Hi from TheMaidenInBlack! This article will focus on the graphic part of videogames, since I'm lucky enough to have my own brother working in the industry - I'm totally exploiting him for our interview.
being a 3D artist means doing everything from characters (his favourite part!) to environment, which is from actual level development to teeny tiny objects. It's a really exciting, beautiful job and Marco's passion for it made me understand and learn a lot!I'm using his DA handle for the blog, but he never kept up with his account so I apologise! He has a website, though.
Prettiness is a family trait.
Tell our readers a bit about yourself!
My name is Marco Puricelli, I'm a 26-year-old 3D Artist. I have 3+ years of working experience in the videogames industry and I'm currently working at ASOBO Studios.
I enjoy modeling and texturing characters in my spare time, while at work I usually do environments; this lets me keep practicing different variations of the job of a 3D Artist. 3D Digital art is a very vast field, you never stop learning, and is probably the thing I love the most about my job.
What inspired you to become a 3D artist?
I kinda liked playing videogames when I was a kid, I started with the NES and SNES but the real passion came out with the Playstation. I spent countless hours in my youth with that joystick in my hands, and that is surely what made me decide to study 3D graphics some years later... at first I studied art and design, I never thought it was actually possible to work in the videogame industry. One day by chance I read an article about a famous videogames school in Japan, and that was the moment in which I decided that I wanted to work in the videogames industry.
What's the most exciting and frustrating thing about your job?
The most exciting thing about my job comes from the fact that the technology at the base of videogames is continuosly evolving, this means that every project on which you work will teach you something new. You will also meet a lot of talented artists in the industry, this is something that can really push you to improve your skills and can be really rewarding. The most frustrating thing about my job must be that often you are forced to work on really tight deadlines, milestones are really important and have to be absolutely achieved, even if you have to do a less accurate job to be in time.... Knowing that with few hours more you could have done an amazing model instead of just a good one can be frustrating haha.
Has the way you view videogames changed ever since you started working in the industry?
I probably have a more critical look on videogames now, but I still enjoy playing them as I did when I was a kid.
I definitely have more respect for the work done by the software houses on each game I play though... you can't understand the problems and constraints of implementing a certain effect or feature, or the care needed to make certain models, till you work in the field.
Similarly, does the fact that you help create videogames make you enjoy playing them less?
I have less time to play videogames now unfortunately, having models on your screen all the day can drain your energies, but I try to find moments to dedicate to my passions... so usually weekends are dedicated to playing videogames haha!
Is there some advice you would give to someone who wants to follow your same career?
The best advice I can give to someone that wants to work in the videogames industry is to be patient and very dedicated to your personal art and learning, it's a very competitive field in which work some of the best artists you will ever see, but don't let the high standard scare you off, on the contrary make it become the reason that pushes you to reach that level.
And finally: is it difficult to find a job in your field? What, in your opinion, makes a portfolio successful?
Because of the high visual quality required by today's AAA videogames, it can be difficult for an inexperienced artist to get a job right out of school in a big international company, but thanks to the explosion of the mobile market (games for smartphones) there are many small studios that search for young and motivated artists to help them develop their games. This can be an invaluable way to learn how to really work in a team, and it will be the first step to get the job of your dreams.... it's what I did, and now I finally work for a big company as I wanted when I finished my studies.
The quality of your portfolio will be of the utmost importance, it makes 80% of your application when applying for a job. Companies don't simply want to see cool looking models, they want to see cool looking models that work perfectly in real time, so having screenshots of your models from a game engine is a must: all real time screenshots have to be accompanied by screenshots of wireframes, high res models, and textures.... incomplete portfolios are always a bad way to present yourself.
To conclude...
The most important thing that my brother always told me when he was looking for a job in this field was competitivity: it is such a fast-growing environment, and there are so many talented artists, that you really have to be practicing a lot - even in your free time when you'd want to be doing something else - to stand a chance at getting the job of your dreams for a big software house. Which sort of goes without saying, you need effort to get any excellent job, but in this specific case, it is especially important.
You also have to be willing to move far, far away because you never know where it will take you! While a lot of people work from home, many software houses require in-study attendance, of course.
And ultimately... you need passion, LOTS of passion.
If you have any questions, you can ask them here and I'll get answers for you from him if I can't answer myself.
thank you for reading!
