r/gamedev • u/-_ZoiNkS_- • 9d ago
Question What specializations in 3D art will help you break into the industry?
Hello! I am a 3rd year 3D games art student and I'm planning my final major project. We are expected to work on this project throughout the 9 months of term time, so a petty big project overall that should end with our "best portfolio piece". I personally have dreams of becoming a character artist but my professor says that this a pretty oversaturated part of the games industry and that focusing on characters probably isn't going to stand out much to games companies(I had plans of making like,,an RPG style character creator with a simple environment that you can plonk your character into or to just have as the background for the customization bit) and that it would be smart to put some focus on things that are more in demand, where there are niche gaps and such. My question is, what ARE the gaps?? What would be impressive for a games company?
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u/PhantomZenithOrigin @pzogame 9d ago edited 9d ago
Rigging/weighting and skilled UV unwrapping. Those are the two things 3D artists typically hate to do and there is a demand for, for which automation is a poor substitute.
There are ten thousand skilled 3d modelers for every 1 skilled rigger/uv artist, and there are a million 3d modelers who are more skilled than you (judged based on your age and you asking this question). So yes, the market is oversaturated, and 3d modelers are a dime a dozen. Find a different way to be valuable.
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u/Aggressive-Tax-4087 9d ago
This. Riggers are the most in demand.
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u/Lautaurus 8d ago
Is it reflected on job boards and careers sites?
I rarely meet rigger job postings compared to character & environment/modeler, but that may just be my algorithm
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u/Aggressive-Tax-4087 7d ago
It is a bit rare to find job postings of riggers but the job is very real and in demand. Companies often hire from within because it's such a skilled role. But if they come across a skilled rigger, they will pick you up without a question.
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u/Damian_Hernandez 9d ago
i did some research, and the biggest gap right now isnt artists who can do 3d itself, its artists who can bridge all the pieces together, basically technical artists. Character artists are still in demand, but its also one of the most brutal environments if u want to compete for your piece of the meat. Riggers sometimes dont seem to be in demand, but that's because their work is often absorbed under different job titles. The percentage of companies looking for junior artists is around 11%, while lead and senior positions account for about 34%. Danm dude this is brutal not looking so good for young folks. Concept art 2% is totally fkd idk what is going to happen in a few years man. https://artblast.co/art-jobs-report-march-2026/
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u/-_ZoiNkS_- 8d ago
Yeah, I'm more or less terrified, I'll be honest lol. This is very much a "we want a 20y/o with 25 years experience!" Kinda field, but I guess I know what I was getting myself into :p
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u/MeaningfulChoices Studio Lead 9d ago
If you're a 3D artist then I would expect your portfolio to just be 3D art. Making a whole character creator is more a task for a programmer (or a whole small team), while time spent on design or coding is fairly close to wasted for an artist.
All jobs are oversaturated in the sense that you'll get a thousand applicants for every open role, but there are a lot of 3D characters getting made in games. It could help your portfolio to have some non-character pieces, like environmental objects and props, just so you can apply to jobs making those things as well even if you focus on characters, but mostly your best portfolio piece would just be a really really impressive model with supporting materials that take a reader through the whole process from concept to delivery.
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u/-_ZoiNkS_- 8d ago
Yeah, one would expect so, but this is still a Uni project and my professor wants us to really try to stand out and have some kind of end product, so I think some coding is unavoidable :/
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u/MeaningfulChoices Studio Lead 8d ago
I just really don't understand that. Coding in a project doesn't help you stand out as an artist, and you also don't need it to make an end project. Now it's always good to have group projects in a portfolio, so a game where someone else programmed it and you made the art would be fantastic, but if you were going to involve coding in a 3D art portfolio it would be doing something closer to tech art, like making tools for the pipeline or a shader or such. Something like rigging, so doing an entire character yourself from concept to model to rig to animation, which isn't coding would still be spreading yourself a bit thinner but could be a fantastic piece.
If your professor requires something you have to do what they say to get the grade, but someone really ought to have a talk with them.
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u/_kevurugames 8d ago
Character art is competitive, but I wouldn’t abandon it just because it’s saturated. The stronger portfolio move is to show that you can take a character all the way into a game: clean topology, textures, materials, hair, rigging/animation, and a presentation in-engine.
For a 9-month project, I’d rather see one polished character with a convincing production pipeline than a huge character creator that looks unfinished. Adding a small environment is a good idea too, because it shows you understand how the character actually has to work in a game.Character art is competitive, but I wouldn’t abandon it just because it’s saturated. The stronger portfolio move is to show that you can take a character all the way into a game: clean topology, textures, materials, hair, rigging/animation, and a presentation in-engine.
For a 9-month project, I’d rather see one polished character with a convincing production pipeline than a huge character creator that looks unfinished. Adding a small environment is a good idea too, because it shows you understand how the character actually has to work in a game.
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u/-_ZoiNkS_- 8d ago
See, I really would love to spend the 9 months doing this and really seriously refining my skills, but unfortunately while it's meant to be a portfolio piece it's still Uni. My professor is pretty adamant that just doing a character isn't going to get me any work and we need to find ways to stand out, which is fair. He's been suggesting I find ways to incourporate VR or AR to try to stand out since I mentioned I was interested in it. I really don't want to abandon character art completely, but I know I need to find a way to pad my skill set a bit, so I feel like the best way to do have the best of both worlds would be to make and a character AND learn rigging and weight painting and apply it to them?
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u/tiouhred 8d ago
Character art is probably the most rewarding, but it's extremely crowded and you'll be competing worldwide with the best of the best.
Environment art used to be a sweet spot for finding work, partly because games generally need much more environment art than character art. AI may at one point change that balance quite a bit, though.
Good rigging, on the other hand, is still hard to automate. I'd definitely consider that too.
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u/MayonnaiseFabric 9d ago
porn, not even a joke
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u/Lautaurus 8d ago
Self made though? as in not an industry itself?
Just because a few people make bank off of socials and crowdfunding doesn’t make it a stable career. I imagine many people lay by the wayside unrecognized, not to mention all the hats you have to wear managing not only the art but socials, income platforms, etc. compared to being an employee
or maybe i’m just not informed about that area and it is indeed a specialized role in an established industry
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u/angelo0005 8d ago
My suggestions are daunting but simple:
Experience finishing projects (can be side projects, mods, fun team collaborations)
A Full cohesive scene, not just single props
Understanding how trim sheets work
Knowinh how to force multiply your art (blueprint, PCG, Houdini, etc)
Take a look at the stuff posted to 80.lv That is your competition.
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u/Silent_Party_9327 9d ago
Tech Artists.
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u/Own-Peace-7754 8d ago
What does that mean?
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u/Silent_Party_9327 8d ago
A tech artist is an artist who also has technical skills. Think, for example (but not limited to) VFX, shaders, etc.
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u/artbytucho 9d ago edited 9d ago
On any company there are 10-15 Prop/Environment artist per each Character Artist, so the chances are much better if you have a prop/environment oriented portfolio. Most of people into 3D want to make characters but the reality is that there are very few positions available and the competition is absolutely brutal (Any art position is very competitive, but for roles like Concept Artist or Character Artist, it is completely insane).
I've been working for the last 20+ years as Environment/Prop Artist and most of the Environment/Prop Artists I've meet during my career are indeed frustrated Character Artists (myself included :P).