QUESTION
by Billynose (billynose@billynose.f9.co.uk)
about getting into the industry:
I’m
currently working on a show-reel of my work, but I was wondering
what type of work impresses potential employers? Should I be doing
Low poly meshes...and if so how many faces...Should I include
a collection of texture tiles? Or would actual full scenes be
more worth while?
ANSWER:
This
is a tough question to answer, actually because it depends on
what kind of job you are going for. If you are going for a 3-D
modeling position you will definitely want to include some low-poly
work. Since technology is advancing all the time, the number of
polys in a mesh that a game can handle is growing too. So, one
way you might want to approach it is by doing a model with a high
poly count, medium poly count and low poly count. This will show
that you are versatile in all areas. As far at the actually number
for a low poly count, you might want to keep it somewhere around
300-800 polys. Again, this really depends on what the model is
that you are making. If you are making a model of a car, then
it is significantly less than if you are making a boss character
or something complex.
If
you are just going for a texture artist position, then low-poly
modeling might not be the skill they are looking for (although
if you are good at it, I wouldn’t hesitate to show an example
or two in your portfolio). A collection of textures is always
good -- that’s what I did for my portfolio. But I also included
3-D rendered scenes with my textures on them too.
QUESTION
by Angus "froofy" McCann (macnel@primus.com.au)
about color art:
For color
art in games, what medium is usually used? Is it painting, digital
tablet, or pencil sketch and color added after it is scanned?
The reason I ask is that I have little experience with color.
ANSWER:
Really
all kinds of mediums are used for color art in games. All of the
above that you mentioned. I’ve seen people scan in acrylic
paintings and use them for backgrounds in games. Usually though,
almost every piece of art that is scanned in needs some level
of clean up in Photoshop. For things like textures, the majority
of it comes from working in Photoshop or Painter using the plain
old mouse or drawing (digital) tablet. If it is concept art, then
a lot of the time people do pencil drawings which are scanned
in and color is added over top in Photoshop. They don’t necessarily
add the color straight over the pencil lines but many times use
the pencil lines as a separate layer that they can see at the
bottom as a guide. It’s really up the artist’s own style,
however.
By
the way, Angus, I will be getting to your critique you sent in
on the next issue of Painting on Polygons. That also goes for
Orlin too. Orlin, I apologize that it has been so long since you
first submitted and I haven’t posted it yet.
I want
to say thank you to everyone who sent in questions. It’s
nice to know that my advice has been helpful. Thanks.
-
Rick "Flatness" Grossenbacher works on Gameboy Color
games for Vicarious Visions.
