I might as well copy pasted your response ThriKreen and added a question mark at the end. I hope I don't seem annoying, but I really have no idea whats best for me when I try to get into the industry.

I'm not an awesome artist, so a portfolio of mine wouldn't look too amazing at the moment, however I do understand what you're saying. I will stand out more to employers if I have creativity and the right skills. When I looked up the requirements to work for a game studio though, they really stressed the fact someone has the education to back up their previous work (plus I kind of need that education anyway to learn the software ).

Thanks ThriKreen for your response. I secretly thought this topic wouldn't get any since it was a bit demanding.

(Fun fact: my avatar is one of my sketches that I colored on the computer. It looks kinda cool lol)

 

[ThriKreen]

If that's the case, I would say concept art, but that's a pretty hard field to get into as you have to be Really Really Fast AND good on your drawing and colouring abilities.

Bioware once held an art lunch where one of the concept artists, Matt Rhodes, showed how he did his work and I was floored at how fast he worked. I mean, I assumed he was fast given his role and since I worked at the same company, but I never actually saw him in action. Basically drew, inked, coloured and shaded a character in about 15min. And also included various alternatives of her outfit given the topic - how would she look at the start of the game, to the end given the way the story went (clothing and faction changes, etc.).

If you're still up in the air about where to go, why not try the whole process and see what you like?

Concept art:
Sketch a scene and a character doing something, try different angles, poses, clothing, environments and see what looks decent. Remember the key here is to have variety and get you accustomed to what an art director might ask of you, so have several samples ready. Try to finish drawing the next piece faster than its previous.

Modeling:
Then try modeling the scene - You'll touch environments for the scenery, then character modeling for the person, and of course, the textures for both.

Animations:
It'll work best if you modeled the character in the T-pose and create a rig for the skeleton, that way you can reposition them as needed. Then try animating the character doing something in said scene.

Good luck!

 

[Bwog]

I was looking at concept artist for a bit, but I didn't realize they needed to be super fast. 15 minutes to completely finish a character is crazy! That needs loads of practice and a bunch of skill to do. I could see myself doing that, but I think something that involves the computer would be better for me. A mix of drawing and computer...ing... lol

I'm definitely going to try that process. All three of those are interesting to me. But the modeling part is a bit tricky since I lack the program to do such a thing. Does anyone reading this know a cheap (or free! ) modeling program that is useful to a beginner? I'll probably google one up after this, but if there are any that are popular for my sort of situation, then by all means tell me!

Thanks again ThriKreen! Your posts are really helpful!

 

[ThriKreen]

Blender, gMax, there are also 1 month trial versions of Max and Maya, or if you get into a college you should be able to score a student license of either.