Thread by @delaneykingrox

I often get asked what software and tools one needs to be a 3d game artist.
These days, my answer is massively different to what it was before.

Here is my definitive list:

1. Blender 3D.

Amazing even myself, the poor yokel of 3D packages has come of age. Forget crushing fees to Autodesk, this package now has everything a game artist needs to kick start their career and it is free (though I recommend donating some money to their team).

1(cont) Blender massively updated their clunky old UI, and as a result the product has gone from strength to strength in a very short time.
You can model, sculpt, bake, hand paint textures, animate and build shader graph materials that display correctly in the viewport.

1(cont) for areas the package falls down, such as UV mapping and bone layer management there are some great plugins.

I also highly recommend buying @pierrick_picaut 's training videos to kickstart your learning.

2. A photoshop alternative. Photoshop is terrible, with the only strength left being audience familiarity. The thing you need it for is to be able to do is copy and paste image data into map channels and layered hand painting.

Check out Krita, Clipstudio, Artrage, Procreate

3. Unity and unreal. These are game engines, and learning to import your game assets into engines is an extremely important part of the job.

Grab both, they are free, and get familiar with both, starting with just one at first. For AAA looks go Unreal, for small indy go Unity

4. Pureref. This tool is paid for but do not hesitate to buy it- it is the best tool for the job, super easy, powerful and will save your life over and over again.

Pureref is like a scrapbook that allows you to collate and arrange reference images...

4 (cont) it also allows you to float the window always ontop of all others, and set it transparent.

This means easy access to all your references and the same controls in AlL your modelling, painting and sculpting tools.

Forget stacks of image planes and reference art layers...

4 (cont) pureref does it all. Go get, buy and spend a day learning all the keystrokes to arrange your images.

Oh, and you can have literally hundreds of images open at once and they keep their resolution when you scale them.

5. I used to recommend Substance designer and painter, but since acquiring it Adobe have started turning the thumb screws, so newbies won't be able to afford it.

I haven't tried the opposition Quixel yet, but price point wise you may prefer heading there.

6. Trello. Trello is a website that allows you to make task cards. The basic version is free. This is a life saver for breaking down complex game art projects into tasks. You can even get a plugin that lets you see 3d models in the cards.

And that's it.

Now, if you want a definitive list of 3d apps and what is best at certain things, I could go on for hours. 3dsmax and modo both have excellent things for games, especially if hard surfaces are your bag and Maya lt has a great UV unwrap system (now).

But if you are just starting out, this is the shopping list.

1: Blender3d
2: A 2d package (gimp, krita,procreate, etc etc)
3: a game engine (unity/unreal)
4: pureref

If you are cashed up
1: substance designer & painter
2: zbrush
3: 3dcoat

Have a glorious fucking day. X