Student work by Alexios Vasilakis
Similar to virtual production in film, a real-time 3D artist in games harnesses the skills found in one or more areas of the traditional game development pipeline. Tasks assisting with cinematics and various aspects of gameplay are executed in a game engine, also known as a real-time environment. Real-time 3D Artists are often generalists who collaborate with other artists, designers, and programmers to realize a broader vision, commonly known as virtual production.
Screenshot showcasing CGS student Vincent Velarde’s project: built in Unreal Engine 4 and assets from Unreal Engine Marketplace.
Virtual production is analogous to traditional production with the main difference being that renders occur in real-time. Real-time has been a staple in the game industry for a while. More recently, it has also been adopted as a tool by filmmakers and content creators to visualize what they’d usually only be able to view in post-production at the pre-production and production stages.
Game retrospective for Vincent’s project, Proteus, made in real-time using Unreal Engine 4.
Real-time artists focus on content or asset creation in a real-time environment such as a game engine, often working on a project from concept to completion. They are also responsible for maintaining both the quality and optimization of visuals — from entire environments down to small 3D props, known as assets for cinematics and the game itself.
Role & responsibilities of a Real-time Artist in virtual production for video games:
When starting in this competitive field, you’ll need to focus on learning technical tools and be proficient in a game engine such as Unreal or Unity, which often also involves some coding.
Employers may look for the following skills in a Real-time Artist for video games:
When starting in this competitive field, you’ll need to focus on learning a real-time game engine, but the importance of art fundamentals cannot be underestimated. However, because Real-time Artists often take on a more generalist role, plenty of other software is worth learning too.
Real-time Artists may need knowledge of a combination of the following software:
The national average salary of a Real-time 3D Artist is $62,053 annually in the United States. (Source: Glassdoor)