Customer Reviews

Creating the Art of the Game

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book does a great job at covering the important areas of game art production, like what is to be expected from a game artist and what a game artist should expect to encounter while working in the game industry, but the author doesn't elaborate enough on the problems that are associated with modeling and texturing for games, i.e. the technical aspect. He over emphasizes what game art should look like, but does not dwell on how to achieve the best, most efficient results on modeling and texturing objects that may be difficult to work well in real-time game environment.

There is not enough "meat on the bones", sort of speak. The author covers a wide range of topics briefly, highlighting pros and cons and then quickly moving on. Personally, I was left with many unanswered questions, chapter after chapter. The examples throughout the book were oversimplified; using pine trees, wooden crates, and basic shapes (triangles, squares, and circles) to get some of the points across. Clearly, the author was thinking the reader would be completely new to game art.

On average, the screenshots took up about 50%-80% of the page. The rest is filled with very short paragraphs. I was amazed as to how much space was left blank on each page, almost as if it were there to jot down notes or do quick sketches.

The "tips and tricks" at the end of the book are, unfortunately, not that groundbreaking. You come across a lot of these "tricks" just by simply surfing the web or reading one of the various tutorial books and magazines that are out there.

One upside, however, is that most of this book is devoted to motivating and inspiring you, the game artist, to find out things for yourself and to raise the quality bar on your own. At times, it almost feels like your reading a self-help book for game artists, but at least his makes for easy reading.

-LatinMessiah
(Game Art Student)

Creating the Art of the Game is an excellent place to begin for any artist interested in entering the video game industry. It hits all of the basics of modeling, texturing, lighting, vertex coloring and so on. Being an artist in the videogame industry for almost fourteen years I wish there was a volume like this when I was starting out. Well actually there weren't any actual 3D games being produced when I started out, but be that as it may, Creating the Art of the Game will give those entry-level and intermediate game artists who read and take to heart the lessons in this book a good head start above their peers. Advanced artists may also find sections of this book to be very valuable. I personally found Matt's tips and tricks interesting. Every artist has their toolbox of tricks and shortcuts and its fun to look into another artist's toolbox and find that there are different ways to achieve the same result.
I'm glad that Matt mentioned right off to the budding talents out there that it is their artistic talent that makes them marketable not the knowledge of a particular tool. It is through the development of their observational skills and their ability to translate that information into whatever medium they are using that is the utmost importance. I can take a talented artist and within weeks I can teach them to be proficient with any tool. I can't take a technician of a tool and teach them to be an artist in that same amount of time.
I found the information in this book to be very well thought out and presented in a clear and understandable format. We, in the industry, can speak in acronyms and shortcuts that are unintelligible to the average person. Matt has explained what a lot of the terms we use mean. He has deftly presented the in and out of the production of game art and I highly recommend this book most of all to entry level and intermediate artists with less than five years under their belt. For those advanced artists out there I think this book would be valuable in affirming your processes and possibly you may be exposed to something that your work experience may not yet have taught you. Matt is an excellent artist and a very skilled teacher and you would do well to learn from a person who will lead you on the right path to your goals of working as an artist in the video game industry.

This book is an absolute must have for any inspiring 3d game artist. You will save years of trial and error by reading "Creating the Art of the Game". You want to become a game artist? Matt Omernick describes in detail the complete process of making art for video games from the artists perspective that will put you well ahead of any other artists that are inspiring to work in the game industry. He shares some of the in industry information that you will never learn in a classroom. Matt covers both Maya and 3DS Max throughout the book. His coverage on Modeling, Texturing, Alpha maps,UV's, Lighting and Effects is stellar. I have been doing Max for 4 years and this book taught me a ton.
Thank you Matt.

There have been many books in past years that were about creating 3D art, but none that I know of covered in depth how to make 3D art for video games. This book really fills a void and it is packed with knowledge for anyone who wants to become a video game artist.

For those concerened as to what 3D program this book uses, it does not follow any one program. Rather, it teaches you game principles, techniques, and theories that can be applied to any program, which in my opinion is the strength of this book. Matt teaches you how to think like a game artist and presents you all the things you have to consider to become a successful artist in video games. In addition, the material is presented in a manner that is easy to read and really takes you through the process.

The topics covered in this book are: Preparing to Create, Modeling Theory (very important!), Intoduction to Texturing, Advanced Texturing, Applying Textures, Advanced Modeling, Lighting Principles, In-Game Lighting, Effects, Tips and Tricks, User Interface and Creation, and Wrapping it up.

So, what makes him qualified to teach this material? Not only does he have 7 years in the industry, but 4 - 5 years actually teaching college level 3D and whose credits include the highly praised Medal of Honor series. This is an excellent read and is a bargain for the price. We all know his work, now learn how he does it! 5 stars!

There are hundreds of books dedicated to how to create 3d art for video games. If you are a new or intermediate artist set all those other books aside and read this one. If you only pick up one book on how to model and texture for video games get this one. Most books either go into far too much detail, like reading an encyclopedia, or are too light on the important details. This book is focused like a laser beam on what is most important and doesn't detour from its goal by going off into unnecessary tangents like animation or model rigging that are subjects best covered in their own books. When you finish this book you will have a solid understanding of how to build a model and texture it and have it ready for export into a game engine. And the illustrations are gorgeous! Note that this book does cover character modeling but it primarily details environments and props.

Creating the Art of the Game is a truly welcome book that does a brilliant job of bringing clarity to the issues of artistic process in a complex industry. Matthew Omernick's clear and descriptive writing style, encouraging tone, helpful illustrations and clean layout make the book a pleasure to read and easily digestible.

He covers game art nearly end-to-end - reference collection, modeling theory, texturing, lighting, efficiency techniques, UI and more. The best part about the book though is that it isn't written like a software manual. Although he teaches technique, Omernick concentrates heavily on the artistic thought process, especially its application to game issues. Games are complex interactive systems, and he does an excellent job of highlighting technical considerations and trade-offs that all game artists must deal with sooner or later.

I'm a games software engineer and read the book to get a glimpse of the latest techniques, processes and technologies used by today's
game artists from the artist's point of view. I have to say that Creating the Art of the Game excels at what good instructional books do well - it broadens the mind by giving it new ways to approach problems. It also manages to balance technical specifics with mindset. More than anything, it's an invaluable glimpse into the mind of a successful game artist. I strongly recommended the book for anyone with an interest in the industry.

When I joined the games industry twelve years ago, books on the subject were non-existent. Getting things to work meant many hours of trial and error. Come to think of it, 3D programs didn't exist. Today much has changed. The world of gaming is a multi billion dollar industry, and today's artists have to know the tricks of the trade. Not forgetting a full understanding of how a game is created from the initial concept to the final art pass. It's all about getting it into the box.

Matthew Omernick has an extremely good understanding of what an artist needs to know. In his new book Creating the art of the Game he advises the enthusiastic new artist to focus on the essentials and demonstrates how to create 3D art using proven techniques and tools. He teaches the beginner the art of creating successful game art, and remarkably, he's also managed to make the process painless and fun, two things that eluded me when I was starting out. If only I had this book twelve years ago!

So you want to become a game artist? I suggest purchasing this book, downloading Maya Personal Learning Edition from the Alias web site, use the cheaper version of Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe PhotoShop Elements, and get to work. You'll soon be on your way to becoming a competent 3D artist.

Creating the art of the Game. Is an easily digested book that will enable you to create art that can be used in computer games. It will teach you the tricks to build up a successful portfolio of computer generated art, essential for getting a foot in the door at you chosen game developer's studio.

I would also like to thank Matthew for teaching me a few tricks.

I bought this book because I wanted to know about game art in particular, not 3D art and technique in general. This book gave me exactly what I was looking for. Omernick draws on his extensive experience to show you EXACTLY how game art is put together and how it relates to the rest of game production. He shows you what standard techniques and 3d package features are used in the big name studios. He gave me a bar to measure my own work by and a variety of 3d concepts that I need to know to get into game art. More than anything else, he inspired me by taking the mystery out of the genre and made it graspable. The problem with the other game books is that they are either way outdated, simply game art gallery books, or written by guys who aren't much further into their career than the reader. Omernick clearly knows what he is talking about. This is not a tutorial book as it isn't really application specific though he does show where most of the features are located in Maya and 3ds Max. If you want to learn a software package, there are plenty of good books for that. This book gives you a focus for game art, if that is what you want to do. There is also a lot on next gen features that are important. After reading this book, I new pretty much what I was going to need in my portfolio, and as I played video games after reading it, I really had a good understanding of almost everything I saw. This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in a game art career.

This book was very helpful when it comes to alpha mapping, bump mapping, and light mapping. I found it very informative and very well written. It's a must have for your collection.

I stepped into this book with a basic understanding of creating game art. I wasn't happy with the results of my artwork, so I picked up this book. A lot of issues I was encountering in my work were cleared up by this book, as well as many issues I thought I found a solution for.

Unlike a lot of books, this book goes through theories and technique - not tutorials. I know how to use my software, so I was looking for something that would tell me how to improve my work, and what I was doing wrong. I found it in this book. If you are looking for are looking for a book that will step you through making game art, look elsewhere. You will probably want to check this book out later though.

Much of the content here is basic, but it is what I needed to boost the confidence in my work. If there were a book like this that continued on to more advanced theory and technique, I would buy it.