DEVOTED STUDIOS BLOG

Hello from the Devoted team! Let’s get acquainted! Tell us about your role and specialization.

I am a 3D Art Lead.

What inspired you to choose this profession?

Since my childhood I enjoyed Science Fiction, later I was inspired with the classical era video games. So I think I always wanted to be a part of the industry.

Reveal a secret sauce of your professional development.

There’s no secret – study all the time, work as much as you can, talk to people from the industry.

Share your experience on managing your workflows and projects.

I worked as a freelancer for years, have performed as an Art Director in studios for a couple of times. These experience taught me to manage multiple projects at a time.

How do you approach a project estimation and calculate your work hours?

This comes from the experience, you can look at the model and tell how much time it takes to accomplish. I also try adding 20-25% of estimated time for fixes and polishing. The calculations are very simple – I just track time in a txt file while working.

What’re your favorite platforms to share your portfolio and why?

Artstation – because it’s an industry standard, Sketchfab – because it allows sharing 3D-art online with acceptable quality of shading and lighting.

What’re the main advantages of community in our industry?

– Sharing experience, tips and tricks;
– keeping track of new technologies and cool projects;
– an ability to find a specialist fast.

How do you see the future of the industry?

When I’m asked for my opinion on the game industry, I always say that it follows the cinematography steps, and considering the fact that today gamedev is less than 40 years old, we are somewhere close to Charlie Chaplin’s silent movies on the timeline. We didn’t even reach the color movies! The best is ahead.

Give some useful advice to your colleagues who are just starting out in the profession.

Just 3 pieces of advice here:

1. Learn English
2. Learn English
3. Learn English
Best tutorials are in English. Top artists are English-speakers. Best studios are English-speaking. Language is the key.

Last but not least, share your experience with Devoted CG and Devoted Studios

I started working as a vendor for Devoted in the autumn 2021. Half a year later I was offered to join the studio on a full-time basis. That’s it!

Hello, my name is Vitaliy Vatsko.

I am a 3D Photoreal Environment and Props Artist from Kharkiv, Ukraine. I like to create buildings and props for computer games.

As far as I can remember I was fascinated by different stories. When I was young I liked to visit museums, look at exhibits of old artifacts, and through their story learn the stories of those who owned them in the past. Old castles and buildings which remain now witnessed a lot of human history and have their own stories to tell. Making 3D models allows me to create something from imagination into some sort of reality, it allows me to tell stories from places that never existed but were inspired by reality. I remember reading Hobbit by Tolkien and how it inspired me to become a magician like Gandalf the Grey. I was a child back then. Now I think that creating something material from pure thought is the most magical thing I know, and by doing so I make my child’s dream come true).

There is no secret sauce except that my ideas and thoughts motivate me to create new scenes and props that have a story to tell, an impression to make, and a feeling to share. If my idea demands certain techniques or tools to be used, that motivates me to learn and grow professionally.

3D Artist wasn’t my first profession. Long before I allowed myself to make my hobby a serious profession I was working as a Project Manager in IT. That experience taught me much about planning, risk management, and project documentation. First of all, before starting working on a project it is crucial to understand what is the core of the project, what is needed for its success, and whether or not my skills and competence can match the demanded level of quality. Risk management is very important so before starting anything I ask questions that might be very important to the quality of my work, and that can save much time and effort while working in the process. If I see that I can handle what is demanded, I start breaking down the workflow into smaller stages and evaluate them accordingly to similar tasks that I’ve done before.

I also have a golden rule – I don’t work on several projects at once, since there can be a situation when many projects demand my immediate attention at once, which is not possible for me to do).

Before any calculation and estimation, I have to break down the chosen workflow into smaller stages. For example Blockout, Highpoly, Middlepoly, UV, Baking, Texturing, Importing to UE, Rendering, Delivering. I know myself and I know how much time I usually spend on each stage (it also depends on the complexity of a model). Of course, I’m just a human, and sometimes not everything goes as planned, so for those situations I add some time for the most crucial stages to deal with unexpected complications.

My main portfolio platform is Artstation. It allows looking at the works of other people there and learn some techniques from them, to see how they dealt with some challenges that I’ll face in the future. It is also exciting to look at the “Artist journey” that people make throughout their lives, improving their technical skills and creating meaningful art.

In my country, it is still a pretty close community. Almost everyone knows everyone, or at least the studio or projects that someone is working on (except for NDA’s). That allows artists to ask for advice for their projects, share knowledge, and support each other. I have some friends from different studios, who work on very different projects, yet still face common technical difficulties. One day we made a call and there was a guy who changed his profession from 3D Artist to Game Designer, and while listening to our problem he remembered the same issue that he faced several years ago, so he gave us a good solution to it. As my friends say: Once a 3D Artist you are always a 3D Artist)).

I am a very bad fortune teller, though looking at some new technologies like UE5 and plugins to it, I can certainly tell that some stages that took a lot of artist time like retopology or manual LOD making will go to the past allowing us to spend more time on art itself rather than its technical sides like optimization and other time-consuming things. I assume that If 3D scanning will go further, some professions like Weapon artists can change their ways forever, because why manually create the same existing in our world rifle 1000 times, if you can just scan it and retopologize using some artificial intelligence).
– “Don’t be afraid of failures.

– You will and you should fail a lot. Failure isn’t a tragedy it is a lesson, that will teach you how to become stronger in areas where you are weak now. Don’t be afraid to fail.

– Motivate yourself.

There is nothing more important than inner motivation to achieve something and to learn something that is demanded to achieve it. Motivation from others whether it’s family or friends helps. It helps a lot! But It should never be a core source for all you do as an Artist. Bad times may happen, a family can be separated, and friends can be out of reach. In times like that, it’s only up to you to face the challenges and keep yourself motivated to achieve your dreams. To achieve not for the approval or excitement of others but yourself.

There is no end to knowledge in our industry. Due to its constant evolution some skills that were highly appreciated several years ago, are irrelevant now. You should be prepared that the “Old ways” of doing things might be not needed or even considered inefficient. So it is very important to be prepared to constantly evolve as an artist, to learn new techniques, new skills, new tools and to work on yourself as a person. Evolve constantly”.

I like working with Devoted Studios. Our project allowed me to be part of a friendly, supportive team, that was motivated to produce results as well as possible. During that project, I learned new tools and worked with a type of computer graphics that I’ve never worked with before. I was glad to participate in that project and I hope to work with Devoted Studios more in the future on similar projects or others). As for the Devoted CG – it’s a promising young platform that can become a really good competition for Artstation.

I’m registered there and I hope it will bring some cool projects to me and allow Devoted Studios to be a part of top Game Titles in the Industry.

1. Hello from the Devoted team. Let’s get acquainted! Tell us about your role and specialization.

Hi, this is Sathish Koththolla, I’m a 3D Digital Artist and Game Designer. I’ve been partnering with Big AAA studios and Producing the Quality for the Games and Movies. And now I’m developing my own games while making the art for other studios.

2. What inspired you to choose this profession?

I have been a great fan of Games since my childhood, I used to play a lot of games and I still play them of course. One day I got to know about the gaming industry from a person. I started digging about it more and more. I started it at an early age. I did a masters degree in Game Art and Design.

3. Reveal a secret sauce of your professional development.

I always believe in working smartly rather than hard. I tried to invent my own pipelines for my work. I always try to make different tricks and techniques and use them in my workflow. These days some big AAA games are using my tricks and techniques for some specific artworks and shaders. I have been offering art direction to some studios along with my Art. The secret is just that, work smart and make your own pipeline by using different pipeline skills.

4. Share your experience on managing your workflows and projects.

When it comes to the work, I will always try to plan the days according to the work and try to finish before that. It is really important to plan and give the specific deadline for the specific work. I will always have an estimation of time for every work. The specific workflow that I follow always helps me to reach the work on time. I always have the necessary starting stuff to kick start and save the time for every style of project.

5. How do you approach a project estimation and calculate your work hours?

To be honest, it totally depends on the concept. For some specific works I charge them per piece instead of per hour. The more things I consider are how much time it takes when I see the concept, and what tools I need to use. For example, hair work will be constant with the price per piece most of the time. But sculpting works keep changing according to the concept.

6. What’s your favorite platform to share your portfolio and why?

Aa of now, There are few platforms I really like.I myself built so many facebook and instagram 3D communities, We share the works there most of the time and pinned. We have communities with more than 300k artists and Industry professionals. I really like Artstation as a portfolio showcase site as of now. Youtube for some game design works. Artstation is the place where every artist can check other artists’ works constantly. But I really like facebook communities of mine because they always have been study material for many upcoming artists.

7. What are the main advantages of community in our industry?

If it is Facebook then So many people can meet and talk and learn from each other, Ask doubts. Get feedback and show their vision.If it is Artstation. It is more kinda showing the skills you have already got than learning. But there is a category for learning these days. So people can learn easily but at some cost of money. But on facebook people don’t charge to clear your doubts.

8. How do you see the future of the industry?

I really have a clear mind about what I’m gonna do. For now I’m working on game development while working as a 3D Artist. So focusing on what I have right now. A Game Developer and Entrepreneur.

9. Give some useful advice to your colleagues who are just starting out in the profession.

Just work with your passion. Try to create your own ways always instead of just following the old methods of doing things.

10. Last but not least, share your experience with Devoted CG and Devoted Studios

I am really happy to be a part of Devoted Studios. I have been working with them for so many years now. Very friendly atmosphere and friendly people. It is a fun environment. I love it. They always give importance to the artist who works with them.

I chose to work on characters because I like all that is related to them. While playing videogames or watching movies, I would always pay a lot of attention to characters, their styles, personalities, what they are carrying with them, all those things. Growing up, I loved to draw characters. I used to draw comics back in school, but the process was to draw all the characters “perfectly” and rush the background, so… they weren’t that great This helped me understand what my passion was, and that I wanted to make a living out of that.

While studying, and then trying to get jobs, my biggest struggle was dealing with real life. Health related problems took my attention away from improving as an artist. It wasn’t easy, and it’s still not easy, but I was able to get back to work 100% after I started working on the mental side of things, so I would say that’s something that shouldn’t be forgotten, and you always have to take care of that.

I’ve always tried different ways to improve my craft. One of the things that helped me a lot was learning softwares like Blender and Daz. Not having to think about things like anatomy allowed me to focus mostly on the design part of the characters. Still, you have to study a lot of fundamentals, so continuing with that helped as well. And there’s no real comfort answer for that, you have to do it a lot and be patient. Sometimes, or always, it is really frustrating, but the results are what keeps me going because there’s no better feeling than getting good at something you love to do.

I started getting real work back in 2018, and one of the things I learned working as a Pro is the importance of feedbacks. I really think they made me improve because your Art Director sees lots of things that you probably don’t notice and the moment I’ve worked on something personal, I realized I’m way more critical of myself, and I see lots of things I wouldn’t have noticed before.

Also, you have to pay the bills. My only suggestion would be: do not undersell yourself. An important thing is to be able to understand your value, and that’s one of the things I struggle a lot with, because the first thought is that everything I do sucks. But you still need to get over that, and be very objective about your work, and understand that this is a job, and you have to make a living out of it. If a studio chooses you, you’re probably doing the right thing.

My specialty is 3D Concepts, making designs for Environments, Characters and Hardsurface stuff.

I’ve started as a 3D Generalist in the beginning, so I tried and experimented a lot, and in the meantime,I decided to push myself as hard as I can to become a 3D Concept Designer. 3D Artists or others, everyone faces the same obstacles. It’s not about any profession or something. It’s about mindgame.The person who can improve their mind and psychology and control themselves will be able to rise up when all falls apart.

There aren’t any special and extraordinary people, but Special Effort makes them special. that’s the only difference.

There is no way to make learning process less painful, no shortcut. If you want to achieve anything you need to pay with your effort for it.

Important thing I realised today:

Honesty is a first step for all of us – Admitting to your weaknesses and sharing it with others will help find a way to fix it! This requires extermination of an ego, so forget the ego and accept the lesson.

Devoted: What part of work took the longest to master?

Ruben: Final designs. To be honest I believe I’m still in the process to master it. As a creative you believe that your first idea has the whole potential to be the best. I decided to tell myself that wasn’t enough, that there’s a lot of “something’s missing”. That makes me more focused, more open to changes, trying to increase my techniques, learn from other artists, approach different tools, get the right resources, get the best references and try to be as proactive as I can. One of the most important things in the process is the Feedback. Opinions of others, their perceptions – accepting it as advice will increase your own view on how to be a better artist. That “something’s missing”. In the industry it will help you to understand that teamwork can be the best way to get the Final and the Best Design. For me, the Final Design is just like a puzzle that will never be finished because I always try to include something new. Said that’s “something missing” it will make me focus on keep looking to master it.

Devoted: Someone who would like to do the same thing as you do might face what obstacles?

Ruben: Theory and experience. Theory as a knowledge. Experience, as in resolving problems using the knowledge you have. You can overcome those obstacles with patience. Not all of us could do something really fast. But continuous trying and repeating will lessen your obstacles or change the way you see them. What can make this process less painful is order and focus. Knowing where you want to go. Know where you are to focus on what you need.

Meet Polina, a 3D artist and props master.

I have a degree in Engineering with specialization in Industrial and Civil Engineering.
I worked at a design institute for 5 years, created models of factories and equipment for them, so props are familiar to me.

Since I don’t have any art degree, I decided not to work with character modeling, and besides, I’m not interested in anatomy.

The most difficult things for me are natural, bionic shapes (maybe it’s because my brain used to interact with geometric ones). But I am working on it: I take drawing courses, watch YouTube videos about the processes of creating such models. In general, some difficulties go away when you gain more experience, but, when tasks become harder, new ones come up.

1. Hello from the Devoted team. Let’s get acquainted! Tell us about your role and specialization.

Hi! My name is Omercan. I’m a Concept Artist/Illustrator who mainly specializes in character design.

2. What inspired you to choose this profession?

My initial inspiration comes from comics I read in my early childhood. Back then in Turkey, we used to get comics from France, Belgium, and Italy. American comics weren’t a thing really until later on, so I grew up reading all the European comics masters and being influenced by them.#nbsp;

3. Reveal a secret sauce for your professional development.

I like to keep things simple. I’m not someone who uses many different software, brushes, or workflows. If I have access to an old pencil and a copy paper, that should be enough for me to express my idea.

4. Share your experience in managing your workflows and projects.

If I can, I try to work out one specific thing a day. Focusing on one project or one specific aspect of that project during a day gives the best results.#nbsp;

5. How do you approach a project estimation and calculate your work hours?

Mostly based on my experience. I’ve got to a point where I can think of a similar project I’ve worked on in the past and base my estimation on that. With some wiggle room added on top because there’ll always be some unforeseen circumstances along the way.

6. What are your favorite platforms to share your portfolio and why?

I mainly use ArtStation and it seems to work just fine. I’m trying to get used to updating my Devoted CG portfolio as well but it keeps slipping my mind!

7. What are the main advantages of community in our industry?

The biggest advantage of having a good community is the ability to share knowledge and help each other solve problems quickly. No matter what you’re struggling with, there’s definitely someone out there who has information that will help you.

8. How do you see the future of the industry?

Our industry is still growing and becoming more and more inclusive in many aspects of it. Moving forward, I think we’re going to see some new amazing techniques co-exist with more timeless, old-school approaches together. This means opportunities for a wider range of creatives and I’m very excited to see the results.#nbsp;

9. Give some useful advice to your colleagues who are just starting out in the profession.

Be patient. Some things just take time and don’t happen overnight. Learn to enjoy the process and time takes care of the rest.

10. Last but not least, share your experience with Devoted CG and Devoted Studios

I’ve got to be a part of many exciting projects thanks to Devoted Studios and I really appreciate the opportunities given to me. Looking forward to more!

Meet Douglas, a 2D Illustrator and Character Designer.

My journey began in 2004, in Santa Maria – I was 14 years old and began drawing in Manga style. In 2007, I got to live in Japan for one year and I was constantly bombed by repetitive manga references from all over the place.

Upon the return to my home country, I didn’t go to college and I decided to educate myself in the path of art. Through social media, I began studying tutorials and went after the best and most successful artists that I could reach. I sent a lot of emails. A lot.

For years, I would ask those people for critiques and they became mentors in my apprenticeship. Some became good friends. I’ve never personally met most of them and that’s how I learned English language too.

Formal education was nearly absent to me, though being in touch with such inspiring creators was the main engine that drove me to pursue a quasi unreachable amount of knowledge over the years.

At a given point, I understood that my path was not going towards conventionality and that I had to find my inner truth through experience and self-expression.

I stopped asking for guidance and began to elaborate the right questions. I understood that it’s not about how we do something, but WHY we do it. I always aimed for excellence since the beginning. “Good” has never been an option. Life has taught me it and I keep learning that way.

Meet Anna, a 3D Environment artist .

Honestly it was my boyfriend who inspired me to do this! He is a programmer and he can do so many cool things. I looked up to him and I just decided to learn something new. I was thinking of combining IT and creativity in my future job. That’s how I came across 3D modeling.

Probably the biggest obstacle for me was to understand how to bake normal maps. Guys in Youtube tutorials did it so fast and so clean while I was really confused about it. But I would recommend not to worry about it and just practice. It was a surprise for me that there are no really big secrets of how to bake normals, it’s all about practice actually.

But also you should remember a few simple things: high poly models should resemble low-poly as much as possible, make wise overlaps and don’t locate objects too close to each other. I think that one of the best things 3D artist should learn as a beginner is hotkeys. Don’t ignore it, because it makes life so much easier! There are probably hotkeys you never know about, you really should search for them.