Hi, im 17 im at the first year at geneva's college (lost 2 years because i am an immigrant), i am very interested in games since i was young and would like to follow that "dream" yet i do not have any idea what to do.

So what i'm searching for is what to do if i want to follow a career in 3D Modelling. I do not know what schools i have to attend and i have little experience in 3D but that's what im searching for a place to learn and a school to helpme do so. Is that possible here? And do i have to continue/quit college?

I hope someone has some experience in the matter, i currently live in geneva so if anyone knows someting please reply.

Thanks.

Could anyone please help me?

Ask yourself, what are your favourite games? The developer is always advertised at the front of the game. Use google to find out where the developer is located. Get in touch?

Hi kio,
Not meant to discourage you, but the computer game industry isn't as glamarous as it seems. It's become marginalized - people are replacde easily.
Check your info wisely. People at EA Games frequently work long long hours - there's tremendous pressure and not much in terms of reward.
Also, 3D modelling is something that you can learn yourself from online tutorials. Try to go through a couple and see how this works.
Don't take my words though - do your research -try to find specialized forums, try to check salary web sites and job boards.
Good luck

Hello kio.

I only have second hand info about this from someone else who did this. Maybe this helps you too.

Try for a course in Graphic Design, 3Dfx and Maya.
Just so you know, this course, even if it is available in CH, would cost a LOT.

I know very well that the triple AAA game industries aren't as glamours as you said it, but i was asking what's the path i need to follow, what courses do i need to take in what schools.

Thanks for replying.

Hey Kio

I'm not into game design but I'm getting my degree in media and computer science. What I can tell you from experience:

There are a lot of different aspects to game development. Storytelling, programming, visual design, project management... those are only a few.

A lot of those things you can get into by yourself.
Download blender and play around with it. It's free and there are a lot of tutorials online.
Start learning a programming language (I'm not an expert, but I think C/C++ would be a good start, maybe play around with openGL).
Go to a large book store and get a book that catches your eye (maybe game programming for iOS, introduction to Maya, physic engine programming, whatever, doesn't really matter, what you need is a starting point) and work it through.
I always enjoy looking through magazines like PAGE for inspiration.

If you get into it and still think it might be something you want to pursue in the future, then there are many options.

ZHdK has a game design program.
SAE has similar programs and you don't need a matura to enroll.
You might also want to look into less specific programs since they might leave you with more options if you decide that the game industry is not for you after all. FHNW has the iCompetence program which seems quite interesting. And there are always the computer science programs at almost every university. At the universities, you can usually choose from a lot of different modules, including multimedia / computer graphic classes.

Get started and post the results!

I was in the industry and know a lot of programmers, including a few 3d modelers who worked on some of the biggest games.

Reality time

Its not what you think, you will be given a tiny piece of code to write for a tiny piece of the game, eg one very very good programmer I know (who writes the drivers for mame in his spare time) was given the task of writing the code for the shadow of a football. not exactly challenging or glamorous (and he has now left the industry totally disillusioned)

On top of that, unless you have had a game published its almost impossible to get into the industry, and the pay is terrible, really really terrible.

If your companies latest game bombs then there is a very real threat of everyone losing there jobs.

and more and more now the code is outsourced to india etc anyway

If you want to do something in games, then come up with the next angry birds, code it and publish it yourself

The gaming industry basically is like any other industry, in that there are foot soldiers/programmers/workers and there are the generals/project leaders/designers/creative people. Many people only focus on their technical skills, which are good to have, but more importantly you need to understand games, be able to come up with good ideas and concepts.

An average game with good graphics is much less likely to impress than a great, fun game with mediocre graphics.

A long time ago it was something I wanted to do, there are loads of free and open source tools available, blender mentioned above is an excellent one, look for them and learn how to use them. At some point you'll probably find you need to write some sort of code, but you rarely have to start from scratch, giving a good introduction to coding and scripting.

Though I never ended up doing it, the skills I picked up were far from wasted, so even if you don't go to the gaming industry, it's useful stuff. 3D modelling isn't exactly exclusive to gaming either.