Choosing to work in the game industry as a Character artist, I had to consider the difficulty in finding a job and the possibility of relocating to the company location. Being a character artist requires to have an understanding of various modelling packages like Maya, 3ds Max, Zbrush and Mudbox. This is because different studios have build there pipeline around a certain software. Whereas, some studios, like Naughty Dog, use either Zbrush and Mudbox for their character creation process depending on the artists preference. Another requirement is to have an understanding of mesh topology, because that creates an efficient modelling practice for in-game character creation. Good understanding of UV layout for texture maps and how can that be best utilized. The use of Photoshop for creating high quality textures. And a character artist should have a basic understanding of Rigging and Animation principles and how they are applied to a character.
Some of the issues that I might face in the begging of my career path is that most of the software that is required for me to do my job is very expensive and as a junior artist that is making his way in to industry will be quite difficult to achieve. Some of the software is free to download as a student version, but that can not be used to sale your work if you want pursue a more freelance type of work which immediately pulls you back. Another issue that some people might face as I mentioned before is you finding a job in another country and the possibility of relocation. For me personally this is not an issue, because this gives you a lot more opportunities and chances to build your experience, meet new people and expand your knowledge of how different companies in industry work.
Other potentially related industries that I can go in to as a character artist are the film, advertising and 3D figurine industry.
As part of our task we had to research jobs in the UK in the roles that we were interested in and the other group had to research positions around the world. The data that was collected and analysed didn't meat my expectations and I was very surprised by finding out the role of a character artist is wildly advertised around the UK, which has made me consider my possibility of finding a job in the game industry is a lot higher in the UK than anywhere else in the world.
The research I made in to the availability of a position for a junior character artist in the game industry has lead me to believe that there are more available positions and opportunities in North America and parts of Asia, but as I mentioned before, I was quite surprised by the fact that there is a lot of opportunities here in the UK. Some of the positions I stumbled upon in my research were for an Associate Character artist at Sledgehammer Games and EA studios and also a Senior Character position at Bioware were the ones that I think I could meet the requirements for.
I have chosen to use an existing website like Artstation.com to create my portfolio page, which is wildly know to the artists community and could be used to showcase your work to get feedback from other artists and compare it with other artists work. Other methods that could be used for promoting yourself is Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin, which could be used to create connections and contacts with people from industry.
Before creating a professional portfolio which will showcase my work and skill set, I must look in to the used of PBR in the character creation process, learn more advance texturing techniques and build my knowledge of Photoshop and maybe research the use of alternative methods of texturing like substance designer. I also have to improve upon my sculpting and 3D modelling skills to bring them to a higher standard.
In conclusion, there are opportunities and positions for a character artist in the UK and around the world, but the main thing that I need to look in to is to improve upon some of my skills and knowledge and which will help me in to polishing some of my work and creating new pieces of work that I can include in my portfolio and show-reel.
