Posts by marque_pierre

Do any of you mapcoreans have experience with dedicated modellers, such as Silo or Modo? I kinda like the idea, but for now 3ds Max is where I model 99% of my stuff. But I am not always too keen on Max's texture or animation tools. So to be able to string together a custom pipeline of workflow suited to your need and tastes sounds appealing. Say, modelling in Modo. texturing in ZBrush, animating in XSI, rendering in Mental Ray...

These new modellers claim to be oh so intuitive and artists friendly, what's your take on that? Yes, I know I need to sit down and spend some quality time with the software. But I don't have that time now, so in preparation, I want to narrow the field of packages down a bit...

Any takers?

If you install 3ds Max, you get a truckload of tutorials to go with it. Skipping straight ahead to the animating and rigging ones is definitely possible, and they'll take you from there...

Right on Klein. If you are worth hiring, and your work is worth using, you are worth paying.

Sure. As far as I remember, Rare still has a nice 3 point something million titles sold per games released. But how many RAREs are there out there? And then you have games with super people behind them, like Beyond Good & Evil, where I am sure the developers also never saw a dime of royalties.

The harsh realities seems to be that this is a very attractive industry to work in, but just because we have all played Half Life, doesn't mean we will ever get a shot at making the next Half Life. I remember meeting a games developer who had worked in the games industry for various companies for 15 (FIFTEEN!) years, and he only had one published game to his name. Everything else had been scrapped along the way. Man, he was bitter!

Thousands of games are made every year. Out of them a couple of handfulls break even or make a profit. Royalties? You do the math...

Royalties sounds swell by principle. However all the pros I have ever talked to have said the same, 'don't expect to ever see any!' Why is that? Well, very, very, very few games of the thousands upon thousands made every year, do ever break even allowing the developers to get near the haunted royalties. That is just another sorry fact from the way this industry runs right now. So unless you work for Valve, Naughty Dog, Blizzard, Rockstar North or those other 10-15 companies like them, don't believe the hype.

Hi guys,

Most of the entry level jobs in art or design seems to be as environment modeller with texturing responsibilities.

So where do you go from there? I suppose once you have been building and dressing level geometry, the gap to laying them out game play wise is not too great, or perhaps specialize in modelling/texture work instead.

Pros have told me that the highest paid people on the art team will be animators and character artists. So there seems to be a distinction in status and experience between environment and character artists?!

So as we progress in our careers, I suppose we either move up (Lead Artist), sideways (switching to another field) or perhaps specialize deeply in the same field.

I know there are still many shops where everybody does everything depending on needs and all, that but I'd like for the pros on these shores to comment on the career paths in art(/design) as they see them.

For example, as a texture artist, is it possible to specialize in texturing ONLY? Like Lead Texture Artist or something else? Or is texture artist (to keep with that example) just a phase in the normal progression of an artists career trajectory?

Here is another one. A couple of old industrial washing machines which have stood around and lost a lot innards over the years. C&C, if you puhlease....

[Blocked Image: http://www.marquepierre.com/washingmachines.jpg]

To preempt a lot of comments. Yes, there could be a lot more geometry on these babies, but they will not play a role in the story/gameplay, so they are kept fairly lowpoly for their role as background decorations.

Never ever expect to see any royalties! No matter who you work for.

So what team are you actually on? Prince of Persia?

Hey Klein,

I don't suppose you worked on Splinter Cell Chaos Theory? Here is some praise for texture team!

http://%7boption%7d

Yep, Klein. We are almost there. I just need to finish 2-3 more things on my list and I can do my first whole location...

So what do you want? Modders to boycot Battlefield, and work on FarCry instead?

Quote from von*ferret

unf...naeh nah

Which of course means...?

Another texture: an old EXIT sign, ta-daaahhhh!

[Blocked Image: http://www.marquepierre.com/exit.jpg]

C&C is wanted...

Thanks KFS. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot tablet stylus!

Here is a bucket. Think for passing solids and fluids into. Yes, poor patients didn't have private toilets. So...

[Blocked Image: http://www.marquepierre.com/bucket.jpg]

Bottoms up!

Sorry it is a bit dark...

Peter Molyneux just honoured as OBE (Officer of the British Empire):

http://%7boption%7d

Next up: A Nobel price to Sid Meier!

French government to the rescue?

http://%7boption%7d

Thanks for the praise. I am just a kid trying to learn really. I don't know OL's stuff, and yes I can model anything, although it is not something I strive to perfect myself in, my goal is that of the all encompassing texture artist - cartoony, realism, gritty, photo real, low poly, high end - Bring it on. Some day...

Here is a bathing table for bathing patients, sponge bath style. Need to make a spec and bump map for this, this is just a difuse map.

Comments appreciated!

[Blocked Image: http://www.marquepierre.com/bathingtable.jpg]