does a degree make a difference?
So I've been learning 3d on my own slowly for the past few years. I haven't gone to school for it or anything but my questions come down to this, does a degree in something relative to 3d or going to a school for 3d really make a difference as far as getting a job? or is it more along the lines of if you can do good work you can get a job, like an artist. I'm sure this has been asked before but id like to know b/c I'm about to put a lot of things in life aside so i can really pursue this as a career. Ive come to realize that doing 3d work is my true passion, i cant tell you how much its made me frustrated at times or how many times I've closed programs out but always always it calls me back. i love it..
Also I'm new to this site/board so just want to say hello to everyone & hopefully ill have some work i can show off soon. Thanks all!
Also I'm new to this site/board so just want to say hello to everyone & hopefully ill have some work i can show off soon. Thanks all!
Replies
I remember this coming up several times before. I'm not really the one to give the perfect answer but I remember this thread having a loooot of good responses on the issue. For some reason when I'm trying to link the thread it isn't working but use the forum search for "Am I stupid? (Serious qeustion) School stuff". Good thread. Hope it helps.
Seriously though, portfolio>degree.
^ A link you may or may not want to read.
so for me the degree is making a difference as its taking me from playing with unreal ed 2004 making very basic maps that are broken in places to actually having a working knolege of ut3 where i can make maps that would work. of course this knolege can be gained by yourself you can buy books and watch tutorials on youtube join a mod team whatever works for you but i find that having a tutor rip my work to shreads every lesson helps me to improve. youtube doesnt give crit and although forums such as polycount exist sometimes you wont get the crit you need which means you learn nothing.
When it come to gaining employment then i guess the guy whos doing the interview would probally look at portfolios 1st education 2nd
Management and Biz types like seeing the degree, it shows some more qualities about your personal character about being self motivated, smart (if you are! hur hur), and able to finish something. Otherwise they may be less keen to take a risk. For example you were "tied" with someone of equal skill - except they had a 4 year degree from an accredited school, you would probably not be offered the position but they would.
There are a few types of people though ive seen: 1. self taught, amazingly gifted, talented and phenomenally natural artists, whose work speaks for itself. Sometimes they can be less attractive to biz and management people from not having a degree and it will show through in those interviews. 2. Educated (2-4 years of college) artists who have poor work but great people skills. Generally able to learn quickly and adapt in a work environment. 3. Educated and gifted artists (because of education and hard work): the ones who get the job, are sociable, and know how to work on a team.
Having a degree does not fully matter, but the experiences and personal growth you can receive from a college education helps mature yourself to the point of an attractive employee. If you've already got it, and sick work - start applying and see what bites
also, welcome
When it comes to getting a job, generally the guy with the best portfolio wins. Talent trumps degree, experience trumps degree. However, like Moose says, in an equal fight, the degree will win.
What moose says. Most "Game Design" specific colleges give degress that may or may not be recognized by more reputable academic institutions. Checking to see whether or not a potential college is accredited is very important.
If you are specifically looking to get into game art, then you will want a 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio art. For a minor, I would suggest something in the programming or data management areas. Business Data Systems would be a good place to start. This kind of minor will usually involve some solid entry-level programming, as well as some database administration. Neither of these is required for game artists, but both of them would be quite welcome additions to your resume. Also, this kind of entry-level programming is usually a lot easier for artists to get into. This combiniation of major and minor should also provide you with the free time necessary to practice game art specifically.
If you want to be a game designer, then you are going to want a much more tech-heavy curriculum. I would advise a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. This will require that you take some pretty advanced mathematics courses, so be ready for that. A computer science degree should give you all the programming background you need to jump into game programming. As a minor, I would suggest Literature. Developing your literary and creative writing skills will help considerably in producing design documents, and as inspiration for material in your games. Being able to communicate your ideas clearly in written form is important for game designers.
But like EQ has said, if you're looking to travel then yep, seems like they'd have a hard time justifying the expense of bringing you over unless you have that piece of paper (sigh).
On my degree suggestions, you'll notice that I balanced things out a bit. If you are going for an art-centric major, get a more technology-focused minor. If you are going for a technology major, go for a more "artistic" minor. This will help keep things balanced and interesting, while also giving you more job-related options.
However what is often overlooked is that a good degree program is not just all about making your art better. You get a whole lot of insight into things that you just don't get from a book or into subjects you never thought about researching yourself. Yet all this other stuff can be so important to you and your career.
I think college did not make me a better artist. I myself did that through practice. But what college gave me is a whole lot of insight and overview of the whole movie and games production cycle. Stuff you just don't learn when you grab a stack of books and DVDs about Zbrush. It also pointed me in directions, to look for inspiration and further knowledge, which I just wouldn't have gotten from books. It basically gives you an opportunity to look behind the "let's learn how to use Zbrush/Max" horizont and see what else is out there in our industry and in the art scene in general.
Sure, if your major goal is "get a job quick and learn to be kickass in Zbrush/Maya" then a college ain't the best way. But in the long run I think it does pay off.
So there's a lot more to college than just learning to make kickass art and I think this is often overlooked.
I hate to say it, but I am living proof that degree's don't hold much value. I'm not going to go into detail other than saying I have a lot of education, and if I could do it all over again, I would have never went to college and just worked on the portfolio from the begining.
That's me though, some people are looking for a "college experience". I would like my 80,000 back!
I forget who it was, but someone one here posted the other week that they got offers from Naughty Dog and another pretty awesome company, but couldn't go work for them because of a lack of paper.
As I mentioned in the other degree thread, I'm seriously considering going back to school for a year or so to complete my degree so that I can get a work Visa some time before I've got 10 years industry experience.
I first look at the portfolio. If that is up to par, then I look at work experience and see if it meets the requirement of the position been sought. Then I look at education. Then I contact people you probably worked with to get an inside look on your personality.
That's how I roll.
However, If relocations not what you have planned, then id say 100% forget it, you CAN learn and develop a whole bunch by simply doing the work no degree required.