A
few weeks ago I posted about not being sure about where I am going in
terms of jobs, unfortunately leaving that post as is doesn't complete
the task that was set out for me, to look at a job
description, dissect it somewhat and figure out what I need
to do to achieve that. So I looked around and tried to find
something that was close to what I wanted, without really knowing
what I wanted. With that I went with a job posting by Blizzard games,
for a 3D character artist on World of Warcraft. I figured I could
apply this to other aspects of games, like asset and environmental
building, since out of all the aspects of games design characters is
what I have the most experience in, I put that as a focus.
The
job posting can be found here:
(working
as of April 2014)
3D
Character Artist
WORLD
OF WARCRAFT
Office:
Irvine, California, United States
Blizzard
Entertainment is looking for an exceptionally skilled 3D character
artist to join the World of Warcraft team. The ideal candidate has
experience modelling and texturing a diverse visual range of
characters and creatures. A solid grasp of form, structure, color,
and light for both 2D and 3D art assets is essential. The character
artist must be skilled in another form of art production as well --
illustration, modelling, texturing, animation, concept drawing -- and
be well-versed in related tools --3ds Max, Photoshop, etc. The ideal
candidate also works well in an environment with peers who are
passionate about making great games.
Requirements
- A minimum 3 years’ experience in game development modelling and texturing characters using 3ds Max and Photoshop (or equivalent 3D and 2D programs).
Assuming
I don't drop out, this requirement is pretty much fulfilled with my
three year game art course course, obviously I'll need to show enough
growth in that time to show that I have spent at least 3 years on
this, if my work currently, looks the same as my work when I
graduate, It won't exactly scream 3 years of work.
- An exceptional understanding of human and creature anatomy and a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to modelling.
Again
this is something covered in my course, and I can't really think of
any specific way of working on this, besides just
doing it, and practising.
- Superior eye for light, shade, colour and detail in creating texture maps.
This
is something that I plan on working on extensively during
the summer, as right now my texture work on models that I have
done haven't been great. I'd like to over the summer improve my
hand painted texture maps with some kind of project,
what that project would be exactly I haven't decided yet,
But at the end of it I'd like to have a scene of a
game modelled in 3D
- Self-motivation, good communication skills, and a great team-player attitude.
Self motivation is
an issue I need to work on, as I definitely have a problem
with staying motivated on one task without being distracted by
other things.
- Skill in one or more of the related creation tasks - illustration, modelling, texturing, animation, concept drawing.
though
modelling, texturing and concept drawing are skills addressed in my
course, I want to start learning animation as animation has always
been something that I loved and would love to do, but something
I couldn't have been taught until I was at university level, and self
teaching myself animation wasn't exactly an options during my
A-levels, as I was already self teaching digital art to get into my
course, and I was (rightly) under the impression that animation takes
a hell of a lot more time and dedication that I had to give at that
moment.
Pluses
- Have shipped AAA PC or console titles as a 3D character artist
If
I was to go straight from university into this, I probably would not
have this experience to tick off on the application, unless I gained
a job/internship to work on a triple A game during my studies,
which is not exactly common. So I guess I'll leave this one.
- Strong foundation in the traditional arts, including but not limited to figure drawing and illustration
Though
parts of this is covered in my course with life drawing and
observational drawings, this is something I definitely need to work
on in the technical sense. As my technical drawing skills are lacking
at this moment in time. Though I would continue the drawing studies I
have going on here, with people and places sketching, I think I would
also really benefit from researching what I'm drawing in a more I
guess academic sense, studying anatomy, architecture etc
from books as well as from life, to the point were I can merge
the two to create more accurate observational drawings and
drawings from imagination.
- A passion for developing online games
This
is a given for me, online gaming is what got me into the wider world
of gaming, and is MMORPG games are still my favourite games to play.
However I don't really know how these games are developed and what
skills and level of work go into producing them. Though not entirely
relevant but something that's sprung to mind is researching how the
character customisation of online games work. Especially to the
level that games have now. What kind of base meshes, UVs, textures
etc. would you need to produce a changing model that goes from thin
to fat, lanky to muscular, short to tall, young to old. Are certain
programmes in place for automatically producing subtle variations,
instead of making each individual model in that spectrum or is it all
done by hand? Anyway researching game development in general (with a
focus on characters) is something I do need to look into.
- Understanding of the visual style of World of Warcraft and a passion to push it to the next level
World
of Warcraft worlds have a style that I can only really describe
right now as "painterly", which I tend to prefer than the
more realistic style worlds. With all the textures being hand
painted onto the models of characters, creatures,
armour, weapons and all parts of the world, and the creatures and
characters obviously not being realistic This is a style that I am
planning to explore more in my free time when it comes to me
just creating my own concepts and 3d models in 3ds max. From there I
hope to improve my texture painting skills, especially when it comes
to this style.
Submission
/ Portfolio requirements
Resume
Cover
letter
Portfolio,
and / or reel demonstrating relevant artistic skills required.Only
online artwork submissions will be accepted (e.g. website, blog or
online album)
So
at some point I'll need to create and design my own website to put my
portfolio/demo reel on. Adding to this I could establish an online
presence on other sites (like blogger)though I do need to post more
of my personal work on here. Then when It comes to looking through
and finding portfolio pieces for my main site/portfolio it won't be
as difficult and I' have a lot to choose from, whilst still keeping
the pressure off my work by having an informal online outlet to put
them on.
So
a summary TL;DR list for myself to go back to:
-Graduate
Develop
my:
-3D
modelling skills
-
Technical and observational drawings
-Hand painted texture
maps
-
Research game development in MMO games (with a personal focus on
character customisation)
-work
on staying motivated/focused on a task
-
Learn basic-intermediate animation skills
-
Keep posting my work on Blogger (or something similar.)
-Create
and design my own website to put my portfolio/demo reel on
At
some point I'll also need to find out the processes I'd need to
go through if I were to up sticks and move abroad for a job like
this.
No comments:
Post a Comment