Road to Gaming-Part I

Hi!

For about a year and a half I've been just jamming my brain with information about games and how they're made (mostly about coding/programming). Although I went to school and got a degree in Media Arts & Animation there were times when I was thinking that I'd like to transfer over to learning about games. But I stuck with animation due to the fact that it's the thing I had originally started going to college for.

Here's how it went. During my senior year in high school I was like "Oh! That's Hayao Miyazaki movie Spirited Away blew my mind, I'd love to know how to make my drawings move!" and so I applied to the school I graduated from and got accepted with flying colors lol Then I started taking classes and was put off by how quick everything was and how it felt like they were trying to control my creative flow, and I thought "they're leeching me!!" and was like "I could do gaming stuff" but then I thought back to the me that made the choice to attend the school to make my drawings move, and that kept me on the path of animation.

The thing is that I asked an adviser at my school how different was animation from game and she explained that I would only have to take a few extra classes that aren't offered to animation students and I was like "Yeah, I can learn that extra stuff" and so, that's what I'm doing! I stuck by what I had originally stated I would love to learn to do because I promised myself I would do this.

And so, here I am. I decided I want to start working in games. Now, it's a bit intimidating because I'm not sure where to start and I'm not sure if I will be what the companies are looking for. Yet, I will say that confidence speak volumes. I want to be the kind of person that, even if I feel a bit uncomfortable, can admit that, but also do something about the problem.

So although I've been learning for about a year and a half (basically since I graduated) I decided that it doesn't matter how long it takes, I will keep learning. Actually I wonder if I will ever be comfortable. The truth is when I worked at the animal clinic I worked at, I was kind of thinking to myself that it's not good that my co-workers felt comfortable in their work. I also think it's not good that I do things in habit. Mostly because when things become second-nature it doesn't require though. We start going on auto-pilot.

The issue is that our brains just isn't feeling challenged anymore. This isn't good for our brains, or us. Because if anything takes us out of our element we feel horrible. So I would like to learn to work with this uncomfortable feeling.

I also decided that instead of thinking "I've been learning for a year and I'm still not good enough" and instead start thinking that I learned something that I didn't know yesterday or a month ago.

It's the small steps that I'm missing out on  because I'm not paying attention to the fact that each step helps me move forward,

So the reason I started writing this kind of blog is to record my thoughts and feelings about my progress. Perhaps someday someone who is also trying to get into some kind of career, and look at people in their career and say "how are they so confident?" without hearing the person's story, will witness my story. And when I do get into games or into a job that I thought I wasn't skilled enough in, and people are looking at me and thinking I'm some sort of 3D demi-god, they will know that I started off from the beginning.That it takes time and patience and determination.

I hope that somehow I can be some sort of guidance, or even an indirect friend who expresses that I just don't know how to approach certain things, or if I'm going about it the correct way. I never want people to look and say "well she seems confident" or "she wouldn't work with someone who isn't as skilled as she is!" because the truth is that we all start from somewhere.

So if you're interested in this kind of thing, feel free to follow this version of my blog.

Oh! One more thing, another reason I'm writing this is because I can't quite recall how horrible I was at using Maya for the first time. I do remember being in class and hearing all my classmates moan and groan about how the software was difficult. Why pressing E scales the objects, rather than the key being the S key haha And me being in awe at the people who just seemed to pick it up.

I remember thinking how I would never learn how to use Maya, and constantly asking my teacher "what's the correct way to do this?" and them telling me "There is no correct way" (I feel like they kinda lied to me, because there are a few things to follow to get the best results, but that's another story for another time).

At the moment I can say I'm pretty good with using Maya. Also at the moment I'm at a bit of a halt due to not having a good enough computer to render and do the things I'd like to do. So while I wait I'm learning Unity and Zbrush. I've touched up on Mudbox, but I'm starting to like Zbrush. But to this day I've seen videos on YouTube where someone shows something new in Maya and I go "Ohhh! That's pretty neat!"

I will also say that I do prefer traditional mediums over digital ones (by this I mean drawing), but I have found some things that I do enjoy about doing things digital. I also want to mention how I've started a journey of drawing 100 hands to improve my hand drawing skills and I will also practice drawing more things in perspective, rather than not using a ruler.

So mostly I'm a hot mess haha And I feel like I have plenty of room for improvements.

I just want you to understand that this is the position I'm in at the moment and that someday if I happen to make something of myself, that I wasn't also in that place. I'd also like this to be known to myself so that I can always look back and say "Oh! I remember how bad I was at this and that!"

That's all for now. Keep an eye out for the next part. Also don't be too concerned if I sound depressed or frustrated in my blogs while dealing with this haha somehow I push myself to keep moving forward.

Mon