Nov AMA: Answers (Patreon)

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youngizzik asks:  Hi Bec! So, as I'm sure you know, GDC put tickets up recently and so as someone who will be going for the first time I'm not sure what I should do. I know that I should probably get a base expo pass since I want to meet people and go to roundtables and such. The question comes from dropping that much of my own money (which feels real bad as a college student lol) or applying for one of the passes my college gives out based on merit. The issues with the college passes is that they are almost definitely going to label me as a student which I've heard is a huge GDC sin, even if I am a student, calling myself one does not lend the air of professionalism I probably need. Additionally, I will have to staff the school's booth, which is notorious for looking like garbage, especially in comparison to the other college booths. Just a mess of business cards and poorly marketed games. Do I want to save 200$ and possibly have my opportunities shot down before I can even try because of my college's poor marketing or just go ahead and save myself the embarrassment? I'm extremely pessimistic about my college's tabling skills which is why I'm really just curious if the things I mentioned are really job killers as much as I think they are? 

I wish that students weren't so immediately mentally shut down by professionals. I've met so many students doing SERIOUSLY incredible things and so many students with innovative, fresh ideas, and brushing aside someone because they're in school just SUCKS. I want to throw that out there before jumping into more of the answer. 

It's perfectly fair to be critical about how your game or your self is presented by a third party (like a college) at a major event like this, especially when you're early on in your career and are actively seeking work. If your school has a history of not shining the best light upon your work, breaking away and striking off on your own is a perfectly fine thing to do. 

First of all, you do have more options than these two! You can also go without a pass, apply to be a CA (Conference Associate), or apply for scholarships. 

A lot of folks I know go without a pass entirely. There's just SO much to do outside of the conference and so many events/parties/workshops hosted at local companies, like all of the Unity content, and most of it doesn't require a pass (or you can borrow a pass from a friend!) The last couple of years, I bought the expo pass for very specific reasons, but I wasn't planning on getting a pass until last minute last year and only had one because I got one for free in exchange for helping a friend out with their booth. I don't really go to talks and I don't actually spend that much time on the expo floor, so that $200 usually just isn't worth spending to me.

You can also apply to be a Conference Associate. CAs help out around the conference throughout the week and get an all-access pass for their work, in addition to hourly pay and (I think) free lunches in the CA lounge. A lot of people that are CAs are really really wonderful folks, and this just seems like a great way to meet fresh faces while working the conference and getting more familiar with the event.

And of course, I encourage everyone to apply for scholarships through various diversity initiatives or for the low-income pass lottery! You can see a list of the scholarship programs here, along with descriptions of the CA program and low-income lottery. 

GDC, at the end of the day, can be hugely beneficial for your career and your network, but if you don't want to attend or can't afford to go, don't feel like you're ~less of a game dev~ for it. I hope we see more options in the upcoming years so folks have easier access to professional conferences in our industry.

Snowmew asks:  Hi Bec! I want to ask about 3D. Specifically, getting into 3D... As a 2D digital artist who primarily uses PhotoShop, I'm intimidated by all of the 3D options... and learning curves. What software is avilable to me, and how do I get past the paralyzing fear of not knowing what buttons do which for the software I pick?  Some more shot gun questions I have are: - as a student, do I get any perks? - what are some good projects to give myself as I start out - what are the different directions I can take 3D? (e.g. animation, character art, high rez beautiful 3D) - do I use a tablet with 3D? (So many youtube tutorials go over "you make X" and suddenly they have X, but I dont even know the basics)  Would love a tl;dr on how to start my 3D journey, thanks! 

How exciting!! 3D has on-and-off been an essential tool in my work as a 2D artist, especially when working on illustrations and complex prop design. There are a lot of choices out there. If any 3D artists reading this have further notes on this, PLEASE feel free to comment below with your perspective.

Autodesk Maya and Max are generally the industry standard programs. Maya leans more into being strong for animation, and Max's strength lies in modeling. If you have an .edu email, you can access their student version of either package for free for three years. After that period, Autodesk products are notoriously expensive and are financially out of reach for a lot of individuals. Yay!

If you REALLY want to stick to what's industry standard, pick either of these. I *personally* recommend Max (I originally learned in Maya) because I find it's workflow to be more similar to Blender (the open source software that I've 100% switched over to cuz ~free~) if you want to switch to Blender later.

Blender is free, open-source software that gets more and more powerful with every update. Their newest version, 2.8, kicks ASS. It's not industry standard, but IMO it's WAY more accessible than Autodesk software. It also has more tools...

You can really pick Maya, Max, or Blender, learn that software, and then apply what you've learned to the other packages if you want/need to switch later. All the principles transfer over. 

If you ONLY want to do modeling: pick any of those packages.

If you want to do modeling and animation: pick Maya probably?? Not a hard-set recommendation. The others can animate too but Maya specifically is great for animating.

If you want to try your hand at handpainted textures: go with Blender. It has actual painting tools that the other two lack.

I actually *personally, for my own needs* think that Blender is the best option because it 1. is free, duh and 2. can do more than the Autodesk packages even though it isn't industry standard.

TL,DR:  IMO, just go with Blender. It's free and has a ton of community support. You can switch to other software later if needed.

The other questions:

what are some good projects to give myself as I start out - what are the different directions I can take 3D? Some folks jump right into high res sculpting but I really, really recommend just starting out by making low-poly simple models and then working your way up over time. First, follow along with the Blender donut tutorial I linked below, then try making simple objects! START SMALL. Try making a Lego, then a mug, then a chair!

do I use a tablet with 3D? Some do. I definitely do not, except with handpainted texturing. I personally don't because 3D packages generally require you to have a middle mouse button to control the camera, which can feel weird with a tablet pen.

(So many youtube tutorials go over "you make X" and suddenly they have X, but I dont even know the basics) One of the reasons that I recommend Blender is because they have a bunch of great video series that cover the 101 of 3D modeling, as well as a huge community of support and a ton of forums.

**This video tutorial series is where you want to start.** It'll walk you through the basics to get you started. I actually recommend following along this tutorial multiple times if you're struggling to build up the muscle memory of different keyboard shortcuts.

It's going to feel very clumsy at first, but as you get more familiar with the basic tools, you'll realize that you can do a LOT and learn very quickly! You'll be overwhelmed with the UI and how many things there are, but the vast majority of (especially low-poly) 3D work is done with just a few simple tools.

I hope this provides a starting point!