Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
Hi Paul, so you pressed that poor 18 year old boyfriend of your daughter into giving you a reliable and realistic plan of the future? He had to come up with something at least related to your field, if only to make you feel more comfortable because you wouldn´t question a decision similar to yours, of course. Kids are clever, even if they just look plain slothy at a glance. It takes a lot of brains to skip homework and not get caught. Now that you´ve been pulled in to do the research and give him a headstart (for the love of your daughter) how about questioning the future in general? Your girl is around 18, so is her boyfriend. Expect some surprising changes in the situation. Part of growing up should be the right to change mind and try things instead of locking on on version one. That said, I would not recommend jumping to conclusions too much in terms of judging the current economic situation in VFX and Games as the only measure of being able to make a living with artwork. BUT. It´s a very limited market with lot´s of competition and only too few shops to go to. This depends on the country of course, here in Germany, we have 3-5 film VFX shops, 10-25 postproduction boutiques and 3-5 Games facilities. I´m skimming off the top of the crop but on purpose. This boils down to some 30 options to start with, taking an average 10% rule, that makes 3 empty slots to fill for an average guy. Personally, I studied graphics design and can recommend it for the broad set of influences I came in touch with, even if completely unrelated to what I currently do, the studying gave me the time to build up a more extensive set of skills and also made me learn basic project management and budgeting skills. The most important thing is the friends I made there, people tend to stick together and remember each other. Graphics design really isn´t my field of work but the artsy types are sort of the same feather. I would recommend getting a degree. It gives you access to options you can´t have all by yourself. Cheers, tim P.S: There´s a lot of freedom in all the big, impossing players going down the drain,even if it shows the button pushing concept doesn´t work. Unfortunately, they try to be cheap with artists again and again. I can´t recommend trying to do artwork/design/quality for such a business people... On 17.06.2013 13:42, Paul Griswold wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
RE: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
Yeah don't get me wrong. Its not like coding is the easiest thing ever. Just like art it is a skill that you need to perfect, master and work hard at and even then it still could be a stretch for people if their brain just isn't wired for it. When I was in art school, one of the requirements was to do some graphics programming...in Turbo Pascal of all things. My classmate took to it instantly and is coding today on HALO of all things. It might as well been ancient Greek to me. But Raf is spot on. It's the portability of coding that can better insulate you from the churn in the CG industry. This kind of art is just harder to be portable. I remember a long time ago saying that I didn't want to be 40 and still an environment artist. Well, I am 40...I am not an environment artist but I am not as far along in my career as I would like. :) ___ Marc Brinkley GO GO GO Microsoft Studios [Fun]ction Studio marc.brinkley [at] microsoft.com From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Raffaele Fragapane Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 8:25 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev To no-one in particular: Software development, thinking cooly, is ALWAYS going to be a safer choice in terms of future proofing your arse than most content work, and a good chunk of the artistic work. It simply gives you a much broader range of skills and a much higher level of portability of efforts the more you do it at almost any level. If you've worked in an RnD department in a film shop for years, or did work on a game engine, chances are in a pinch you can move to mobile development in no time if needed, or web development, with just some minor language adjustments. It doesn't mean anybody can do it though. Not that's beyond people's intelligence, but because not everybody has the aptitude or interest, or is willing to put up with the relatively steep entry fee, much like not everybody is up for the gruelling years it takes before being able to do half decent concept design It's a mistake to think this is purely related to development work. It's just development work tends to cater to a certain type of individual more frequently than most other roles (but you'll also find plenty fossilized one-trick-pony developers that didn't survive some bubble or other bursting). A big problem with our industry is that it's always encouraged too many and too much in the middle ground of button pushing and hacking together culture, and now large amounts of people find themselves with skills and mentalities that have absolutely zero portability whatsoever, because they focused on tools and procedure, and never on fundamentals and concepts. The way out of that is encouraging a healthy and curious approach to disciplines, whichever they are, that has little to do with one's previous employment, and a lot more to do with what you learned, how and why. When all you do is pull levers and push buttons in some exotic software, with little knowledge of cause and reason, you shouldn't be surprised when you find out they'll replace you with a monkey the moment they invent a machine with less and better levers. Just make sure you learn more than pulling levers and pushing buttons and you'll be a lot more likely to have a plan B, and possibly a healthier outlook on employment in general. If you're pointing a kid in some direction in his life at the present and uncertain times, don't start showering him in horror stories about the field (because you can dredge up many of those in practically ANY line of intellectual work), just make sure he doesn't become a monkey.
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
yeah but the step up or alternative is a manager or supervisor and to be found in production meetings and negotiations (or handing out shotgun tasks) all day and not doing any actual 3D 'art' anymore...;) I'm with Carl Jung on this one. “You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.”
OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/on-game-schools Small but very informative vid, part of a much larger series which is equally excellent and accessible. Make sure he understands what exactly a Dev does. It often gets tossed like a blanket statement to cover a vast number of disciplines. (coder, director, writer, art director...) Early exposure to game engines and especially languages (c#,c++,java script, python) serves the dual purpose of letting you discover if this is something you like doing, and gives you a head start when entering a related curriculum. Finally I'd say don't sugar coat it, its going to be hard, its a very competitive path to take in life. On 17 June 2013 13:42, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
He should be directed to download all three of these game engines. Digital-Tutors has training on all three engines, and Eat 3D has training for Unreal and CryEngine. Free edition of Unreal Engine 3 http://www.unrealengine.com/udk Free edition of CryEngine 3 http://mycryengine.com Free edition of Unity 3D. Unity is primarily used to create mobile and web games, but can also deploy games to consoles or the PC. http://unity3d.com/unity/download/ Daniel VFXM On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 7:13 AM, Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/on-game-schools Small but very informative vid, part of a much larger series which is equally excellent and accessible. Make sure he understands what exactly a Dev does. It often gets tossed like a blanket statement to cover a vast number of disciplines. (coder, director, writer, art director...) Early exposure to game engines and especially languages (c#,c++,java script, python) serves the dual purpose of letting you discover if this is something you like doing, and gives you a head start when entering a related curriculum. Finally I'd say don't sugar coat it, its going to be hard, its a very competitive path to take in life. On 17 June 2013 13:42, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
I don't know what exactly he is interested in. Modelling, mapping, programming etc. But i think it can be good to get involved in a mod team. For the rest, i think unknown world are doing an interesting job. They started with a mod for halflife 1 and now have a company of around 9 people so it's a small team. http://unknownworlds.com/ns2/ The game got in the top 25 shooters all time by pc gamer at a position of 15. It's coded in lua script which allows a lot to be done with less code. But if he's interested in programming i think a good start is learning processing. www.processing.org It's a dialect for java which allows a lot to be done quite easy. They have huge friendly community. hope that helps. 2013/6/17 Daniel H vfxc...@gmail.com He should be directed to download all three of these game engines. Digital-Tutors has training on all three engines, and Eat 3D has training for Unreal and CryEngine. Free edition of Unreal Engine 3 http://www.unrealengine.com/udk Free edition of CryEngine 3 http://mycryengine.com Free edition of Unity 3D. Unity is primarily used to create mobile and web games, but can also deploy games to consoles or the PC. http://unity3d.com/unity/download/ Daniel VFXM On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 7:13 AM, Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/on-game-schools Small but very informative vid, part of a much larger series which is equally excellent and accessible. Make sure he understands what exactly a Dev does. It often gets tossed like a blanket statement to cover a vast number of disciplines. (coder, director, writer, art director...) Early exposure to game engines and especially languages (c#,c++,java script, python) serves the dual purpose of letting you discover if this is something you like doing, and gives you a head start when entering a related curriculum. Finally I'd say don't sugar coat it, its going to be hard, its a very competitive path to take in life. On 17 June 2013 13:42, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
I recommend full sail university ... they are specialized in game dev On 17 Jun 2013 14:43, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
RE: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
He should look at the polycount website - http://www.polycount.com/ There's lots of good info there, especially on the wiki pages. There's lots of information there about the industry, getting in, folios, roles, etc. G From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Daniel H Sent: 17 June 2013 13:39 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev He should be directed to download all three of these game engines. Digital-Tutors has training on all three engines, and Eat 3D has training for Unreal and CryEngine. Free edition of Unreal Engine 3 http://www.unrealengine.com/udk Free edition of CryEngine 3 http://mycryengine.com Free edition of Unity 3D. Unity is primarily used to create mobile and web games, but can also deploy games to consoles or the PC. http://unity3d.com/unity/download/ Daniel VFXM On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 7:13 AM, Sebastien Sterling sebastien.sterl...@gmail.commailto:sebastien.sterl...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/on-game-schools Small but very informative vid, part of a much larger series which is equally excellent and accessible. Make sure he understands what exactly a Dev does. It often gets tossed like a blanket statement to cover a vast number of disciplines. (coder, director, writer, art director...) Early exposure to game engines and especially languages (c#,c++,java script, python) serves the dual purpose of letting you discover if this is something you like doing, and gives you a head start when entering a related curriculum. Finally I'd say don't sugar coat it, its going to be hard, its a very competitive path to take in life. On 17 June 2013 13:42, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.commailto:pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul attachment: winmail.dat
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
I think you need to be brutally honest with him about the nature of the business, game development and visual F/X. I have some contact with students who go to my alma mater, Pratt Institute. I've been very honest with them about how our industry is changing and how tough it might be to make a career of it over the long haul. I've gone so far as to encourage them to look at other areas where they can use their skills in a different industry. It's simple economics, the amount they have to pay back is staggering and I do not envy anyone just coming out of school this year. I think the number one issue a lot of students aren't considering before they choose a school and a career is ROI - Return On Investement. There was a student I knew who wanted to be an architect, and she was considering a school that cost around $40-$50k per year for a 5 year program. I asked her if she knew what kind of money Architects made and she didn't. Knowing many architects personally, I told her what she could expect and explained how long at that salary range it would take to pay back those loans. Before our discussion, no one ever bothered to point this out, and she went away wiser for it. We've all seen the news, the studios closing or moving to other countries where labor is cheaper, or there is a subsidy to be had. The last several years has been especially tough for freelancers, we tend to really feel the effects of these things faster since our work is solely driven by demand and we're the first to go when things slow down. I think for young people looking to our line of work as being exciting and fun, which it is, but you have to also have them take a good long look at what it takes these days to get your foot in the door. An honest assessment of their skills is also important. Far better to wound their pride a little now rather than leading them down a path where they will find themselves unemployed or so saddled with debt that they regret the decision, maybe both. Not trying to be doom and gloom, but I see what's happening in VFX to be eerily similar to what happened in IT about 10-15 years ago. I'm just not sure how it's going to pan out. On the subject of schools, I haven't heard many good things about Full Sail. Do a quick google search and you'll find a lot of unhappy people who went there. Eric Freelance 3D and VFX animator http://vimeopro.com/user7979713/3d-work On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 8:52 AM, Nasser Al-Ostath mushin@gmail.com wrote: I recommend full sail university ... they are specialized in game dev On 17 Jun 2013 14:43, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
RE: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
From what I've seen, many of the kids coming out of schools these days are expecting to get a job handed to them right out the door because they have a piece of paper which states they're competent. Yay for competency, but employers want to see passion too. They want to see people who are cranking away and really into what it is they're doing, not someone who has a shiny new degree and completely devoid of clues. Honestly, I would avoid college altogether. One of the many unintended consequences of subsidization is the bidding up of tuition prices to the point the 1 trillion dollar student loan bubble in the US is on the brink of bursting. All the distortion that has occurred in the pricing will eventually get washed away by the incoming tide of reality, regardless of what anyone wants or says, or how benevolent the motivations were for the subsidization in the first place. Cue le sadface. I know it sounds all touchy feely warm fizzlies inside but things like persistence/perseverance, practice and passion. Those things will get him a long way towards accomplishing his goal. There's absolutely no reason he can't learn what he needs from forums, online tutorials and the like( eat3d, 3dmotive, 3dtotal, gnomonworkshops, zbrushworkshops, etc). It's far cheaper and will help determine if he's really passionate about this pursuit. If it's something he REALLY wants to do he WILL spend whatever amount of time it takes to accomplish the goal of breaking into the industry in whatever area it is he's most interested. Figuring out what that passion isthat's the hard part. This is advice coming from someone who followed that path though. It's not a methodology cut out for everyone. Some people need the structure and that provided by a classroom setting. Other people are very self-motivated and like making video games (or vfx or whatever else) and learn about it in their free time because it's fun and something they enjoy doing. Do that long enough and before too long he will have a job in the industry. It might not be Lead Designer at the outset but he will get a job doing something, I can guarantee it. From there he can spread his wings and fly towards whatever area it is that interests him most. -Wayne -Original Message- From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Lampi Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 10:31 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev I think you need to be brutally honest with him about the nature of the business, game development and visual F/X. I have some contact with students who go to my alma mater, Pratt Institute. I've been very honest with them about how our industry is changing and how tough it might be to make a career of it over the long haul. I've gone so far as to encourage them to look at other areas where they can use their skills in a different industry. It's simple economics, the amount they have to pay back is staggering and I do not envy anyone just coming out of school this year. I think the number one issue a lot of students aren't considering before they choose a school and a career is ROI - Return On Investement. There was a student I knew who wanted to be an architect, and she was considering a school that cost around $40-$50k per year for a 5 year program. I asked her if she knew what kind of money Architects made and she didn't. Knowing many architects personally, I told her what she could expect and explained how long at that salary range it would take to pay back those loans. Before our discussion, no one ever bothered to point this out, and she went away wiser for it. We've all seen the news, the studios closing or moving to other countries where labor is cheaper, or there is a subsidy to be had. The last several years has been especially tough for freelancers, we tend to really feel the effects of these things faster since our work is solely driven by demand and we're the first to go when things slow down. I think for young people looking to our line of work as being exciting and fun, which it is, but you have to also have them take a good long look at what it takes these days to get your foot in the door. An honest assessment of their skills is also important. Far better to wound their pride a little now rather than leading them down a path where they will find themselves unemployed or so saddled with debt that they regret the decision, maybe both. Not trying to be doom and gloom, but I see what's happening in VFX to be eerily similar to what happened in IT about 10-15 years ago. I'm just not sure how it's going to pan out. On the subject of schools, I haven't heard many good things about Full Sail. Do a quick google search and you'll find a lot of unhappy people who went there. Eric Freelance 3D and VFX animator http://vimeopro.com/user7979713/3d-work On Mon, Jun
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
As others have said, he should decide what about games he really wants to do first. I'd suggest you point him to some free/open source tools - Blender, Unity3D, etc. These programs will often have a vast amount of tutorials or user forums available to assist in the learning curve. Have him start with those and see what he can come up with - no, he won't be making Final Fantasy his first try, but he might at least get a basic matching game working first. If that makes his brain melt, maybe get him to try some game editors, or join a modding community. Games like Torchlight II, The WItcher 2, etc are under $20 I believe and come with the same tools the game makers used to build the levels. After he builds a few, and assuming his brain hasn't melted, have him put a few of his levels out for the larger community to play with and critique. If the critique makes him roll up into a ball sobbing, this is a good sign he should re-think his career options. After a month or so of trying each he's come up with absolutely nothing, again, time to re-think his career options. Don't expect a fully working game in this time, unless its purely been copied from a tutorial; but it will at least open his eyes to see how much work is really involved, and how little glamor there is. I too would caution against a too narrowly focused school. I've had friends attend Full Sail, and while almost all raved about how amazing the program was, it seems that most studios would bring them on board as an unpaid intern to complete one small aspect of a game and then move on to the next years batch. If he likes coding, suggest a computer science program where his skills can be used for any number of tasks, not just games. If it's the art work he likes, then I'm sure you can offer him a variety of suggestions on where to go next. If there are any game studios in your area, it might be an idea for him to contact one and see if he can arrange a tour or speak with someone there. It was definitely an eye opener for me while attending University in Toronto to be able to go see two completely different animation studios. The first we saw looked like the animation studio on every single behind the scenes DVD you've ever seen; the second had about 30ppl crammed into a tiny attic apartment converted to studio complete with render farms to make it 40 degrees inside in the dead of winter. Today he also has the option to self publish any games he creates. For a one-time fee of $25 he can begin selling Android games almost immediately, or for $99/yr he can sell games on iOS (though be prepared for many, many arbitrary rejections from Apple). I'm not sure how things are on the Xbox side of the world, but Sony has been making a number of pushes to get Indie game developers on PSN. Nintendo and Sony have both made commitments to bring Unity support to their consoles - can't say for sure, but I imagine Microsoft would have something similar as well. Again, none of this will make him rich or have typical 8hr days, unless he's incredibly talented and incredibly lucky. As long as he understands that clearly and still has passion for it - let him loose and see what he comes up with. On 6/17/2013 7:42 AM, Paul Griswold wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul
RE: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
Tim certainly has some good thoughts. Let me throw a penny onto the pile. Best piece of advice I would give these days...don't be a CG artist. I know...given this list...but I have been in games for 16+ years in the art field and the single most important role in a studio is a software developer and then maybe creative. I hear it all the time, its easier to outsource the art than it is to outsource the development and its mostly true. Talking with recruiter friends of mine, its pretty scary out there for art. You have tons of seasoned top notch guys getting laid off and these for profit schools (Full Sail, DigiPen, AI, and the like) turning out brand new artists at high volume and no one can get a steady job. You need to have serious art chops. I really don't see this getting better. Even if you are not in games, a software developer for the most part will be in demand. I as noted to a friend recently, there really isn't much of a plan B for a character artist\animator\rigger\lighter. Heck, I don't know a single artist that has retired from the CG industry. But there are a ton more options for a decent dev. I know of a number of really good game devs that just left all together and have completely different careers. One friend was a lead graphics dev and after the last layoff he went to Nokia working on NavTeq stuff. Happily employed and taking care of his family. My Plan B is to grow parsnips. ___ Marc Brinkley GO GO GO Microsoft Studios [Fun]ction Studio marc.brinkley [at] microsoft.com From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Tim Thorburn Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 5:44 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev As others have said, he should decide what about games he really wants to do first. I'd suggest you point him to some free/open source tools - Blender, Unity3D, etc. These programs will often have a vast amount of tutorials or user forums available to assist in the learning curve. Have him start with those and see what he can come up with - no, he won't be making Final Fantasy his first try, but he might at least get a basic matching game working first. If that makes his brain melt, maybe get him to try some game editors, or join a modding community. Games like Torchlight II, The WItcher 2, etc are under $20 I believe and come with the same tools the game makers used to build the levels. After he builds a few, and assuming his brain hasn't melted, have him put a few of his levels out for the larger community to play with and critique. If the critique makes him roll up into a ball sobbing, this is a good sign he should re-think his career options. After a month or so of trying each he's come up with absolutely nothing, again, time to re-think his career options. Don't expect a fully working game in this time, unless its purely been copied from a tutorial; but it will at least open his eyes to see how much work is really involved, and how little glamor there is. I too would caution against a too narrowly focused school. I've had friends attend Full Sail, and while almost all raved about how amazing the program was, it seems that most studios would bring them on board as an unpaid intern to complete one small aspect of a game and then move on to the next years batch. If he likes coding, suggest a computer science program where his skills can be used for any number of tasks, not just games. If it's the art work he likes, then I'm sure you can offer him a variety of suggestions on where to go next. If there are any game studios in your area, it might be an idea for him to contact one and see if he can arrange a tour or speak with someone there. It was definitely an eye opener for me while attending University in Toronto to be able to go see two completely different animation studios. The first we saw looked like the animation studio on every single behind the scenes DVD you've ever seen; the second had about 30ppl crammed into a tiny attic apartment converted to studio complete with render farms to make it 40 degrees inside in the dead of winter. Today he also has the option to self publish any games he creates. For a one-time fee of $25 he can begin selling Android games almost immediately, or for $99/yr he can sell games on iOS (though be prepared for many, many arbitrary rejections from Apple). I'm not sure how things are on the Xbox side of the world, but Sony has been making a number of pushes to get Indie game developers on PSN. Nintendo and Sony have both made commitments to bring Unity support to their consoles - can't say for sure, but I imagine Microsoft would have something similar as well. Again, none of this will make him rich or have typical 8hr days, unless he's incredibly talented and incredibly lucky. As long as he
RE: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
+1 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Nasser Al-Ostath Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 8:53 PM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev I recommend full sail university ... they are specialized in game dev On 17 Jun 2013 14:43, Paul Griswold pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.commailto:pgrisw...@fusiondigitalproductions.com wrote: Hi guys, My daughter's boyfriend has expressed an interest in getting into game development. He's just a teenager, so he really doesn't have much of a focus yet other than I want to get into games. But I told my daughter I'd get some recommendations on things like what he should study, good colleges for careers in games, different job descriptions, good entry-level positions, etc. So, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Any advice at all would be great. Thanks, Paul attachment: winmail.dat
Re: OT: (sort-of) getting in to game dev
To no-one in particular: Software development, thinking cooly, is ALWAYS going to be a safer choice in terms of future proofing your arse than most content work, and a good chunk of the artistic work. It simply gives you a much broader range of skills and a much higher level of portability of efforts the more you do it at almost any level. If you've worked in an RnD department in a film shop for years, or did work on a game engine, chances are in a pinch you can move to mobile development in no time if needed, or web development, with just some minor language adjustments. It doesn't mean anybody can do it though. Not that's beyond people's intelligence, but because not everybody has the aptitude or interest, or is willing to put up with the relatively steep entry fee, much like not everybody is up for the gruelling years it takes before being able to do half decent concept design It's a mistake to think this is purely related to development work. It's just development work tends to cater to a certain type of individual more frequently than most other roles (but you'll also find plenty fossilized one-trick-pony developers that didn't survive some bubble or other bursting). A big problem with our industry is that it's always encouraged too many and too much in the middle ground of button pushing and hacking together culture, and now large amounts of people find themselves with skills and mentalities that have absolutely zero portability whatsoever, because they focused on tools and procedure, and never on fundamentals and concepts. The way out of that is encouraging a healthy and curious approach to disciplines, whichever they are, that has little to do with one's previous employment, and a lot more to do with what you learned, how and why. When all you do is pull levers and push buttons in some exotic software, with little knowledge of cause and reason, you shouldn't be surprised when you find out they'll replace you with a monkey the moment they invent a machine with less and better levers. Just make sure you learn more than pulling levers and pushing buttons and you'll be a lot more likely to have a plan B, and possibly a healthier outlook on employment in general. If you're pointing a kid in some direction in his life at the present and uncertain times, don't start showering him in horror stories about the field (because you can dredge up many of those in practically ANY line of intellectual work), just make sure he doesn't become a monkey.
