I am 17 and about to graduate. Of course I have been thinking about what I want to do (about college) afterwards for quite some time, and I am not planing on going simply becuase I do not see many circumstances that I would need it. I have looked at site after site and job listing after job listing and found by far (probably 80-90%) most game development companies do not require a college degree (for artist at least). I have also been homeschooled since the begining and am more apt to teaching myself than learning in a classroom. I have 3D Studio MAX R3 and have been learning it for about 7 months now, and I am thinking by this time next year I should know it well enough for a job, even if I took two more years (this would be the extreme longest it would take) to learn it I would still be at least a year ahead of if I went to college. Of course I would like to know (as would many others i''m sure) what all of you think about college for making games, especially for 3D animator (or just your thoughts on college period, I personaly think college overall is stereotyped as something all people must do, even if they don''t know what they want to do it for!). If it came down to it, talent, skill, and personality being equal, would you hire the guy with a four year degree, or the guy with 2-3 years experiance in the games industry? Also if you think college is not a must, what all should I learn? For 3D artist\animator job post just say "must know 3D Studio MAX and Photoshop" (usually). But then when I read something like Game Developer magazine thier talking about a million other programs and things, are there any other major things I need to learn? I know the more I learn the better, such as other animation programs etc., but buying MAX nearly killed my savings and I don''t have much extra, I also know my whole cereer will be a learning process, you I will never know everything about computers. I am also going to start making levels and units for Half-Life using MAX to help with learning low poly modeling and animation, would a devoloper look at this as worth anything? Thanks

Think of it this way:
You're fresh out of HS looking for a job as a 3d artist in the gaming industry. You come to a developer and apply for the job. Then, someone else with a 3 year college carear comes to the developer and asks for the same job. Who do you think the developer is going to pick?!

College, I believe is very necessary not only because it will teach you to work in an environment, but also learn the skills that you've being taught properly. You may have developed some bad habits from teaching yourself- how do you know if you've developed bad skills? You..
1) you can't, simply because you didn't go to college and learn the skills you need to get a job as an animator properly.
2) You lose a job because you have bad habits that make other artists who DID attend college become annoyed.

You'll also get paid more for a job if you have a college degree. Go to college, it'll do you a world of good.

GO LEAFS GO!

Edited by - Fredric on 4/25/00 4:54:39 PM

I did not compare someone with no college to someone who went to college. I said if one guy had 3-4 years college and another had 2-3 years experience as a 3D artist/animator in the computer game industry, who would you choose. I know I still need another year of learning. Then I can find a job (even if I have to work with no/low pay for a while to prove myself, I gaurentee you I will get a job). Then in same time that it would have taken me to go through college I will have experiance and friends in the industry, plus I will have gotten paid, rather than paid tens of thousands of dollars (which I do not have) to a college.

You do make a good point about learning bad habits. I am willing to work for low pay until I learn more and get more experiance, no matter how low the pay I will still make more than I would in college (in which I would be paying a great deal of money, either while there or after in student loans).

if your parents are paying for it GO you idiot.
otherwise Get the job first work for a bit then go to college.

JmarsKoder: Founder of "The Minds of Kosine" http://www.kosine.cjb.net/

A group for the most passionate coders. "The Art of Code"

Bomberman,

No, a college degree is not needed. It is needed if you want to make a career out of it and here''s why. No employer will give you a livable salary without a degree. The most common excuse is "Our bosses won''t let us pay you any more because you don''t have a degree." That''s what happened to someone I know in college right now. If you know what you are doing, that''s not enough for a good salary. Those companies want college degrees, even if they don''t say it. You''re on a path to getting screwed if you don''t get a degree.

Now, since you are looking towards game art, I suggest going to art school. Most game developers want ARTISTS first, people who know how to do advanced things in a graphics program comes second. Actually, they need both. They are not going to hire one person to draw and one person to put it into the computer if they can get one person to do both.
So my suggestion would be art school.



Jason Wood
Creator of TIMELINE
http://timeline.50megs.com