Need help deciding on studying game arts

Oblivionn

I really want to become an artist for a game company, mostly concept art and 3d modeling/animation and I really don't know where or what to study for this. I'm still in grade 11 so there's no huge rush, but I want to explore all of my options. I'm leaning towards studying graphic design, but don't really know if that's a good idea, any help would be appreciated
PS. sorry if I this is in the wrong category or anything, this is the first time I open a discussion

kidult

There isnt really any decent schools for this here in SA imo and the few that are around will saddle you with debt and you won't be employable straight after doing the course.. You're better off doing online courses and self study which can be really tricky as it involves heavy self discipline. In fact I would suggest you start to study and practice now as the standard for even entry level work is very high. You'd most likely need to do a minimum of 3 years worth of studying, where you work minimum 6 to 8 hours per day, pretty much 7 days a week.
Graphic design won't really help you much in this line of work. Perhaps a bit of UI design but even that would be minimal.

Your best start would be to learn how to use photoshop at a high level and a 3D program like Maya, 3D Max, Modo and Zbrush / 3D Coat.

Oblivionn

I've been using photoshop since early this year and know most of the basics, I'm going to start with 3d modeling next year. The problem is that my parents really want me to study and have a degree so the graphic design is mostly like a plan b, and do you have any recommendations on which online courses I should look into?
I took a look at your profile on here and that is basically exactly what I want to do, and did bungie actually hire you to make those artifacts for Destiny?(my biggest fear in this is that I won't find any opportunities for work)

kidult

Ah, yeah the old my parents want me to study for a degree. That is sadly a problem we all face, very hard to convince the parents you don't need a piece of paper for this line of work but actually a kick ass portfolio.
If they are adamant about the studying then rather do a game art or developer course as graphic design is going to teach almost nothing about game art and will take 3 years or more of your time you could be doing game art.

As for online courses that would depend on your current skill level. You need the basics of art foundation to get started. So you'l have to learn to draw, learn lighting learn anatomy, perspective, colour etc. and then you have to practice these until they are at a fairly high level. Then you can apply these basics to the various techniques used to produce game art or assets.

Elyaradine

If your parents want you to get a degree, and they're going to pay for it, then The Open Window in Centurion is an option. In Cape Town, there's the Animation School (although it's a 3-year diploma), and I believe the Cape Town Creative Academy is pretty good (it's a new school, but it was started by some of the more popular staff who left the Open Window). I believe all of them offer scholarships, so you might want to check out what their requirements are for those (usually an art portfolio and a written test) and prepare for that well in advance.

I'd also avoid studying graphic design. They pretty much teach you branding/advertising exclusively (that's "where the money is"), but while there are certainly useful concepts in there (about using imagery as a form of communication), there's otherwise not a lot of relevance.

I don't know how things are for the other game artists in the country, but my impression is that there's a huge amount of work if you're good. The difficult part is skilling up to the point where you're making work that makes people want to pay you for it (and more specifically, is better than what competitors are doing), and that takes quite a lot of work. The sooner you start (and the more hours you can get in while you're in high school where time is relatively abundant), the faster you can get to that point! :)

[edit] http://devmag.org.za/2012/06/26/i-want-to-be-a-game-artist-2/