I Want to be a CG Artist!

Make Models, Animate, Effects - Make Games and Movies .....

I've been into computers, graphics, and gaming for many years now and the pace at which computers and software have progressed has been nothing short of amazing. It's easy to see the association of gaming, movies, video and other productions as being a mutual learned process.

In many ways they are. Fortunately many software use close to the same commands for some features, which makes the learning curve of different programs less steep.

Ten years ago, as able as programs were; there was always the need to get an angle on a technique to achieve the right look or function in a model, composition or animation. Rarely did anything do as it was designed, right out of the box.

Not much has changed now. Many programs still offer features that work under the best of setups, but require a significant amount of tweaking and investigation to get the look you are after. Unlike what many clients may believe, the computer does not do all the work.


Curiosity vs. Drive and Investment of Time

I know plenty of young people that see CG everywhere they look and that is for sure, it is. CG has penetrated many forms of advertising and is less a luxury as it is a necessity for a variety of businesses beyond entertainment.

So of course, you hear about budgets of big movies and read about the cost of effects which must translate into a big pay day for the artists working on them. Not only do you like what you see but you would like to start a career creating and getting paid to do so.

The best advice I can give anyone is that if you don't have in inherent interest in art. Whether it be hand drawing, painting, or other creative outlet, the technical side of cg may run you down. I put up with the math elements and odd words and terms to get my artistic vision modeled, edited, and animated.

You don't need drawing skills to do any CG work, but you need that creative drive already in you. CG is best an extension of your existing creativity. Getting a grasp of the complexities and nuances that exist in programs and channeling those to produce whats in your minds eye can be a task. What gets you through it is your creative drive/ability.

As amazing as programs and processing powers exist now, I often wonder how I would fair if I just started today. I'm pretty sure I would be overwhelmed with my options. Considering the costs and the time I know that would be required, I would have to question this as a career.

Being young helps. I started when I was 30 which I think is a very tight borderline age today.
Expectations are very high now whereas when I started, the hobbiest market is what fed the early business markets with employees.

The job market has completely changed and the competition for the same jobs has quadrupled.

It's All in the Details - Investment of Time

Even though speed, accessibility, and program interoperability has increased, so has the overall complexity of programs. To be a Jack of All Trades or a Generalist of which I consider myself; is a product of multiple years of long nights and weekends training.

This career is not something honed in intermittent idle hours on an irregular schedule. Like any other job skill, it requires a commitment and effort to stick with it outside of a class.

The problem I see with commercials offering courses in CG studies is that they play to the obvious. People playing games and watching a finished animation. This gives no insight to the personal investment (which is long) to get there.