BA2: Contextual Studies

BA2 Contextual Studies:
Researching Professions within the Games Industry

We were given a small research task to do in which we had to look into jobs  within the games industry and try to further our knowledge into them. We were emailed a list (as follows) and asked to choose the 2 that interested us the most and were our preferable careers of choice. That list was: 

Game Designer
Technical Artist
Artist
3D Modeller
2D Texture Artist
Concept Artist
Level Editor
GUI Designer
Assistant Producer
Game Tester 

As you can see, I chose 3D modeller and concept artist. Even though at this stage I am no 3D modeller, nor do I have any 3D modelling experience, it is definitely something I would be interested in following as a career. As for concept artist, well, that is just the artist inside of me trying to escape. 

Concept Artist:

Here are some facts and theories I took from the website http://www.animationarena.com who seem to give some helpful advice on becoming an concept artist and their roles in the industry. 

This person will create and design characters and worlds used within the game.
To begin with, everything is created on paper as a rough concept. When this is approved, it goes through a cleaning up period which may involve scanning the designs on to computer and using an art package such as Photoshop to perfect fine line work and add details. Colour is then introduced into the Image so that the texture artist can create the correct textures for the world or character. Once the concept artwork has been completed it is passed on to the 3D Model Builder (or Animator if it is an animated character).

A concept artist will be required to:

Ensure the design fits with the general look and feel of the game

Achieve maximum effect with minimum complexity - complex designs eventually lead to more complex 3D models (something that can be easily created with as few polygons as possible is desirable)

Consider colours and colour schemes used to maintain a balance of colour throughout the design.

How do I become a Concept Artist in the games industry?
Hmmm, this is a tricky one. Concept art cannot really be taught. Being a good concept artist is about drawing as much as you possibly can, whenever you can. The great Chuck Jones once said that every artist has a million naff drawings inside them, it's just a matter of working through them so you get to the point where you only produce your best.
I myself have been drawing from the very first moment I picked up a pencil, but to get really good takes time and persistence. It's good that you admire Disney and Anime but don't try to copy and imitate them too much, use the style and line construction as a guide and try to develop your own line style and characters. If you spend most of your time copying other people's work you will never learn how to come up with outstanding creations of your own.
A good way of getting good is to focus on an aspect of drawing that you really enjoy. I chose traditional animation and background art, it teaches you a lot about a character's attitude, emotion, and motivation, aspects which are all to important when creating believable characters and environments.

Drawing characters and animals
One of the most important parts of becoming a good character and animal illustrator is life drawing and good observation skills. Try to learn as much as you can about anatomy, proportion and skeletal structures, this will ensure that you put the right muscle in the right place, there's nothing worse that a character with made up anatomy. Life drawing may be a little daunting at times but if you get good at it the rules of construction and pose that you learn will come across in your own creative work.

Creating environments
Again, as with characters, observation and drawing from real buildings and landscapes will teach you how to produce realistic environments that seem real and believable. Focus the layout and try to find the hidden composition that makes for a captivating and impressive environment, this will all go towards helping you to come up with your own creations and how to make the unreal seem real.

A few main points to remember:
Keep drawing and don't copy other people's work, use it as a guide and learn from what they have done.

Don't be afraid of blank paper - just get in there and draw, nothing ever comes out right first time anyway.

Be critical of your art, and look hard at it to see what doesn't look right and then change weak aspects and improve on parts that already work within the illustration. 

Concept artists according to blitz games studios

 

When a new concept for a game asset or feature is required, it's the job of the Concept Artist to realise that concept in a visual form. Concept Artists usually draw a 2D image of the required asset, environment or character, which is then passed onto production and/or included in documentation. The Concept Artist is responsible for envisioning and presenting the visual style of the game under the direction of the art or creative director. Superlative skills in draughtsmanship coupled with a vivid imagination and a range of styles are the keys to success. The best Concept Artists live to draw! Being able to draw and render well in traditional as well as digital media is a prerequisite, as well as having the ability to constantly refine your work and accept constructive criticism.

The Concept Artist has the freedom to define the look of a whole game, so accepts a great deal of the responsibility for the final look of the game. The Concept Artist role is a demanding, pressurised role that is offset by a great deal of creative freedom and reward.

3D Artist: 

According to blitz games studios

As the name suggests, the 3D artist's working day consists of creating objects, characters and scenery in three dimensions. Most of this work will usually be achieved in one of the major 3D software packages, such as Maya, 3D Studio Max, Softimage XSI or Lightwave among others.

The artist usually works from a piece of concept art and creates the model (otherwise known as an art asset) from start to finish. This includes building the initial model, the creation and subsequent application of texture maps, the addition of project-specific blind data, and in some cases visual effects nodes, and even hardware graphics shaders. Though this all sounds rather daunting, the ability to model and texture well will get you through the door - after that the rest will come as you learn on the job.

Some companies make a job role separation between 3D Artist and 2D Texture Artist; however, most expect the 3D artists to complete the texturing phase as well as the modelling.

Conclusion:

From what I can tell (and from various websites and job listings I have been reading) the job of a conceptual artist varies across the board. Sometimes the best way to describe them is purely by the term “artist” as their roles can give them core lead on the visuals of an entire game, or just small sections and elements of it. Generally though, a concept artists is known and hired for their creativity and imagination, plus their ability to conjure up magical work from their own minds of based off of other “artists” and “designers” within the games company.

3D artists are a littler easier to define. They build structures, characters, objects and items that are  3D. Sometimes it appears that a 3D artist will also be required to have knowledge in texture work and be able to work in 2D as well, but mainly they are used to build parts for games in an 3 dimensional environment.