When it comes to 3D art, you can express yourself in many ways. The field of work in the 3D industry is vast. You can do anything from character design, interior design, architecture, animation – you can even be a 3D sculptor.

You can be an independent artist, work as a freelancer, or be in a constant working relationship with a company. It’s best to choose one category and master it – and after that, everything else will come to you naturally.

We’ve found the five most popular 3D art-related profiles and paths which are always in demand, and we’re going to provide some standard rules for all of them. Let’s get started.

Common Rules for All 3D Art Profiles

As a designer, you never really work alone. Whether you’re working with a group or consulting with a client, it’s essential to learn to work as a team. To become part of a team, you must find a mutual language, so communication is the key.

A good start in developing a collegial attitude is trying to be the colleague you would like to have. As an artist, you are expected to have creative ideas and act on them. For a demonstration, let’s take an animation studio as an example.

The team working on a plot for a cartoon episode got stuck with the ideas for the next episodes. If you have a plan to solve the problem, even if it’s not your job, try to suggest it to the team, but don’t force it.

Try to understand other professions because you are all connected and dependent on one another. Try to find a studio you’d like to work in – compare your portfolio with the art they are providing, and that’s how you will see if you fit in.

You’re also going to have to develop your trademark. It will come as you work, but the sooner you develop it, the faster your prospects of landing that dream job are augmented.

3D Character Design

Maybe the most popular of these five profiles you can choose to master in the field of 3D art is character design. Character design isn’t always dedicated to 3D design only. If you’ve mastered 2D character development beforehand, learning to do 3D won’t be a problem for you.

You shouldn’t worry if you didn’t master all of the techniques of developing character design. The more you work, the more you will learn. Also, the more experienced colleagues will naturally show some tricks they learned over the years. If you’re working solo, you need to remember the golden rule:

“Practise makes perfect.”

The world of 3D character design is vast and exciting. You’re going to find yourself working long hours and getting lost in your many ideas, details, and perks. Make sure to stick to your original idea, though, as getting lost in your art is very easy.

Architectural Design

Architectural design is an exciting path you can take, but it’s going to require quite a lot of prep. Architects rarely work on their own, and they’re expected to master many different things.

Creating an architectural project isn’t as easy as creating a simple rendering. You’re going to have to take a lot of things into consideration. All of your works are going to have to be technically adept, creatively devised, and properly presented.

That is also a fascinating field of work, as you’re actively working on designing the world around you. That is a great responsibility and extremely interesting if you’re up for the task. It’s straightforward to devise elaborate buildings or sustainable solutions, but you need to take into account the whole world around it. Remember, your structure revolves around the world, not the other way around.

Architectural design is only as good as its pitch, so you’re going to need good ways to present your end product. As an architectural designer, you’re going to work for a team more often than not. That is where our collegial tips come in handy.

Interior Design

Interior design isn’t strictly tied to 3D modeling, yet more and more artists are turning to 3D as the technology progresses. It’s also a fascinating field of work, and it’s very accessible. The software for interior design has been around for a long time and is very simple to master. That is a high starting point for any young designer.

As an interior designer, it’s imperative to follow the trends in the world of interior design. People usually tend to design everything as futuristic and minimalistic, yet they tend to forget that pure simplicity is the hardest to achieve.

To get a job as an interior designer, you should be concerned about how you represent yourself and your ideas. Develop them as much as possible, and you can rest assured that they’re going to make a difference.

This field is an ideal one for making your trademark. Your trademark could be anything you choose, but remember to implement it in your design. If it’s well-devised, it’s bound to fit in.

3D Animation

3D animation is an extremely complex but advantageous field of work. To be an excellent animator, you must master the physics of light, organic motion, different texture designs, and the fundamentals.

Game and movie animation is nowadays oriented mostly towards CGI and CAD, so you’re going to have a helping hand while you work.

Despite the popular opinion that people with a university diploma in this field are more likely to get a job then self-taught artists, practical research has shown us that it’s just a rumor.

If you have a well-made portfolio and experience working in an art studio, you are more likely to be considered for the position.

3D Sculpting

3D Sculpting is a vast field full of opportunities, and that’s why it’s last on our list. All the profiles, as mentioned above, are 3D modeling in some way. To master 3D modeling, you should start with a general idea of what you want to do.

Game design, character design, building design – these are all 3D modeling jobs in some way. If you choose this path, you’re going to have to be as universal as possible, a jack of all trades.

The basis of all the 3D arts, whether they are digital or in the material state is sculpturing. It requires understanding the light, proportions, and creating from the mass.

What does creating from the mass mean? It means understanding the essential shape of your idea, making the space where it will be put, and all the tiny details. Those ideas were simplified by the cubistic sculptors and thus became a scholarly example of it.

In Conclusion

No matter which profile you choose to master, all this will be easier to learn one step at a time. What’s important to note is that being an artist is far from an easy job.

Your job is to be innovative, creative, and to work as much as you can. If you find a field of work that you like, you’re never actually going to be working. You shouldn’t stick to one profile or the art discipline, but try to combine everything you know with your artistic drive because that’s the safest way towards having a fresh idea.