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Game Art: Creation, Direction, and Careers is written to give 3D artists who want to move into the games industry the tools and techniques they need to be successful. It is also written for practicing game artists looking to increase their knowledge and skills so they can advance to the next level. As the gap between GFX programmers and artists continues to grow, it is more important than ever for artists to understand how and why art works in games. This doesn’t mean you have to become a programmer, but if you can understand the terminology and know why the technical details of your art are so important, you’ll have the skills every studio wants. This book teaches you these skills. The first two parts define the artistic process involved in creating game art, including the basic knowledge and skills you need to solve common problems artists face. The last two parts cover technical performance information and the more advanced techniques for game art creation. Due to the similar workflows in today’s 3D packages and the many in-house programs used in game development, the book teaches game-industry methods from a non-program specific perspective. The book does assume a working knowledge of at least one major 3D program (3ds max® or Maya®) and Photoshop®. HIGHLIGHTS * Gives an artist’s perspective into the game industry, details career opportunities, and provides portfolio tips, salary ranges, and interview suggestions * Covers methods for improving your artistic skills by studying light/ darkness, color, emotional content, how to read reference images, and teaches how to manage your personal workflow for an efficient team environment * Teaches specific game techniques such as collision, L.O.D.s, Mipmaps, fill rate, vertex costs, Tri-stripping, lighting per-pixel and per-vertex, normal maps, and real-time shaders * Discusses critical, PC-dominant advanced techniques that will be part of the next-generation gaming consoles * ON THE CD-ROM you’ll find reference images, textures, meshes, and scene files from the tutorials for 3ds max, Maya, Photoshop, and Zbrush as applicable. Also includes a trial version of RT/shader™: GINZA. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: To use the CD-ROM and the tutorials fully, the following system is recommended: AMD Athlon™ or Intel Pentium® 4 processor, Windows XP or Microsoft Windows 2000, 512MB RAM, 1GB of available hard-disk space, Geforce 4 or ATI 8500 or greater video card, 1280x1024 or greater resolution, CD-ROM drive, Internet or phone connection required for product activation, Photoshop and a commercial 3D product to use the tutorial files (such as Maya, 3ds max, etc.) To use RT/shader™:GINZA in Chapter 20 you will need these additional items: 300MB of available hard-disk space, Microsoft NET Framework 1.1, GeForce FX or ATI 9500 or greater video card, DirectX 9.0c. The trial license key requires Internet access as well.
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