作者：Brice Morrison

优秀的游戏美术人员是非常有才能的人。无论他们做的是FPS的美术还是MMO的世界或简单的苹果应用，玩家对游戏的第一视觉印象正是归功于这些人。但他们是怎么做到的？美工的工作技能是什么？他们是怎么工作的？在我们的职业规划研论会上，学生经常问这些问题。

就像程序员显然必须知道如何写代码，美工当然必须会画画。他们应该精通他们的工作工具，如Adobe Illustrator或Photoshop或Autodesk Maya，使用工具来制作精美的画面。虽然美工不仅要懂概念设计、建模或动画，然后更进一步以UI、角色或场景为专精，这是很重要的，但在他们的专业范围内，他们应该都能画。如果你是场景建模师，那么你应该能够制作魔法森林、贫瘠沙漠、未来太空、古代遗址和甚至你从来没有想过的全新世界。这也适用于其他专业——你应该多才多艺，只要人们能描述出来的东西，你都能够让它变成生动的画面。

另一种技能是团队协作：游戏美工必须能够适应某种风格。每一款游戏都有特定的风格。游戏如《刺客信条》走的是黑暗写实路线，而《Words with Friends》采用的是明亮简洁的风格。这些风格通常是由游戏的美术总监确定的，他制定风格规范，而其他美工据此了解什么能做什么不能做。形状是方的还是圆的？颜色是暖的还是冷的？线条或阴影呢？角色和剪影？这些就是游戏的外观和感觉，所以游戏设计师必须能够内化这些风格并将其体现在游戏的美术设计中。

game artist(from rocfriesepoort.nl)

最后一个重要的技能是，能够接受指导和反馈。通常与设计师合作时会围绕游戏的美术风格展开大量讨论。他们可能讨论游戏的恶人的一般外观，如穿斗篷、面目可憎等。这就是设计师的想法，这样美工就知道怎么画了。之后，美工会根据这个方向画一些草图或概念图，然后返回给设计团队。设计团队可能接受、拒绝或要求部分更改，优秀的美工都必须理解反馈并细化设计。有些美工在收到反馈时可能会反驳或不能接受或理解其他成员的要求。能够倾听也是一种重要的技能。

能够画出适合游戏的画、适应特定的风格、团队协作就是成为成功的游戏美工的三个关键技能。这是游戏美工的乐趣来源，也是每天都要面临的挑战。没有这些技能，那就是工作室挑你，但如果你的这些技能过硬，那就轮到你挑工作室了。

祝你们好运！（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Skills Needed to Become a Game Artist

by Brice Morrison

Great game artists are supremely talented. Whether they are doing the artwork for the latest first person shooter, the world in an MMO or a simple iPhone app, they are they ones who make the stunning visuals that players see when they look at a game title. But how do they do it? What are the skills that artists use in order to do their jobs? And as my students in our career advising sessions often ask, what does their day look like?

Like engineers obviously needing to know how to code, artists of course need to be able to create art. They should be able to work in the medium that they have specialized in, be it Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop or Autodesk Maya, and use it to create stunning visuals. While it’s important to specialize as a concept artist, modeler or animator, and then further specialize into user-interface, characters, or environments, within their specialty an artist should be able to draw everything. If you are an environment modeler then you should be able to create enchanted forests, barren deserts, futuristic space scenes, ancient ruins, and entirely new worlds that haven’t been thought of yet. This goes for all the other specialties as well – you should have enough variety and hours under your belt that anything someone else can describe, you can bring it to life visually.

The next skill is around working as a team: game artists need to be able to match a particular style from a style guide. Every game has a particular look that goes along with it. A game like Assassin’s Creed is going to look very dark and gritty, while a title like Words with Friends is much brighter and simpler. These differences are often set by the Art Director for a game, who creates a style guide to help the rest of the art team know what’s allowed and what isn’t. Are the shapes blocky or round? Are colors warm or cold? How about lines or shading? Characters and silhouettes? The game has a certain look and feel it’s going for, so a game artist has to be able to internalize this and use it in their art for the game.

The next important skills is being able to take direction and feedback. Often when working with designers there is a lot of discussion around what the game could look like. They might discuss the evil villain of the game and have some general guidelines, such as how he should have a cape and look scary. This is direction that they are giving so that the artist has some ideas of what the game needs. The artist may then take this direction and do a few sketches or concept art and then take it back to the design team for feedback. They may love it, hate it, or ask for some changes, and a good game artist needs to be able to understand the feedback and work it into piece. The final product should be something that is exactly what the designers and the game needs. Some artists get defensive when they are given feedback or they aren’t able to really listen to their teammates to understand what they are asking for. Being able to listen well is an important skill.

Being able to produce stunning artwork that fits the game, fitting in a specific style, and working with teammates are the keys to being a successful game artist. This is the source of the excitement and challenges of game artists every day. Without these skills it will be difficult to get into a studio, but with them it becomes a choice of where you want to go.

Best of luck!(source:gamasutra)