Hey guys, I am new to the forums and was wondering what your opinions are on Character vs Environment Design. I just started a Game Art and Design Course and have been working with Maya for some time - still learning through the process of making mistakes - always. I am interested i knowing how you guys feel about the two tracks. I love character design and am really interested in it and is currently what I am striving for. However, I hear character design is really competitive (more so than other tracks - which still shouldn't stop me from trying).
Also, how much do these two fields cross over in companies ( I know in bigger companies they probably don't but what about smaller ones?)?
Look forward to hearing what you think...

Unless you are at a very small studio, you normal won't be doing any combination of design / characters / environments at all. They are all extremely separate animals and specializations that very few studios utilize cross-disciplines, especially at an entry level. Even the smaller studios usually have 1 guy who does this, 1 guy who does this, and 1 guy who does this sort of stuff.

I would scour these forums and look at the multitude of posts regarding schools and the education you are getting, as well as the various posts regarding this exact same issue with people going to schools thinking they are going to get a job with a "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none" sort of education.

Welcome to Polycount paulsvoboda As Ott said the best way to get employed is to be a specialist of some sort. My personal opinion is that you should follow whatever interests you the most because it will give you that much more motivation to get things done and study harder. It doesn't hurt to study other aspects of game art as this will broaden your knowlege, but you should focus your portfolio on one area of expertise. Also be sure to post up work in the Pimping and Previews sub forum here on Polycount for critiques and advice.

Wow..thanks a lot for the answers..and quickly as well
I will be posting some of my WIP in the Pimping and Previews soon - I'm still in the learning stage but I guess that's what it is all about..

Originally Posted by paulsvoboda

I'm still in the learning stage but I guess that's what it is all about..

Exactly

don't forget FX Artist

If you do want to try your hand at everything you might consider working on hand-held games. I think I've got pretty much every flavour of artist on my resume after a few years do DS and PSP games.