Blender Underground

So is anyone here a professional 3D artist? I'm in college right now (currently a Pre-Med major) and I'm starting to think it's not for me for various reasons. I really enjoy working with Blender, and they always say (on Office Space at least) that if you had a million dollars what you would do with your time is what you should do for a living.

Obviously I'm currently no where near good enough go pro at this any time soon, but I was wondering what kind of 3D art degrees there are to be had, and would I have to take a lot of "traditional" (read: pen and paper) art classes? I'm pretty creative, but terrible when it comes to actually producing anything with my hands.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

well, i'm kind of blending professionally - i use blender at work and get paid for it. this doesn't mean to say i'm an expert by any means - Blender simply adds something to our output we wouldn't have without spending £6000 on Maya...

I'm in an interesting position though - got a BA in media studies, got an admin job at my current place and worked my way up! I think you're unlikely to walk into a 3d animation job. the best thing to do is put a decent portfolio together (this is something i have yet to do ), find a place that does what you're interested in, and pester them til they let you do the photcopying/coffee making...you get the picture.

I've got to say - being in a similar situation to yourself - that i'm pretty bad when it comes to drawing. But a lovely 3d package won't make you a good animator or draughtsman/woman, you really need to understand movement, value, light etc etc if you want to produce stuff that stands out. So far i've looked at a couple of "teach yourself drawing" books( i can't afford a night course) and the one that stands out for me is Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (Amazon it ) and i must say its helping me a lot. Oh, and drawing is fun too!

One more piece of advice - i would shy away from a 3d art degree if i were you. assuming it lasts the minimum of 3 years (unless you're a genius), that's 3 years "out" of the real working world. 3d technology is likely to come on in leaps and bounds in that time. I would suggest subscribing to Lynda.com if you want to use Maya or Max, picking it up as you go along, and building a portfolio as you go. Work for free! you'll never have the opportunity later on. If it looks good on your CV, do it.

just my tuppence.

actually i have seen 4 different posts on the blender artist sites looking for a 3d artist to hire. drawing is actually easy. it's just a matter of looking frequently at your model then putting that on the paper looking again... start with the largest shapes first so you set your proportions correctly then do the smaller areas getting to your desired level of detail. use a good pencil and a light touch. dont be afraid of making mistakes, being nervouse causes mistakes. you are going to make mistakes, we all do. just accept that fact and realize thats what they make erasers for. the more you practice the better you will get. start with photos before moving to real life objects, it's already translated to 2d and dosn't move. then as your skill progresses start drawing still life objects that dont move, them move to animals or humans. practice often.

and always remember to keep looking back and forth. your optical nerve is a huge blind spot in your eye, you brain automatically overlays and immage over the missing 20% of what we see and thats where the mistakes are usually made.