如何通过自学成为一名3D艺术家？

Hello，大家好，今天由翻译小组Tthia给大家带来一篇推文，希望能对大家有所帮助。

1、引言

a possible roadmap of where and how you can invest your time and energyto find a job within the gamesindustry.

关于如何规划时间和精力，能够成为一名游戏行业工作者可行的途径。

This guide is meant to give you a broad overview if you want to learn 3D Art for yourself and get a job in the games industry. Basically going from A to Z。

本指南的目的是想向那些希望通过自学3D艺术并在游戏行业找到工作的爱好者提供一些概述性的意见，基本范围涵盖A到Z。

It’s what I would tell myself if I had to do it all over again. It's not a technical guide where we go into art techniques, it's meant as an overall “map” to see where you can invest your time and energy to learn the necessary skills effectively. This applies to other art disciplines as well, I just keep it focused on environment art since it’s what I learned.

本指南所包含的，是如果我必须重新学习一次，我想要告知自己的建议。这并不是一本入门3D艺术的技术性指南，而是作为一个概览“地图”，如何高效的投入时间及精力来学习必备的技能。其他艺术学科也是适用的，由于我本人从事的是环境艺术工作，所以本指南把重点放在环境艺术上。

One important thing to note is that each individual ultimately goes their own way. Every step I explain below can be switched around and adjusted to your choosing. For some people it takes 1-2 years to get their first job, for others it takes 3-4 years (or more). Go at your own pace. This guide hopefully gives you some ideas and helps you to make some decisions. Let’s jump right in.

这里有一点需要注意，每个人最终都会找到适合自己的道路。本书中阐释的每一个步骤，这里都可以联系自身的情况进行一些调整。有些人可能1-2年就能找到第一份工作，有一些则需要3-4年，甚至更长的时间。一切跟随自己的节奏来，本指南希望能够给到你一些灵感来帮助你做决定。让我们直接进入正题吧！

2、Learn the basics first

首先学习基础技术

First and foremost it’s important to get somewhat comfortable with various tools you will be using during your career. To build environments or a “virtual world” you need to be able to actually create objects in 3D Space, texture them and composite them in a game engine.

首先，也是最重要的一点，需要对各种即将在职业生涯中应用到的工具有所了解。要构建环境或者说“虚拟世界”，你首先需要能够在3D空间创造物体，给它们绘制贴图，并且把它们放置到一个游戏引擎中。

Here are a few suggestions of softwares you can get started with and are also commonly used in the games industry.

这里有一些建议，是关于一些在游戏行业常用到的软件，并且你可以从学习这些软件作为一个开始。

模型制作

Autodesk 3dsMax

Autodesk Maya

Blender

贴图绘制

Allegorithmic Substance Painter

Allegorithmic Substance Designer

Adobe Photoshop

Quixel Mixer

游戏引擎

Allegorithmic Substance Painter

Allegorithmic Substance Designer

Adobe Photoshop

Quixel Mixer

3、One thing to note. Don’t get obsessed over what modeling package is best.

有一点值得注意，不要执着于哪一种建模软件是最好的。

I personally wasted too much time figuring out what software to choose and if it would be better learning a different one. Just pick one (it really doesn’t matter which one) and get comfortable with it. Try out a few different softwares and then invest your time in the one you enjoy most.

我个人曾经浪费太多时间在选择使用哪款软件上，并且一旦我觉得可能会有更好的，就会立即去学习另一个软件。只需要选择一个学到用得顺手的程度。（这并不是最重要的事情）

Don’t become a prisoner to the software. It’s just a tool.

不要成为软件的囚徒，那只是一个工具。

4、Learn the basics of high poly modelling, low poly modelling, UV Unwrapping, baking and texturing. Get your hands dirty and make some of your first props. It doesn’t matter if they look amazing or not, it’s just about getting you into the groove with the tools and workflows.

学习基础流程包括高模制作，地膜制作，UV展开，烘焙以及贴图绘制。动手去实践并且做出一些属于你的第一次的物件（资产）。它们最后的效果是否惊艳并不重要，这只是引导你进入最佳状态的工具和流程而已。

Get in the habit of creating. Consistently.

养成持续创作的习惯。

Then start jumping into the game engine. This is the place where all of your work will end up in the end to composite the final game environment / scene.

接下来开始尝试进入游戏引擎。这是你的工作最终完成整个环境、场景制作，结束工作流程的地方。

Start making your first little scenes. Keep it small. Again, it’s not about making it look amazing in the beginning, it’s about getting used to working with your 3D packages and putting components into the game engine.

尝试制作第一个你的小场景。别做太大。再一次强调，一开始这个场景看起来是否好看并不是重点。它只是为了让你习惯使用你制作的3D物件并且用于完善你在游戏引擎里的场景。

While doing those things, you will gain a lot of theoretical and technical understanding as well. Things like texture density, tiling textures and many more. It's up to you where you start first.

在进行这些工作的时候，你将会掌握大量理论知识，并且也能积累实践经验。比如贴图密度，贴图纹理以及其他更多的。这取决于你是怎么开始的。

5、buy some advanced tutorials

购买一些进阶的教程  

There are a lot of paid quality tutorials out there. Usually these videos go deeper on a specific topic than your average Youtube video.

有大量付费的高质量教程。比起油管的教程，这些视频往往更深入细致的讲解特定的主题。

If there are things you see yourself struggling with, try to dig for some long-form tutorials that go deep into a specific topic.

如果你发现自己卡在了某个地方，试着去寻找你需要的具体的一些长篇教程。

Really study those tutorials. Follow along and learn the thought process behind the artist’s decisions and visual adjustments. This is a good stage to push your skills further quality wise because now you know the basics that you taught yourself and can really put in effort to increase the quality of your work.

认真的学习这些教程。独立学习，并且了解艺术家为何如此决策和调整视觉的思维流程。

Here are some of my favorite well-known websites for tutorials.

这里列举了一些我个人最喜欢的知名教学网站。

6、What I recommend after going through those tutorials and watching them, make your own thing from it.

当你已经通览整个教程并且观看结束以后，这里我建议你通过这些积累制作属于自己的东西。

We see too many portfolio pieces with the exact same result (or often worse) as the person teaching in the tutorial. Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay if you do that. But to really learn and practice what you saw in the tutorial, it’s a good habit to create your own version of it.

我们已经看到太多作品集有着极其相似的或者更糟的完全复制教程中的求职者。别误解我的意思，你这样做也无可厚非。但是如果你想真正的学习并且联系你在教程中的所见，创造属于自己的版本是一个好习惯。

For Example: Tutorial on how to make desert sand in Substance Designer.

举个例子：一个教你如何用SD制作沙漠的教程

Follow the tutorial closely and learn the steps. To practice it, make beach sand instead of desert sand. Or even snow. Maybe you add pebbles to the sand and create your own new interpretation out of it. This is where you will see most of your growth. Because you have to actually make your own decisions and by doing so, you build “muscle memory” and improve your creative problem solving.

仔细地学习教程并且学习步骤。要练习这个教程，制作一个沙滩沙来代替沙漠沙，甚至雪。又或者你在沙中加入鹅卵石或者创造属于自己的一些理解。这才是最能让你成长的地方。因为通过自我决策，你能够建立“肌肉记忆”来改善你的创造性解决问题的能力。

7、Make your first environment (or any bigger project)

制作你的第一个环境（或任意更大的项目）

Time to give your first proper environment a shot. For the sake of this guide, I don’t dive deep into the how-to's and keep it simple.

是时候试一试你的第一个合适的环境了。基于本指南的目的，我不会深入具体的制作流程并且保持简洁的概论。

Choose a topic for your environment and apply what you learned. Block the scene out and bring all your elements into the game engine. Make some nice props for it. Light your scene and improve your compositional skills. Really polish this environment as far as you can. Usually the last 10% are the hardest (but most crucial)

为你的环境选择一个主题并在其中运用你学到的东西。搭建场景粗框架（Layout)，并且在引擎中加入你的个人元素。为它制作一些漂亮的资产。给的场景打光并提高你的综合技能。尽全力打磨好这个环境。通常来说最后10% 是最难的（但也是最关键的）

This will increase your understanding of the whole process a lot!

这将极大的增进你对整个流程的理解。

8、communities

社区（论坛）

During all this time, you will be learning crazy amounts. You will be exploring a lot and probably feel lost once in a while. So one of the best ways to increase your skills and also have like-minded people by your side is to join Communities! It’s a great way to make friends and talk about 3D and art in general.

在这段时间里，你会学到很多惊奇的东西。你会进行大量探索，也可能偶尔会感到迷茫。社区则是一个提高技能和寻找志同道合的人的好地方。这是结交朋友交流3D 艺术的好地方。

Additionally, you can (and should) share your work and receive feedback. There are lots of professionals lurking around those places, so you never know what might come from it.

此外，您可以（也应该）分享您的作品并获得反馈。有很多专业人士出入这些社区，你永远不知道它它可能会带来什么。

Here are two of my favorite discord communities relating Environment Art. Just follow those links and press on the discord tab, it will bring you right into the action.

这是我最喜欢的两个与环境艺术相关的社区。

9、fundamentals

基本原理

Another thing I want to point out here is the importance of art fundamentals. They apply to 3D exactly the same as they do for any other art medium.

我想在这里指出的另一件事是艺术基础的重要性。它们适用于 3D 以及其他的其他艺术媒介。

Study them closely. Look into what makes a pleasing composition, lighting, color, shapes etc. There are several tutorials online that explain them. Google is your friend.

仔细研究它们。看看是什么构成了令人愉悦的构图、光影、色彩、轮廓等。网上有很多教程可以探索他们。谷歌是很好的途径。

Try to dissect pictures from your favorite artists to see how the fundamentals apply. It will make or break your work because in the end, it always comes down to the fundamentals.

试着剖析你最喜欢的艺术家的图片，看看基本原理是如何应用的。它会成就或破坏你的作品，因为最终影响作品效果的，是艺术基础。

You don’t have to get obsessed over them, just understand them and try to implement those fundamentals into your environment-work as you go along on your journey. It will truly help.

你不必沉迷于它们，只需理解它们并尝试将这些基础知识独立地运用到环境工作中。这将真正的对你产生帮助。

10、Take Classes or courses

参与课堂或者课程

You’re now at a point where you know the basics of proper environment art creation. It’s important to get to this step because once you actually start diving into classes and mentorships, you won’t start from scratch.

目前为止，你已经了解了环境艺术创作的基础知识。接下来这一步很重要，因为你将整整开始深入课堂和课程指导互动，这样你就不需要一开始自己为进程头疼。这让我想到了 CGMA。CGMA在业内非常有名，很多人至少参加过一门课程。

This brings me to CGMA. CGMA is very well known within the industry and many many people have taken at least one course there. You get weekly step by step videos on the topic or area you choose. You'll also get access to a mentor and weekly live Q&A’s.

在这里，每周都会收到和你选择的主题或领域相关的手把手教学视频，同时还将获得导师的指导以及每周在线问答的机会。

I personally found it very valuable when learning all this because it gave me a clear structure. If you can, work a lot during those weeks. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. Get as much feedback as you can! It’s the best way to learn and get better.

我个人发现它非常有价值，因为它给了我一个清晰的结构。如果可以的话，在那几周内尽可能地工作。你越投入其中，你就会从中得到更多，以及尽可能多的获得反馈，这是学习和获得的最佳方式。

还有很多其他的在线课程平台出现，行业也在不断发展。CGMA是我经常去的，但我相信你也能找到提供同类知识的其他课程或平台。确保在投资之前进行一些研究，然后全力以赴。

11、Once you completed a course (and your work resulting from it), reflect on what went well. Reflect on what didn’t go so well. See where your strengths and weaknesses are. Then take another course wherever you need to improve on.

一旦你完成一门课程的学习（或者你的工作因此得以展开），重新思考一下哪些地方进行的比较顺利，哪些地方不太顺利。然后参与你需要改善所需要的另外的课程。

It will increase your know-how greatly and you will soon start gathering some nice portfolio pieces.

它会极大增进你的知识储备，你很快就会开始收集一些不错的作品集。

Also, learn to compare your work critically with already established people in the industry and their portfolios. This is not about feeling bad if “they are so good and I am so bad”. No. This is about seeing and learning what exactly makes their pieces work so well and then applying this to your own work. Now, this is a skill in itself and you’ll develop your eye for those things as time goes on.

此外，学会批判性地比较自己的工作与业内工作的人及他们的作品集。这并不是为了让你感觉到如果“他们很好，而我太糟了”。完全不是，这是关于查看和学习究竟是什么让他们的作品如此出色，然后将其应用到你自己的作品中。从现在开始，将成为一门技能技能，随着时间的推移，你会培养出对这些事情的洞察力。

12、mentorships

导师引导

Now onto my favorite part of the whole guide - Mentorships.

Mentorships are probably the one thing that can push your skills the furthest in a short amount of time.

现在进入整个指南中我最喜欢的部分——导师制。在导师的指导下，你可以在短时间内最大限度地提高技能。

I took a few mentorships when I was learning and I saw most of the growth in that period.

我在学习的阶段接受了一些导师指导，并且在那段时间感受到了自己明显的成长。

With mentorships you get a lot of individual feedback from a professional directly on your work. You can analyze your projects closely and someone can show you the necessary steps to going from A to B. If you put a lot of effort in the mentorship and constantly apply the feedback you will receive, you will see a lot of progress.

通过指导，可以直接获得很多工作相关并且专属于你的专业反馈。你的项目可以得到仔细的分析，并且有人可以向您展示从 A 到 B 的必要步骤。如果您在指导中投入大量精力并不断根据收到的反馈进行实践，你将看到十分明显的进步。

Some mentorships I highly recommend:

有一些导师课程我强烈推荐：

13、So, why now mentorships and why not before? Of course you can take a mentorship at any stage of learning, it’s always valuable and it will boost your progress. Let me explain.

那么，为什么现阶段才提到导师指导呢？当然，您可以在任何阶段接受指导

学习，它在任何时候都有价值，并且会迅速提升你的能力。让我详细谈一谈。

Since you already practiced a lot and probably have some portfolio pieces, it’s now about getting you from a medium-portfolio to a polished and jobready-portfolio. And the best way to achieve it is to get hands-on inputs from a professional over a fixed period of time.

因为到目前为止，你已经练习了很多并且可能有一些作品集，现在是让普通的作品集有机会进行打磨并且成为求职用的作品集。实现这一目标的最佳方法是在固定的时间内从专业人士那里获得指导。

Who to mentor with is completely up to you. There are lots of people offering mentorships. Few tips what I look for in a mentor.

选择谁指导完全取决于你自己，有很多人提供指导，这里有几点建议。

Do I like her/his work and art?

我喜欢她/他的工作和艺术吗？

Does she/he work in the games industry?

她/他在游戏行业工作吗？

Does the person seem sympathetic and engaged in what they do?

这个人是否看起来有同理心并投入到他们所做的事情中？

14、Don’t take a mentorship from a person that doesn’t work in the games industry. It means they don't have the skills necessary yet to get into it in the first place and they should focus on their own progress first (you can still get feedback from them of course).

不要接受非游戏行业人员的指导。这意味着他们还不具备让你去到第一个地方必备的技能，他们应该首先关注自己的进步（当然你仍然可以从他们那里得到反馈）。

During the mentorship, ask as many questions as you can. Show your progress regularly to your mentor so he or she can give you feedback on it. Really use this time wisely and don’t be afraid to ask. Show that you are willing to learn and be open minded to re-work things for the better. Don’t get defensive, you are only hurting yourself.

在指导期间，尽可能多问问题。定期向你的导师展示您的进度，以便他或者她可以给你反馈。真正明智地利用这段时间，不要怕提问，表明你乐于学习，并以开明的态度修改反馈，让事情变得更好。不要闭门造车，这只会对你自己有害。

The goal from a mentorship is to improve your art in whatever area you choose and get a clear roadmap on how you should continue after the mentorship is over. Try to get clear inputs from your mentor if you are ready to apply for a job or what you should do until you can do so.

指导的目的是在你选择的任何领域改善你的作品，以及获取指导结束后，应该如何继续作品制作的清晰路线图。如果你已经准备好申请工作，或者你应当做什么，请尝试从您的导师那里获得明确的意见。

15、start applying

着手申请

After the mentorship, basically just repeat what you have learned and polish your portfolio. Once you’re at a certain point, start applying to jobs. I won’t go too deep into the how and where of applying since it could fill another full article. There are various websites showing jobs, LinkedIn and communities.

指导结束后，基本上只是重复你之前学会的部分并完善了作品集。因此你可以在某个合适的时间点，开始申请工作。我不会深入探讨申请的方式和要申请的公司/网站，因为它可能会占用大量篇幅。有各种网站展示了工作机会，LinkedIn 和其他机构。

If you don’t hear back from any employer or only get rejections, that means your work is not good enough yet. Don’t get discouraged, that’s just how it is. Keep working on your portfolio, make a new scene and you will improve. Once your work is really good, you will hear back, trust me. Not saying you get the job, but you will get more chances to go on an interview. Portfolio is one thing, you also have to be the right fit for the team. Some good resources on portfolio/job-hunting as an artist:

如果没有收到任何雇主的回复或仅收到拒绝，则意味着目前为止你的作品还不够好。不要气馁，都是这样过来的。继续创作你的作品集，创造一个新的场景，你会进步的。一旦你的工作真的很好，你就会收到回复，相信我。并不是说你得到这份工作，但你会

获得更多的面试机会。作品集是一方面的，另一方面你的作品和整个团队的风格适配也很重要。

一些艺术家寻找好的作品集资源的平台：

16、“But Patrick, I don’t have 3+ years experience in AAA and 2 shipped titles”

“但Patrick，我没有 3 年以上的3A游戏制作经验以及2 个已发行的游戏作品。”

Doesn’t matter, apply anyway. You have nothing to lose. A lot of companies might consider you as a Junior because your work is really good, even though they are not actively looking for one. Just go for it. Don’t be spammy and always stay professional. Respect other people’s time. It may take you a while to figure it out, but stay with it.

没关系，随便申请。又不会有什么损失。只要的作品非常好，许多公司可能会将你视为初级艺术家，即使他们没有积极寻找。去吧。不要发垃圾邮件，始终保持专业。尊重他人的时间。您可能需要一段时间才有收获，但请坚持下去。

Or as our homeboy Master Yoda would say: Patience, you must have. Worth it will be.

或许正如我们的尤达大师所说：耐心等待，一切都是值得的。

17、A few tips

一些小提示

The whole journey takes time. Don’t rush it. Learn, observe and apply feedback. It’s not easy, it takes a lot of discipline, especially when learning on your own. Benefits a good uni can give you are accountability, peers and "homework". When learning by yourself, this has to come from you.

整个旅程需要时间，不要着急。学习、观察以及接收反馈。这并不容易，需要十分自律，尤其是在自学时。一所好的大学能给你带来的好处是责任感、同学以及“家庭作业”。当你自学时，这必须取决于你自己。

It really comes down to your excitement and drive to pursue a career as a 3D Artist. If you don’t enjoy it, maybe rethink if it’s really the path for you. Otherwise it will be extremely tough and draining.

只有你的兴趣能驱动你追寻3D 艺术家的职业。如果你不喜欢它，也许重新考虑它是否真的适合你。否则它将非常艰难和令人筋疲力尽。

You will always have some tough moments where you feel like giving up, especially near the end of certain projects. But if you enjoy the process of learning 3D overall, it will be a lot of fun. And that’s really what matters in the end. Otherwise, what’s the point?

总会有一些艰难的时刻让你想放弃，尤其是那些临近结束的项目。但是，如果您享受整个学习 3D 的过程，那将会非常有趣。这才是真正重要的。否则，有什么意义？

On the next page you can find a few things that personally helped me when I was learning 3D.

在下一页可以找到一些在我学习 3D 时对我有帮助的东西。

18、peer group

志同道合的集体

Find some like minded people to regularly hang out and share your work with, it’s a great motivator and can keep you going. It’s a great way to help others and also receive help. Sometimes you need an honest outside perspective on your situation and this is where close friends and peers can really support you.

找一些志同道合的人经常交流，分享你的工作，这是一个很好驱动力，可以让你继续前进。这是帮助他人并获得帮助的好方法。有时你需要一个客观的外部视角审视你的情况，而亲密的朋友和同龄人真的可以支持到。

reward yourself

奖励你自己

Finished a project? Awesome! Go play some games or take 4 days off to do whatever you want. This will keep you engaged and excited to keep going. Be proud of yourself that you put in the effort!

完成了一个项目？这么棒！去玩会游戏或休息 4 天做任何你想做的事情。这将使您保持兴奋地继续前进。为自己付出的努力感到自豪！

aim high

胸怀大志

Find the people that inspire you the most and whose work has an extremely high standard. Try to match that quality. Study their work closely and see what makes it that good. Even if you can’t match the quality, your standard automatically levels up and that will only benefit you over the long run.

寻找最能激发您灵感的人，那些作品有着极高艺术修养的人。尝试去达到这种品质。仔细研究他们的工作，看看是什么让它如此出色。即使您无法达到这个品质，你的标准也会自动升级，从长远来看，这只会让你受益。

take breaks

学会休息

Don’t work 24/7 and basically kill yourself. You’ll burn out quickly. Work hard and smart. Take some time off once (or whatever you choose) a week. Hang out with family, friends. Go outside, read, play games, whatever. Do some exercise. You will be much more focused on your work again after you had some time away to clear your mind.

不要一天工作八小时，基本上是自杀。你会筋疲力尽。用聪明的方式用心工作。请假一次或者找些空闲时间（或无论您选择什么）每一周。和家人、朋友一起出去玩；出去闲逛；看书；玩游戏，或者别的。做一些运动。在一段时间清理思绪之后，你将再次更加专注于工作。

19、The last item on the list I want to talk about is time.

我要谈的最后一项是时间规划。

One of the main reasons why someone's portfolio isn't good enough yet is basically just because that person hasn't put in the required time to learn the basics and there's a lack of repetition. You can't cheat this. There is no magical tutorial out there that makes you a god. It's plain repetition. (I had to realize that too myself)

一些人作品集还不够好的主要原因之一是没有投入掌握基础知识所必需的时间，并且缺乏重复的练习。你不要试图在这个事情上作弊。没有魔法可以让你速成大神。重复很重要。（我自己也必须意识到）。

Yes feedback is important and no I'm not saying you shouldn't get it. But a lot of the time this person has a good understanding of the pipeline and now just needs to do it over and over again.

是的，反馈很重要，不，我并不是说你不应该得到它。但是只有一遍又一遍地做，才能真正的理解。

In the end, it comes down to raw practice of those learned skills and you will see improvement. Your visual library will build up over time and you will be able to point out a lot of things by yourself.

最后，归结为那些最基础的实践学到的技能，你会看到进步。你的视觉

图书馆将随着时间的推移而建立，您将能够自己指出自己的很多问题。

20、small financial overview

简单的财务概览

For the end of this article I just made some (very) basic calculations on what budget I would set myself for all the things I mentioned. I know not everyone’s situation is similar in terms of finances, but this could give you an overview on what you might expect over the course of around 2 years. (I left out cost for software)

在本文的结尾，我只是为我提到的所有事情做了一些（非常）基础的预算计算。我知道并不是每个人的财务状况都相似，但这可以让你预判大约 2 年的学习过程中可能的花销。（此处忽略了软件成本）

原文Patrick Ziegler

翻译dianTThia

- End -