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   Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:09:01 JST Rob Turpin

   A while ago I posted… "I don't know what I'm doing"

   And I meant it in a couple of ways, and most people responded with something along the lines of "You and me both". Which is fine. But actually, I was serious.

   I don't know what I'm doing...

   1/n

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     The Seven Voyages Of Steve (sinbad@mastodon.gamedev.place)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:46 JST The Seven Voyages Of Steve

     in reply to

     @thisnorthernboy A lot of people would (correctly) comment about art not needing to be "for" anything, but I'm a practical programmer who struggles to motivate if there isn't any end goal in mind. I can say that having been around gamedev a long time, your models would be great in a space game. I wouldn't worry too much about specialist asset knowledge; games & film etc aren't as far apart as they used to be asset wise and you can usually make most things work in the pipeline

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:47 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     Anyway, that's probably that little outpouring over with for today.

     Sometimes you just need to get stuff out there don't you? Especially when you work alone.

     Lonely business sometimes.

     14/14

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:48 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     Maybe my 3D stuff is the basis for illustrations still? Maybe I need to go back to the reason I started learning in the first place.

     I have many more questions than answers. And I know there are a lot more questions I don't even know about yet.

     13/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:49 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     I definitely suffer from the 'unknown unknown' thing. I don't have a clue what I'm doing, or what I should be doing, or what questions to ask - because I know so little. I came to Blender with absolutely zero 3D experience, and working on my own, that's quite a big gap to bridge.

     12/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:50 JST Rob Turpin

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     Even if I get 'better' is what I do of any use professionally? One problem is I know so little about 3D - what's the difference between game assets, world building, making stuff to 3D print… I know there are a huge range of specialties, but I don't really know what they are.

     11/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:51 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     But I still don't have a plan. I have no idea what I'm doing, or more importantly 'why'. I love building sci-fi stuff in Blender. Really. I find it incredibly enjoyable. But is there any point to it? I don't know. I have zero idea of what it could be used for.

     10/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:52 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     And now, I'm dipping my feet in to 3D. Initially the idea was to learn enough to block things out, so it could help my traditional drawing skills. I've definitely been seduced though, by the excitement of building and modelling things and seeing my ideas in 3D.

     9/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:53 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     The amount I've earned in the last few years would make you weep. I'm aware also, that I've left a lot of money on the table because I haven't been organised enough, or sometimes confident enough, as well as not good enough, to take certain jobs or complete certain projects.

     8/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:54 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     And I got work. I worked on some cool projects, with some lovely people, and I started to produce stuff of my own - prints, postcards, eventually a sci-fi book.

     But… it never really seems to have taken off. And that's on me. I have never had a plan, and I still struggle with self-motivation.

     7/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:56 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     I did not love it.

     I started to draw again, after a 20 year gap, simply for something to keep me sane. And very soon, after posting some stuff on Instagram, I got asked to illustrate a book. That was entirely unexpected.

     I gradually moved from freelance designer, to freelance illustrator.

     6/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:57 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     I worked in graphics, for a range of small agencies for twenty odd years. My role gradually evolved, particularly when I started freelancing, in to production design, or creative art working - an eye for detail useful for prepping stuff for print.

     5/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:58 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     I got kicked out of two different art colleges. Mainly for simply not completing the work.

     After five or six years managing bars in York and then London, I finally got back in to graphics through a friend who was a designer on magazines.

     4/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:08:59 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     In fact the only teacher I ever mentioned wanting to do book covers for a living, said I was 'a dreamer'.

     A bit harsh.

     So I ended up studying graphic design. Full disclaimer here - I was a terrible student. Lazy, a bit stubborn, and really bad at self-motivating and staying disciplined.

     3/n

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     Rob Turpin (thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:09:00 JST Rob Turpin

     in reply to

     I trained to be a graphic designer at college. Mainly because nobody ever suggested something more creative than that - despite probably being the best at drawing and painting throughout my school years, nobody ever suggested I take up art, or illustration…

     2/n

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     The Seven Voyages Of Steve (sinbad@mastodon.gamedev.place)'s status on Saturday, 02-Nov-2024 00:11:21 JST The Seven Voyages Of Steve

     in reply to

     @thisnorthernboy Often it's just learning to post-process the original asset (e.g. make LODs, bake tiny gribblies into textures etc) but it always starts from the original model and works from there so it's just an extension to your process, not an invalidation of it. And UE now even actively promotes plugging original high poly meshes directly in and letting the engine sort it out. But it's a lot of experimentation & iteration for everyone since the tech is constantly changing anyhow