In any other industry, it may be enough to say that you want to be an artist. But, in the games industry, that’s not quite enough; you’ll need to be lots more specific. In the games industry, there are artists, yes, but there are also modelers, texture artists, character animators, skins artists, 2-D artists, 3-D artists — and oh so many more.

Time to Choose A Specialty

So which title did you say you want to have on your brand new business cards? Here are some typical job titles to which you may aspire:

Art Directors. They have paid their dues and worked their way through the ranks. Generally speaking, art directors are responsible for all the operations of the art department with duties that include scheduling development, budgeting, and hiring. Art directors may also be very hands-on, contributing to the development of the title on an individual basis depending on their specialty or specialties. Their work revolves around building and actualizing a team of professional artists to construct the art assets for the product — on schedule and within budget — regardless of the genre or platform of the game. The art director is also largely responsible for directing the entire style of the art, and determining the mood, look, and feel.

Lead Artist. Their drawings must be clear enough for modelers and texture artists to work from. This person always has a strong understanding of the 3-D tools and is available to assist artists with their tasks. Lead artists may have been senior animators before attaining this position, so they know how to build, texture, and animate models. Often described as equivalent to the production designer on a film, lead artists should be the most experienced and talented artists on the project for they are typically responsible for the modeling and texturing of the objects and environments in the game. Lead artists must also have the skills of personnel management and positive motivation to get the best from the team, along with project management experience to accomplish all of this within the allotted schedule and budget.

Lead Animator. The most experienced and talented animator on the staff, the lead animator generally makes guideline animations for other artists to use as a standard, and animates the more prominent characters. Lead animators will also set up the animation pipeline in conjunction with the senior engineer, lead artist, and art director. Generally speaking, all animators must have an acute sense of timing combined with visuals.

Lead Concept/Storyboard Artist. Traditional pen-and-paper artists, they are accountable for character design and storyboard artwork. They work with the art director to design all elements of the game so that a coherent style is adhered to, objects are buildable in 3D, and all 3-D elements are appealing. In short, the art team bases the in-game artwork on the lead concept/storyboard artist’s work.

Technical Artist. Technical Artists take on many of the technical responsibilities of the project so other artists can focus more on their main tasks. Technical Artists are the main problem solvers for the art team and they also provide much needed bridges between Artists and Engineers. Technical Artists work with shaders, animation rigs, scripts, asset properties, imports and maybe some FX and lighting. Most of them work directly with the game engines along with tools like 3D Max or Maya. As art asset pipelines become more complicated Technical Artists will be needed more and more. Scripting is a very important skill to have. C++ skills can also be very handy. Technical Artists unlike the other artists do not necessarily need fundamental art skills but it helps.

Character Artists. This is the most sought after position for many artists thinking of going into the game industry. It is also one of the most competitive positions with a skillset that is difficult to master since anyone who walks upright has a decent enough understanding of the human anatomy and is able to tell when something is off. A solid background of anatomy, human and animal, will greatly benefit any character artist. A company/position may require the creation of character and world props besides just pure character creation. Character Artists develop 3D models using high or low polygonal techniques and often both. Choice modeling tools are 3D Max, Maya, Modo or XSI combined with sculpting tools like ZBrush and Mudbox. Character Artists are usually required to create textures for their own models. Working well with Photoshop is a must.

Character Animator. They should have a firm foundation in the traditional 2-D-cell character animation process of generating a series of single art frame elements. Skills in this traditional method, when combined with the skill to translate this knowledge into such 3-D character animation packages as 3D Studio Max, Maya, SoftImage, LW/Messiah, and others, becomes the basis for creating moving creatures, humans, and other characters for use as game assets or cinematic movies.

Environment Artist. They are the 3D artists who model and texture landscapes, structures and world objects. Fundamental Art skills in landscape and architecture are important to have. Environment Artists will often build assets outside of a game engine and then assembled them in proprietary or commercial world editors to create a level. Environment Artists may create art assets directly in the world editors as well. 3D Max or Maya along with Photoshop, Zbrush and Mudbox are the choice tools for this position. Learning how to utilize references, concepts and art direction to create visual continuity within a level is very important. Be expected to acquire a solid grasp on special tool sets and editors that are being used for the project.

“Skins” Artist. They are 2-D texture artists who generate and then apply texture maps onto characters and object models. The process of making these maps may include a mastery of both 2-D and 3-D texturing utilities to appropriately prepare the object models with correct mapping and coordinates as required by the game engine technology.

UI Artist. This position requires a good eye for design and appeals mostly to artists interested in multimedia. This is a great alternative to working in web design. UI Artists create user interfaces, just as the name says. The goal is to develop visually appealing yet intuitive interfaces for gameplay while working with the advantages and limitations of a particular engine. UI artists will often work closely with Designers and Engineers and will be involved in much of the technical problem solving besides just the design and asset creation. Main tools and for UI artists are Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D Tools, Flash and Proprietary and Commercial Engine Tool Sets.

FX Artist. An FX Artist’s main focus is on Visual FX such as explosions, weather elements, damage decals, spells, etc. FX Artists may also work on lighting, environments, UI and Props. FX artists rely on a combination of skills to do their job. Art Fundamentals, Scripting, 3D Tools and their Particle Systems, Photoshop and using Proprietary and Commercial Engine Tool Sets. Many artist enjoy this type of position because of its flexibility though it is very demanding and requires learning new software fast.

Cinematic Artist. Is not a game artist position exactly though Cinematic Artists may have a past in developing games. Cinematic Artists walk the line between film and game development and have their own unique sets of disciplines and career paths which requires a section all of its own. Most Game Studios outsource the production of high quality cinematics to companies that closely resemble film or feature animation studios. In fact studios that do cinematics for games may also create content for advertising and film/animation. With the continuing rise in real time graphic quality, many game developers are leveraging game assets directly and producing cut scenes /story elements in-house. Therefore many outsource studios are now providing services for creating in-game cut scenes.

Texture Artists? Texture Artists are still around but the pure texture artist positions are decreasing due the increased use of Normal Maps and stricter Project Budgets. When using Normal maps for Shading and Relief, originally painted directly into the textures, are no long needed (much). The skill sets for creating shading and relief for game assets are shifting from painting to sculpting while modeling and texturing roles are being combined into one position.

Additionally, every game producer needs package design, inbox printed material, and marketing support which can include Web design and animation. In most cases, these tasks are handled by a separate department or company, but may also include several in-house or development team artists.

Marc Mencher is CEO of GameRecruiter and a game industry career specialist who has helped thousands of jobseekers land positions with the leading games companies. Article re-published with permission of GameRecruiter.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Art, Breaking In, RESOURCES. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.