Game Computer Graphics Mentor

Games
1

My wife is a professor and has a student interested in graphics design for video games. Is there anyone here willing to answer some questions for him or be a mentor of sorts? If so, I can get his email address and PM it to you. If not, do you know of any forums that would be useful for someone in his position?

Thanks!

2

My only advice to a would be graphics designer or anyone interested in getting into the the video game industry is:
Don’t.

Low pay, long hours, and lack of job security.

3

don’t. all that stuff is farmed out to china now.

4

I’d be willing to have a conversation with the student, Rob. I’ve been studying and immersing myself in the CG industry (both games and animation) for the last year or so. I could explain basically how they get made and what career paths there are.

This is a little out of date but a pretty good primer. Written by a professor of graphics arts in Austin I’ve had some coorespondence with:

http://www.austincc.edu/sfarr/job-pyramid.html

Also from the same author, explanation of where the money goes and the pipeline:

http://www.austincc.edu/sfarr/animation-costs.html

Peruse around that page a bit, it’s a decent primer.

After reading that, they can correspond with me, if they like, at: plasticfshow at gmail dotcom.

Keep in mind I’m kind of trying to turn this industry on its head currently, but I still love and admire it.

One last link: Not to pile on with “don’t do it”! but the Sacramento Bee did a story and documentary on the pitfalls of the VFX industry today. Article and video here. Maybe share that one a bit later so not to discourage. :)

5

Thanks for the replies. I will pass along the negatives so the student can go into it with both eyes open.

Thanks @Guap for the information. I will pass it along to my wife to give to the student. I