So I know you need experience using a real time engine or at least a lot of jobs list for it. My options were Unity or Unreal since Unity isn’t practical for triple AAA art portfolio and Unreal is a suite here I am. Could the more experienced artists give me tips on the software I should use with Unreal for workflow? Also is Maya or Max better for a job?
Both Maya and 3ds Max are fine, but a warning in that they are quite expensive and Autodesk is not a good company so you might want to consider some other options. Blender is free but doesn’t have as good of support for the FBX export format that you would export your 3D models to before you import them to UE4. Modo is very good but the biggest problem is that most studios use Maya/3ds Max so if you’re looking to eventually get a job in the industry then it’s difficult to work without knowing one of those.
Is there other software in the work flow like zbrush and Photoshop or substance painter which are used by professionals?
As the above said.Im a maya user and with 8k in the software i wont reccomend it to new artists due to the price and since you wont be able to buy a perpetual license.I say modo all the way as a primary modeling soft.Companyes do use it and most of the time they shoudnt care if you use it as its cheap.In your spare time if you want,you can learn maya or max just in case but i think with modo you will have more than enough.
Maybe do trial versions of Max, Maya and the others and follow some simple tutorials? From my hobbyist experience, I find Max to be the most intuitive, but that could be because it’s simply what I’ve become used to. It’s all verts, tris and polys afterall. Just a question of finding the most user-friendly way of arranging them for you; to start with at least.
Thanks for the help guy’s.
Scuptris is free, and as for a photoshop alternative there’s Gimp. Substance is very cheap so I would just go ahead and buy that. But I would recommend sticking with one program and becoming familiar with that before moving on to others, so starting with Blender and doing some basic modeling tutorials and learning the interface.
Thanks for the advice
If your goal is to work as a 3d artist in the game industry:
- It’s a good idea to learn Max or Maya, or both. If you have a working student email you can get a student version of both packages for free. Max and Maya also have the most content in terms of tutorials, support, plugins, etc, because they are widely used industry standard programs.
- Learn Substance Painter and Substance Designer. They are both very much in demand, and are very commonly used in the industry.
- You can get Photoshop for $10 a month from Adobe, it’s worth it at that price.
- Practice things from start to finish. Model, unwrap, texture, import into UE4, and make it into a scene.
Hi there! I’ll give some advice if you’re intending on working in the games industry in the future
- Maya or Max?
Maya is generally more popular these days and happens to be what I use. In the companies I’ve worked for, if you’re skilled enough they will just provide which ever software you need. But take a look at your favourite companies and see which one they use, aim to be able to work for them one day. You can get a student version of any of the Autodesk software and can keep renewing the license.
If you want to delve into the Architectural industry, Max is used more often.
But overall, having great understanding and skills of modelling is what we look for. If you’re skilled enough we will provide you the software you need.
- Unity or Unreal?
Try both!
UE4 is amazing for artists. With the inbuilt Material Editor and Blueprints, you can create very impressive scenes as an individual artist as opposed on relying on a programmer.
Unity can still achieve this but if you want artist friendly tools you will need to buy them in the Unity store as plugins.
- Other Software?
Texturing
Definitely the Substance tools. Substance Painter is definitely something I recommend and also Designer. It’s pretty much becoming one of the industry standard tools now for PBR workflow.
Photoshop is a must, every artist is assumed that they know how to use it.
High Poly Sculpting
Zbrush is the standard here, there’s also Mudbox as well if you’re into the whole Autodesk ecosystem. But definitely Zbrush is more popular. But pick any you prefer since you will always be exporting them out to bake anyway.
- Tips
Become confident in the whole workflow of creating a finished asset. Starting from Modelling > UV Unwrapping > Texturing > Importing > Material in Engine.
Software will always evolve and change over time but as long as you have the foundations set you can always adapt.
Understand the rendering system in your chosen engine! I don’t mean a fully detailed understanding, but artists who have a decent understanding of how the game engine works can utilise it more to their advantage and create amazing art.
There’s going to be plenty of times when you create something and it just doesn’t look right in game, make mistakes and learn from them quickly, ask many questions as possible.
Understand lighting and composition of the whole scene!
Lighting is the biggest selling point in the world of 3D. If you have amazing lighting, it can push your art to the next level. I’ve seen many times where some artists do create nice models but is ruined by very bad lighting, makes their work look worse than it actually is.
Understand the whole entire scene, not just putting up individually modeled assets in your portfolio.
Thanks for the advice
I’m not an artist so I had to look for software to make my art life easier and here’s a list I’ve compiled
MayaLt: it’s cheap at $30/month USD and the student license is free for 3 years.
Adobe Mixamo and their site. You can rapid development some game characters.
gimp: poor man’s photoshop
inkscape: poor man’s illustrator
Marvelous Designer: It’s great for making clothes for 3d models without having to subdivide mesh into clothing like in MayaLT. Super easy to use. Meshes are game accessible. Metal Gear Solid 5 used it. 50/month
If you have the cash, I like iClone suite.