Future Career Dilemma

[Zerghammer]

Hey MMO-champions peeps!


I'm currently in my second year of highschool and lately I've been thinking about my future career and I'm facing a big dilemma...

I just want to get this quick.I want to be an Artist,more specifically a Digital Artist.I've been doing 3D/concepts/models for over about a year now and I make ome money too.The problem is that where I live(Romania) there are no Universities that teach 3D Art/Animation,but mostly design and traditional art,and worse...there are only a few game studios out here,so getting a job would be difficult.

I want to go to UK after finishing highschool,but in order to study there I need....MONEY!It would take years,even with my current monthly income to get money and money from my parents to study there.I considered a second plan,following my career as a programmer,if that doesn't work.
I consider myself good in both branches.I'm one of the best programmers in my class,same goes for art.I know C# and C++ and I'm doing very well on the art-side aswell,the only difference is that I spend more time on improving my art skills,rather than my programming.

I want to make a decision in the upcoming months as I don't want to spend 3 years improving my art skills and then becoming a programmer.As a programmer,I wouldn't need to leave my country and I could get a decent job,but if I want to follow the other option...leaving the country is necessary.

I'm looking for some advice,maybe there are programmers and artists on this forum

Thanks!

[Deleted]

Hey MMO-champions peeps!


I'm currently in my second year of highschool and lately I've been thinking about my future career and I'm facing a big dilemma...

I just want to get this quick.I want to be an Artist,more specifically a Digital Artist.I've been doing 3D/concepts/models for over about a year now and I make ome money too.The problem is that where I live(Romania) there are no Universities that teach 3D Art/Animation,but mostly design and traditional art,and worse...there are only a few game studios out here,so getting a job would be difficult.

I want to go to UK after finishing highschool,but in order to study there I need....MONEY!It would take years,even with my current monthly income to get money and money from my parents to study there.I considered a second plan,following my career as a programmer,if that doesn't work.
I consider myself good in both branches.I'm one of the best programmers in my class,same goes for art.I know C# and C++ and I'm doing very well on the art-side aswell,the only difference is that I spend more time on improving my art skills,rather than my programming.

I want to make a decision in the upcoming months as I don't want to spend 3 years improving my art skills and then becoming a programmer.As a programmer,I wouldn't need to leave my country and I could get a decent job,but if I want to follow the other option...leaving the country is necessary.

I'm looking for some advice,maybe there are programmers and artists on this forum

Thanks!

If you live in Romania you will always have to leave the country to make decent money.
Go to Germany for University, you can live in students dorms for like 230€ a Month and Tuition costs 275€ a Semester

The Degrees are acknowledged worlwide and you can easily make 15€+ at a Students Job without paying taxes when your a decent programmer.

The Issue of course being that youd have to learn german :P

[Deleted]

I just want to get this quick.I want to be an Artist,more specifically a Digital Artist.I've been doing 3D/concepts/models for over about a year

I want to go to UK after finishing highschool,but in order to study there I need....MONEY

I considered a second plan,following my career as a programmer,if that doesn't work.

Based on that, I offer a suggestion.

University of Abertay, Dundee.

EU students have to pay no tuition fees for Scottish Unis currently.

It is the cheapest city in the UK for students to live in.

Abertay has an industry and skillset accredited Computer Arts (3D Modelling etc) course. They're also not half bad when it comes to programming, but other Unis may be better.

http://www.abertay.ac.uk/studying/find/ug/comparts/
http://www.abertay.ac.uk/studying/find/ug/computing/

Also, it's not listed under your preferrences, but if you're not half bad at programming and want to make money, you may want to consider Abertay's Ethical Hacking course.

http://www.abertay.ac.uk/studying/find/ug/ethhac/

You pass the course in that, you will have absolutely -NO- difficulty finding a job, and you can bet it will pay well.

Edit: Just noticed this part

there are only a few game studios out here,so getting a job would be difficult.

You're after a job in the Games Industry, you want to go to Abertay. Teesside being the other UK option. But trust me when I say, Abertay is probably one of the best places in the world to do a course related to gaming. They have a phenomenal amount of contact with the industry, they regularly host a competition for groups to make Games (http://www.daretobedigital.com/) with the winners having a chance of receiving a BAFTA for the game.

Source?

Myself, I'm currently studying Games Design & Production Management at Abertay.

[Dundebuns]

I would suggest a different approach. I would find something a bit more applicable you can do, such as Engineering or Science, and work on your art as a hobby, similar to what you are doing now. That way you will have a very stable career bringing in good money allowing you to do as you please for your hobby while you work it up, with the eventual intention of making a leap into that field permanently. You'll also get a lot of experience that you wont get from working in art (working intimately with groups of people, all manner of different projects etc). I am in an enviable position where I trained as a scientist, now I work for an international IT company, and in my spare time I design video games for a fledgling indie studio.

If that doesn't float your boat, look into courses around advertising and such. That way you get to do some hands on and applicable art modules. Do not look at marketing, that's more bushinessy

[Mondroc]

As some who studied and worked in the field I can tell you there are far better and cheaper ways of attaining your goals. While university is something I did (multiple times - I get bored easily and had the luck to be born into a family that can easily afford it. Was working on a law degree until health issues took over ) it's actually quite rare in the field, at least from my experiences. I can honestly say I learnt very little about 3D at university (although I did learn a little tertiary stuff but nothing that directly related) and learnt a lot more on my own or with online aids. Also, stay away from books.. there are a few good ones but most of them won't really help.

Edit: Just to be clear - I'm not at all saying you shouldn't go to university. I just wouldn't recommend doing a 3d related course. Do something more general. The quality of your work in this industry is far, far, FAR more important then how you learnt it. If you submit a stunning portfolio they won't care whether you got a perfect grade at university or learnt on an old laptop under a falling down bridge with a pirated copy of the software. Doing a more general art related course will teach you valueable things such as colour theory, correct use of lighting, rule of 3rds and all of that stuff but you can learn it elsewhere and if money is an issue, there are plenty of online resources that are relativly cheap and much better (In my humble opinion).

[Zerghammer]

Thanks for all these answers guys!I really appreciate it!

I've been following some online tutorials/courses for a while,with the help from the money I get by freelancing as an artist.I'm trying to learn as much as I can from every branch so I have at least the minimum knowledge...

People have previously told me that I could follow my art passion as a hobby and follow my career as a programmer,but the thing is I've yet to delve into the deep roots of programming and I don't think I will succeed at that(mostly because my math skills are very low).I programmed games before,but I've never done "real" programming.
While on the art-side I've done mostly everything,environments,textures,animation,rigging...and I have a stable base which I can work up upon.

Fortunately I still have like 3 years to decide!

[Rukentuts]

Keep in mind your decision doesn't have to be rigid the moment you leave high school. As you learn about your major in college, you may decide it's not right for you. This isn't the end of the world and happens all the time.

[Deleted]

Alas, don't know where to suggest you to go. I understood in Denmark education is free for EU residents too undercertain conditions, so you could try searching for a university there.
Also, I remember there was a program for UK where you could learn for free but only if you stayed for a number of years and worked there in the UK and payed back the bills. I don't know if it applies to your choice of type of university though.

Also, you could try making pictures of sorts or something and sell them now to get money to get some and be able to move to UK for a true university, this would be an option too.

[Deleted]

Dont get caught in the trap that you need math to be a programmer
Programmers Math doesnt have much to do with University level math unless you go into specific fields.

[imabanana]

If you're going after the game industry, I'd say studies may be important, but not the most important. I've known highly educated people fail in gaming industry quickly, but also the complete opposite, self-tought people who got in there quite brilliantly... especially one who got in there as programmer after literature studies. Most important is to really love it, and work hard on it outside school, even if you are in art or computer school. Also, start producing some "real" things as quickly as possible (small games/technical demos as programmer, concepts/ideas as digital artist) to have some things to show off at later interviews, or if really lucky, get enough "e-reputation" to be contacted directly (see what happened to minimallyminimal blog creator for example, started by sharing his ideas/works on his website at 18, starts working at Microsoft soon, "only" 4 years later)

Also, either as a designer or a programmer, the same thing applies to gaming industry : you will need to accept being under paid (unless you're a genius). There is so little offers but to much applications in this field that companies can easily recruit at low costs. Also, don't fear getting a job in a company that will go bankrupt quickly or barely survive for years, this is what most gaming studios currently live (in fact, I think everyone I know working in this field has seen at least one bankruptcy of a company he worked for in the first 5 years of work).

For any work, motivation is the first thing you'll need, but this is even more the case in gaming industry, which will sometimes have to blend in with some kind of complete dedication.

[Rukentuts]

As a software engineer I would highly recommend avoiding the gaming industry. The hours are terrible (especially near release), and the pay is worse.

You can get significantly better pay doing software for other applications besides gaming.

[Deleted]

You could look at Train2Game courses (http://www.train2game.com/). At then end you get a TIGA (http://www.tiga.org/) qualification which is recognised by the gaming industry.

You can take the course at your own pace, and is purely online as well.

In your case there is this course http://www.train2game.com/courses/artist-and-animator/

[Deleted]

You could look at Train2Game courses (http://www.train2game.com/). At the end you get a TIGA (http://www.tiga.org/) qualification which is recognised by the gaming industry.

You can take the course at your own pace, and is purely online as well.

In your case there is this course http://www.train2game.com/courses/artist-and-animator/

[Skippy88]

My question is do you need to be in the gaming industry? There's all kinds of different industries that have art departments like tv, magazines, or really any industry that has a marketing component. You obviously love art and your good at it. Just keep your options open as you never know who might offer you a job.

Keep making money on the side and ask other relatives for donations to your college/university fund. You may have to take out a loan though from a bank. Some schools have scholarships so also look into that.

Good luck!

[Zerghammer]

I'm not really looking specifically into the gaming industry,but in a more general way as a Digital Artist(wheter it's Gaming Industry,Movie Industry and so on...).

Does every compnay require advanced studies(college,university) in order to get hired?What if I can get away with a very good portofolio and no university studies?Or follow a programming-related university and then go to art,vice-versa?

Oh,and here's my intial portofolio from when I started about a year and a half ago,I haven't updated it since then.I've progressed A LOT since then.
http://nrobertartist.carbonmade.com/

[Varabently]

I would suggest a different approach. I would find something a bit more applicable you can do, such as Engineering or Science, and work on your art as a hobby, similar to what you are doing now. That way you will have a very stable career bringing in good money allowing you to do as you please for your hobby while you work it up, with the eventual intention of making a leap into that field permanently. You'll also get a lot of experience that you wont get from working in art (working intimately with groups of people, all manner of different projects etc). I am in an enviable position where I trained as a scientist, now I work for an international IT company, and in my spare time I design video games for a fledgling indie studio.

If that doesn't float your boat, look into courses around advertising and such. That way you get to do some hands on and applicable art modules. Do not look at marketing, that's more bushinessy

I like this idea, but I would caution him to go down a path that doesn't interest him. I would be surprised if engineering or chemistry or something weren't interesting to a technical person who wants to program/3d design, but you never know.

[Sharde]

a pretty far fetched solution would be to get the standard programing degree and start to make your own games. beeing able to do both, art and programming, should help. and if romania really is a developement black hole you should find others who are interested to start a company.

or study something for money and create games in your free time till you have luck and be able to go fulltime indi.

movies on the other hand seem to be really centralized in the usa. you seem to have no luck in that department ...

[someotherguy]

You are going to make more money as a programmer than as an Artist.

If you want to make your own games, your art skill will be invaluable, but your program skill will be necessary to get anything done (you won't find programmers who code your vision - that doesn't happen unless you have cash to burn).

My advice: Major in programming, take any electives you can in arts.

To my knowledge more programmers have made their own games, than artists.

As someone who is very artistically challenged, I'm jealous of you.