How to get into gamedev and become a sought-after specialist. Part 1
Every professional working in a top gaming company was once a beginner and also looked for work, sometimes not without difficulties. It is believed that it is very difficult for a novice specialist to get a place in a reputable studio due to little experience, as well as high competition from seasoned gamedev pros. Is it really? Mikhail Shemetun, one of the creative directors of Plarium studio, shared his thoughts on this subject, spoke about his experience and gave some useful tips to young specialists.
Misha, tell me a little about yourself. How did your journey in the gaming industry begin?
Before Plarium, I ran a design studio for four years and worked in advertising for ten years. In 2010, after another wave of crisis and instability in the country, I realized that managing the studio in the form in which it existed at that time was futile. By that time, I had been playing the game industry as a hobby for about two years and decided that if I find work related to gamedev in my city, I will stay, if not, I will leave for Moscow. There they offered me a good position for good money. With such thoughts, I went to Plarium, received a test task, coped with it and started working as a 2D artist. In our company, I began to improve my skills: I studied, observed and analyzed the organization of processes. Considering my managerial experience, after seven months I was entrusted with managing part of one of our projects,
Now we turn directly to our topic. What specialties are in demand in game studios now?
To begin with, there are a lot of professions. These are animators, texture designers, icon painters, conceptors, technical artists. Many, having seen enough of the work on ArtStation, want to be conceptors, without having undergone preliminary training. If you know how to draw, this does not mean that you are a concept artist: in this area you must also be a designer. A person who has not worked for several years in the digital graphics industry is unlikely to distinguish illustration from good concept art. This is an interesting work, but not for everyone: it has a lot of routine and specific technical requirements.
You must be prepared for the fact that you will not always draw what you want, for example, a beautiful sailboat in the moonlight. You may have to portray a brown table in the room or a simple peasant. We can say that concept art is a separate unit, where it is not so important to be able to draw, how to show and explain. Your ideas should be very clear to the modelers and other specialists who will implement them. If you create a character in a suit with all kinds of straps, you must explain why and why they were used.
And yet, what can you advise to the guys who dream of working in the field of concept art?
I recommend at the beginning of the path to position yourself as a 2D artist or illustrator. A good 2D artist should understand textures, lights, work competently in Adobe Photoshop with masks, color grading, navigate styles and use styling skillfully. I can say that there are always not enough icon designers. Drawing icons is a very good practice for rendering textures, materials, understanding the shape, light and color. You can also try texturing 3D models. Start small: draw icons, interfaces, substrates, do not neglect this step. Read the theory and history of the concept design of the sixties: it is useful to study the work of that period where there were no graphic programs, and everything was created exclusively by hand.
And if a person is interested in animation and 3D-modeling?
To be an animator, it is not enough to be able to work with Maya and know the basic principles of rigging. You need to feel the dynamics, speed, inertia, to study the classics of animation for a realistic transmission of movements. You believe in good animation. If your animation is not believed, then it is not good. Analyze the projects of the best animation studios, for example, Pixar and Disney, use their work as references and strive for the same high level.
As for 3D-artists, they must understand sculpting, modeling, skillfully use the programs in which this or that model is assembled. In this area, knowledge of engineering, architecture, sopromat, understanding of drawings, models and mechanisms, as well as design skills are very helpful. Watch specialized forums, analyze works on ArtStation and try to do the same or better. First of all, you need to study hard and improve yourself, it does not matter if you are a student or are already working.
How does the company encourage the development of its employees?
If a person has proven himself well in his field, then he will always be given the opportunity to try something else, but then he must turn on the novice mode and actively absorb information in order to become the best. By combining experience and knowledge from several areas, you can grow and become a very sought-after specialist. We are now striving to create specializations. We have visualizers, modelers of characters and techniques, texture makers and so on - they all work full time on their tasks and become the best in their field.
What should be a potential candidate who wants to get a job in the studio?
It often happens that people at the interview cannot answer questions about who they want to be, what to do, what studio can be useful for. A person must clearly position himself. If a candidate says that he can do everything: draw characters, icons, model equipment, animate, then such a person most likely does not have a pronounced strength. Each of our employees is in some ways very strong, some have several such qualities, while others only have one, but they do. For example, you can create excellent characters, understand the anatomy, but nothing prevents you from drawing and architecture.
What qualities are necessary for a beginner to develop faster?
First of all, the desire to work: by this I mean the development of myself in the chosen field. The desire to get into a cool studio and the unwillingness to do anything for this are doomed to failure. If you draw, model, do self-education and strive to become the best from morning till night, then chances are that you will be noticed and invited to work. For example, you saw a picture, were inspired - go draw. If instead you sit down to drink coffee and play your favorite game, then nothing will work. You need to work every day. The more you do, the better you do your job.
Moreover, you need to understand what you are like as a specialist. Make an opinion about yourself not from the words of relatives and friends who always say that you are the best. Self-esteem should be objective - not overstated and not underestimated. It so happened that the modern world inspires every person that he is incredibly talented. We are constantly told about this by our parents, advertising and television insist. People absorb this information and may overestimate their capabilities. We are often approached by applicants with poor knowledge and the belief that they all know how. However, viewing the portfolio puts everything in its place, and we see the real level of skills of the candidate.
It is also very important to determine your goal: to realize where you are going, what qualities you develop in yourself. Working in a large studio is not the goal. The goal may be to create a cool concept art of characters for a certain number of hours, drawing characters or environments for a specific AAA project, striving for the level of a favorite artist.
What skills should a beginner have?
Of course, basic artistic knowledge is needed. Their presence is a huge plus. To be a good character artist, it’s not enough to be able to work in Adobe Photoshop. It is better to go back to the terrible boring textbooks on anatomy, color, composition, draw primitives. It would not be desirable, but it is impossible to jump over. In the future, when you begin to position yourself as a professional, you will fail, because the higher your level, the thinner the ice on which you step.
In the beginning, you can still afford a lot of mistakes, since they don’t expect anything else from you, but the further you go, the higher the risks, and if you don’t know basic things, for example, about accents in the composition, separating one from the other with color, then fail. The base is important because it forms a sense of taste, an understanding of balance, you do your job more gracefully and become a person who can make anything beautiful. If you are an artist, then you have a special perception: you can interestingly place even three ordinary balls on a table or three chairs in a room.
You should also understand what skills you are developing and for what, and programs should only be tools for putting your ideas into practice. A beginner must have basic knowledge, we will not talk about how to do retopology, set up materials or build a perspective. The studio will direct you, help develop skills and structure the knowledge gained, but will not be taught from scratch.
Should I start a career in the gaming industry after 25-27 years?
I would not recommend radically changing the scope of my activities. I will explain my position: a person develops cyclically, and some qualities that are strong in youth are replaced by others with age. Young people quickly learn new knowledge, easily accept criticism, and can switch from one task to another. The more life experience a person accumulates, the more critical he is towards other people and the less he looks into himself.
If you decide to become, for example, a 2D artist, then draw your hands to burn, and only after a few years you will have a chance to become a professional. Such a coup is easy to do at twenty, but at twenty-seven, when there is a family, children and various obligations, it is difficult. Of course, if you are ready to give up everything and lead a student’s lifestyle, draw from morning to night and work hard, then this is possible. Maybe you will have to work with one-time orders for several years, gain respect among freelancers, after which you will have the prospect of getting a permanent job.
This is only the first part of a large interview. In the second part, Mikhail will tell you how to draw out a portfolio and resume advantageously, as well as give practical advice on how to complete the test task.
Misha, tell me a little about yourself. How did your journey in the gaming industry begin?
Before Plarium, I ran a design studio for four years and worked in advertising for ten years. In 2010, after another wave of crisis and instability in the country, I realized that managing the studio in the form in which it existed at that time was futile. By that time, I had been playing the game industry as a hobby for about two years and decided that if I find work related to gamedev in my city, I will stay, if not, I will leave for Moscow. There they offered me a good position for good money. With such thoughts, I went to Plarium, received a test task, coped with it and started working as a 2D artist. In our company, I began to improve my skills: I studied, observed and analyzed the organization of processes. Considering my managerial experience, after seven months I was entrusted with managing part of one of our projects,
Now we turn directly to our topic. What specialties are in demand in game studios now?
To begin with, there are a lot of professions. These are animators, texture designers, icon painters, conceptors, technical artists. Many, having seen enough of the work on ArtStation, want to be conceptors, without having undergone preliminary training. If you know how to draw, this does not mean that you are a concept artist: in this area you must also be a designer. A person who has not worked for several years in the digital graphics industry is unlikely to distinguish illustration from good concept art. This is an interesting work, but not for everyone: it has a lot of routine and specific technical requirements.
You must be prepared for the fact that you will not always draw what you want, for example, a beautiful sailboat in the moonlight. You may have to portray a brown table in the room or a simple peasant. We can say that concept art is a separate unit, where it is not so important to be able to draw, how to show and explain. Your ideas should be very clear to the modelers and other specialists who will implement them. If you create a character in a suit with all kinds of straps, you must explain why and why they were used.
And yet, what can you advise to the guys who dream of working in the field of concept art?
I recommend at the beginning of the path to position yourself as a 2D artist or illustrator. A good 2D artist should understand textures, lights, work competently in Adobe Photoshop with masks, color grading, navigate styles and use styling skillfully. I can say that there are always not enough icon designers. Drawing icons is a very good practice for rendering textures, materials, understanding the shape, light and color. You can also try texturing 3D models. Start small: draw icons, interfaces, substrates, do not neglect this step. Read the theory and history of the concept design of the sixties: it is useful to study the work of that period where there were no graphic programs, and everything was created exclusively by hand.
And if a person is interested in animation and 3D-modeling?
To be an animator, it is not enough to be able to work with Maya and know the basic principles of rigging. You need to feel the dynamics, speed, inertia, to study the classics of animation for a realistic transmission of movements. You believe in good animation. If your animation is not believed, then it is not good. Analyze the projects of the best animation studios, for example, Pixar and Disney, use their work as references and strive for the same high level.
As for 3D-artists, they must understand sculpting, modeling, skillfully use the programs in which this or that model is assembled. In this area, knowledge of engineering, architecture, sopromat, understanding of drawings, models and mechanisms, as well as design skills are very helpful. Watch specialized forums, analyze works on ArtStation and try to do the same or better. First of all, you need to study hard and improve yourself, it does not matter if you are a student or are already working.
How does the company encourage the development of its employees?
If a person has proven himself well in his field, then he will always be given the opportunity to try something else, but then he must turn on the novice mode and actively absorb information in order to become the best. By combining experience and knowledge from several areas, you can grow and become a very sought-after specialist. We are now striving to create specializations. We have visualizers, modelers of characters and techniques, texture makers and so on - they all work full time on their tasks and become the best in their field.
What should be a potential candidate who wants to get a job in the studio?
It often happens that people at the interview cannot answer questions about who they want to be, what to do, what studio can be useful for. A person must clearly position himself. If a candidate says that he can do everything: draw characters, icons, model equipment, animate, then such a person most likely does not have a pronounced strength. Each of our employees is in some ways very strong, some have several such qualities, while others only have one, but they do. For example, you can create excellent characters, understand the anatomy, but nothing prevents you from drawing and architecture.
What qualities are necessary for a beginner to develop faster?
First of all, the desire to work: by this I mean the development of myself in the chosen field. The desire to get into a cool studio and the unwillingness to do anything for this are doomed to failure. If you draw, model, do self-education and strive to become the best from morning till night, then chances are that you will be noticed and invited to work. For example, you saw a picture, were inspired - go draw. If instead you sit down to drink coffee and play your favorite game, then nothing will work. You need to work every day. The more you do, the better you do your job.
Moreover, you need to understand what you are like as a specialist. Make an opinion about yourself not from the words of relatives and friends who always say that you are the best. Self-esteem should be objective - not overstated and not underestimated. It so happened that the modern world inspires every person that he is incredibly talented. We are constantly told about this by our parents, advertising and television insist. People absorb this information and may overestimate their capabilities. We are often approached by applicants with poor knowledge and the belief that they all know how. However, viewing the portfolio puts everything in its place, and we see the real level of skills of the candidate.
It is also very important to determine your goal: to realize where you are going, what qualities you develop in yourself. Working in a large studio is not the goal. The goal may be to create a cool concept art of characters for a certain number of hours, drawing characters or environments for a specific AAA project, striving for the level of a favorite artist.
What skills should a beginner have?
Of course, basic artistic knowledge is needed. Their presence is a huge plus. To be a good character artist, it’s not enough to be able to work in Adobe Photoshop. It is better to go back to the terrible boring textbooks on anatomy, color, composition, draw primitives. It would not be desirable, but it is impossible to jump over. In the future, when you begin to position yourself as a professional, you will fail, because the higher your level, the thinner the ice on which you step.
In the beginning, you can still afford a lot of mistakes, since they don’t expect anything else from you, but the further you go, the higher the risks, and if you don’t know basic things, for example, about accents in the composition, separating one from the other with color, then fail. The base is important because it forms a sense of taste, an understanding of balance, you do your job more gracefully and become a person who can make anything beautiful. If you are an artist, then you have a special perception: you can interestingly place even three ordinary balls on a table or three chairs in a room.
You should also understand what skills you are developing and for what, and programs should only be tools for putting your ideas into practice. A beginner must have basic knowledge, we will not talk about how to do retopology, set up materials or build a perspective. The studio will direct you, help develop skills and structure the knowledge gained, but will not be taught from scratch.
Should I start a career in the gaming industry after 25-27 years?
I would not recommend radically changing the scope of my activities. I will explain my position: a person develops cyclically, and some qualities that are strong in youth are replaced by others with age. Young people quickly learn new knowledge, easily accept criticism, and can switch from one task to another. The more life experience a person accumulates, the more critical he is towards other people and the less he looks into himself.
If you decide to become, for example, a 2D artist, then draw your hands to burn, and only after a few years you will have a chance to become a professional. Such a coup is easy to do at twenty, but at twenty-seven, when there is a family, children and various obligations, it is difficult. Of course, if you are ready to give up everything and lead a student’s lifestyle, draw from morning to night and work hard, then this is possible. Maybe you will have to work with one-time orders for several years, gain respect among freelancers, after which you will have the prospect of getting a permanent job.
This is only the first part of a large interview. In the second part, Mikhail will tell you how to draw out a portfolio and resume advantageously, as well as give practical advice on how to complete the test task.
