Advice From a Sage / Advice From a n00b

Advice From A Sage:

I posted this before on my Facebook, but here it is again just in case. Thanks to Dani for making me aware of this.

Ed Catmull - How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity


Advice From A n00b:

Recently one of my students from the Summer Studio 2008 class e-mailed, asking me about my experiences in the Art Institute of Portland and the video game industry. I decided to post my reply so that perhaps it can be of use to more than one person.

Hi -----, I definitely remember you. You were one of the most inspired kids in that class.

Honestly, it's hard to give you a simple answer that doesn't sound like "Run!! Run away while you still can!!!"
So here's a more complex one:

The game industry was a very different creature when I first became interested in it. This was when I was in middle school, back in 1997 or so, and full-3D games were just becoming the hot new thing. I was also very much into animation, both traditional, and the CG stuff that the likes of Pixar, Rhythm & Hues, and PDI (now Dreamworks) were churning out. So the question for me was: Do I want to do games or do film? 10 years later I'm still asking myself that question, but it was always my dream to be doing this kind of stuff, whatever the medium happened to be.

And that's the important thing- it's gotta truly be your dream. You have to really want it. A fraction of people actually make it through the program at the Art Institute and graduate, and after that some still may not get jobs in the industry right off the bat. I think the reason why most drop-out in-progress is that they realize it's not what they really wanted to do, or because they thought it was an easy ticket to fame and fortune, and got a hard dose of reality instead. There are a lot of other factors, like they had financial problems, drug abuse, had a wife and kids, had to work two jobs and go to school at the same time, etc. etc. You must want it, and want it bad, because you're probably going to be sacrificing things like "having a life" to be dedicated to your work and your education.

After high school, I spent a couple of years in community college. I took a lot of computer science classes, as well as fine art, music theory, philosophy, played drums in a few jazz bands and the symphony, and other various stuff. I also got most of my "general studies" courses out of the way for very cheap instead of paying much more for the same classes at the Art Institute. I highly recommend taking this route, but if you've got your heart set on AiPD then I wont stand in your way. Just make sure to give yourself a very broad and diverse perspective through life experiences along the way. Join a baseball team, learn to play the trombone, study Inca art and culture, go teach English in Kiev for a few months, take your best friend on a road trip across the country to see a Dave Matthews Band concert and the car breaks-down half-way back, whatever. Contrary to what I just said, do try to have a life. These experiences are what will inspire and inform you as an artist, and they are far more important than just learning how to push verts around and set keyframes in Maya.

As far as the actual Art Institute of Portland goes, I believe it is better now than it's ever been before. You will learn everything you need to know to get your foot in the door of the game or animation industry, as long as you pay attention and do your best work. Be sure to make friends with other students and teachers, and collaborate with them. Networking is absolutely essential, and a school like this is the best place to start. You and your friends from school will help each other be successful for years to come. Build a great reputation for yourself and guard it with your life. These industries are still relatively small, and everybody knows everybody else after a few years into it. I've seen really skilled, experienced people have difficulty finding jobs in the industry just because they have a bad reputation. While you're in school, take creative risks and try new things. Try to work on collaborative projects. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, because this is the best time for you to make them. They wont cost you thousands of dollars like they can in the industry.

By the time you graduate, the game industry will be an even different creature than it is right now. Hopefully it will be a better, more mature one. Keep in mind that I've only been in the industry professionally for a little over a year and have only worked for one game studio so far, so my experience is limited. Right now, from what I've seen and heard from my friends at other studios, it's pretty common to be expected to work extra hours for free, competition between coworkers in the trenches and in management can end up getting bitter and self-destructive, the studio you're working for might go down in flames in a matter of a couple days without warning, etc. etc. It is comparatively a pretty risky industry, but it's improving and getting more diverse every day. Games like Braid prove that there's an alternative to the common "AAA" studio developer-publisher-distributor approach. It was developed by essentially two people, and shortly after its release online it was one of the top-10 games on Xbox 360 - amongst games like Halo 3, Mass Effect, and other "AAA" titles, which is encouraging. Hearing Ed Catmull talk about the way things work at Pixar, and the way they're helping to revive Disney is also very encouraging to me. So it's really not all doom and gloom, and where it is, it's really up to us to try to make it better.

Your first job will most likely not be your dream job. You might end up working on lame projects that don't inspire you. The studio might have a toxic environment due to politics and drama. I can't really speak on behalf of the film industry, but I think there are a lot of parallels. You'll just have to try to do your best every day anyway, and learn. The learning never stops. You must always take every opportunity to learn new things and improve yourself. If you can keep this up, I believe you'll end up at your dream job, or if not, you'll make something even better.

Over-all I think I made the right choice, because I can't imagine myself not working on this kind of stuff. Even if my day job was driving a garbage truck all day long (hey, I hear they get paid well!), I'd still come home to be creative with the computer. I think video games are a form of art, and are already a critical facet in our society, like the TV was 50 years ago, and the movie screen before that. We have a certain influence over our culture through media and can use it for good or evil (or in most cases, profit). We bring characters and worlds in our imagination to life and share them with a huge audience, we expose people to dazzling new ideas and new perspectives... Thinking about this kind of stuff is what makes it all worth it to me. If it does to you, then go for it. We need more inspired people doing these sorts of things, and I believe there will be plenty of different ways to be successful doing it.

So, after all that, I can now sum it up- It's hard, but it's worth it. There are a lot of things to stress about, but also a lot more substantial things to enjoy. Explore and discover, and you'll find out what you really want to do (and what classes to take). Use your time in school to make friends and help each other become talented, thoughtful, skilled artists, and you will be invaluable as an employee in any creative industry. This isn't just a matter of career choice- do what makes you happy, and what you think is worthwhile with the limited time you have in life. Settle for nothing less.

Keep in touch, I hope to see your name in the credits someday!
-Nathan

Holy Moly

Wow I've totally forgotten about this thing for way too long! Been busy... will post more on that later.
For now, here's a quick little pic I did for a friend from Second Life. First sketch I've actually finished in like, forever. Proof that I can actually finish drawings sometimes... :P



Done with Photoshop and a mouse, cause my Wacom stylus has died.
She is: A woozl. In space. Awesome.