Task 24: Personal review of the second year: Where do you want to go, and how do you get there?

Education, It seems like you can’t really get anywhere these days without one. University’s provide the opportunity to gain a higher form of education from the one that is required of you by law.  The word university is derived from the latin ‘universitas magistrorum et scholarium’, which basically means ‘community of teachers and scholars’.

In Europe the first university is considered to have been 1088 in Bologna Italy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_universities_in_continuous_operation

So what did I want and expect from university?

Simply, the two things I think I expected from university was to learn new basic skills necessary for my future career and the formation of important skills and how to apply them to achieve the desired results of work. I had no experience in the ‘game art’ field before, had a passion for video games and art  so felt it was something I could get into and enjoy, without getting bored of it, because who wants a boring career?

What I wanted from university spread further than what I expected of the university. I wanted the obvious like a degree and a job but for me, coming to university wasn’t just academic, it was about proving that I can manage on my own in all areas of life beyond the lectures and workloads, building upon organisation, financial management and coping with a higher level of independents. A lot of these skills, including academic ones, have been learnt and improved by trial and error, exploring and researching into things off my own back. University never promised you anything, just allows you the opportunity to better yourself.  I am familiar with art related courses so I expected the level and quantity of work we have been set in the past two years.  I also expected it to be much more hands on all year round than just revising a little bit at the end of the year and handing in an essay.

I can definitely say that because of university I am more of a driven person now and less lazy. Through doing projects I am still learning organizational skills and time management, which I hope to have mastered before the third year FMP. I have worked outside of university aswell which has made me more self-disciplined and confident when interacting with people.

So fingers crossed, by the end of the three years at university, If I’ve put the effort in and taken on board the guidance and knowledge given to me by my lecturers then theres nothing to say I shouldn’t be worthy of a degree and hopefully a job in the games industry. 

Task 23: Life Changing or Career Building?

The game art course that I’m currently on has three main aspects to it, 3D, 2D and critical studies. I think the fact that it covers a wider range of skills than any other art related course, makes it harder to know what to teach and prioritise them effectively.  Like myself, I’m sure a lot of people didn’t or still don’t know what field they would like to go into within the game industry so that’s another thing that hinders what to specifically teach. Another problem is that the games industry is one in which is continuously developing when it comes to technology and ways of carrying out jobs. So knowing that something you could teach may not even be in use anymore by the time a student graduates must put added pressure on what to include in the curriculum. With things like the xbox one being revealed powered by new engines will the old ones including software being used today become obsolete and less used as someone like myself breaks into the industry?

A guest character modeller came into speak to us a little while ago, and he explained that they don’t even use the words low poly anymore because nothing is ‘low’ poly for current and next gen consoles. Everything from buttons to stitching on jeans is modelled now to ensure a high consistency throughout the game. A standard character he would work on would be between 25-50k triangles and that was an NPC.

There is only so much that can be taught, that’s why it is important as a student to take it upon yourself to teach yourself skills that range beyond the fundamentals. There’s been many of times I’ve gone onto YouTube to look up how to do something on UDK or 3Ds Max. This is also what the game art Facebook page is designed for, to crit and learn from your mistakes and build upon them.

From what I’ve seen, the companies like a majority of things in someone. Creativity, technical ability and I personally think whether you as a person would fit in. Your portfolio can only take you so far, If you like this is the ‘get you noticed’ aspect to getting a career. That’s why the interview process is also involved because they wouldn’t want to choose someone that would be a night mare to work with. This is a reason I think that the blog is as important as the other areas in this course because it gives the industry an insight into your personality without meeting you.    

Personally I think the key things that need to be taught are the basics, like fundamentals within 2D, techniques, colour theory, perspective and proportion. With 3D, basic modelling and unwrapping techniques, low poly character and vehicle making. The basics combined with a positive attitude and the ability to pick things up easily and I think you would be good competition to the thousands of others trying to make it in the games industry.  

Late second year and the third year I don’t really think that much can be taught because everyone is kind of breaking off into their own specific field, advice can be given though to be guided in the right direction.

Other than being taught, the course can give you opportunity to learn. When saying opportunity to learn I mean put you in situations where you learn things, for example the group project. Here you learn from others and by actively doing rather than looking at a tutorial on a projector.

Other experiences like publicly discussing your work within your course, as much as we all dislike doing it, helps to prepare you for similar situations you’ll face in the industry.

Education and specifically this game art course doesn’t just teach, it prepares and moulds you into strong competitors for a career in the games industry.