what do i need to know?

Sounds like art/3D modeling is what you're into. Consider starting with Blender, which is free, opensource, and unrestricted on what you use it for. While the other programs you listed are more powerful and you might make a case that they are better for certain tasks (I'm not an artist, so don't take my word for it) I have heard that the basic skills required to use one 3D modelling program translate well to others. Anyway, it's free, so you might pick that up and play with it.

If I wanted art to be my own road into the world of making games, here's what I (and perhaps you) might do:

• Use Blender almost every night to make something, trying to make something new, using a new feature combination each week.
• Practice and learn to draw and sketch. I'd keep a notebook in which I'd force myself to fill a page each night, drawing *something* to teach my brain to always be thinking about how to fill spaces and, whatever else, I don't know. (I took a painting class and my art professor was very insistent on filling a page in a sketchbook each night, and it seemed to help with idea generation insofar as visuals. It's the same thing for writers and journals, musicians and jamming, etc.)
• I'd try to go to school for an art degree, at least an undergrad, to learn fundamentals. I would definitely take sculpting (with real physical clay) and 3D modeling (computers) courses. It'd be a good idea to take a lot of diverse extracurricular courses (histories, a language, sociology courses, psychology, sciences) to round myself out.
• I'd travel as much as i can afford to, maybe studying abroad in a student exchange program. I'd shoot for at least two very different countries before graduating.
• Get out there and live. The more life experience you have, the more you'll have to draw on for your creations.

With that formidable, probably four to six year education plan, I'd have a lot to do. That would give me a way to build up a portfolio and start applying to various studios. Here are the monsters and heroes and scenes and structures and whatever else I have rendered in 3D: photos of my sculpts and screep caps and wire meshes of my models in Blender/3DSMax/whatever.

You have a long but very fun road ahead of you. <3 Good luck.

EDIT: I see this was just moved from Game Design (where I saw it) to Visual Arts...where you'll get opinions from people who are far more versed in art than I. :) I hope some of this was helpful, nonetheless.

I have used many of them. unity3d, blender, photoshop and such... none of them really met my needs. I am not sure which one to move to next, but when I get home to my desktop I thought of giving Unreal Development Kit and Cry Engine 3 a try. they are free, but you have to pay to publish things... this shouldn't be a problem though, if your just practicing.

Hope I was helpful

**and yes, blender is better than unity3d, in my opinion at least

thanks alot i will try all of thse softwares, by the way my other question do i need eny skills with drawing, cause at the moment i have no skill with painting, drawing and things,

but if it is needed for my dream job i will work really hard to learn how to paint,

but just want 2 know if i need before i dedicate hours of it. :) enyway thanks everyone that has helped.

thanks alot i will try all of thse softwares, by the way my other question do i need eny skills with drawing, cause at the moment i have no skill with painting, drawing and things,

but if it is needed for my dream job i will work really hard to learn how to paint,

but just want 2 know if i need before i dedicate hours of it. enyway thanks everyone that has helped.

In my experience, painting is a novelty that's never really necessary. I only ever did it maybe twice; it just takes too long to be useful. Drawing with pen and pencil (and sometimes marker, but those things are really expensive) is a far more useful skill, especially if you're good at sketching out the basics of your concept quickly (we always called it "rapid sketching"--I don't know if that's a widely used term or something unique to my professor). Getting good at that comes down to practice. A lot of it. As in never be without a pen/pencil and paper.

If you absolutely can't draw, keep in mind that 3D modeling is a completely different skill--you can be great at one and terrible at the other. I've known a lot of people who used modeling software exclusively, and a few who never even needed to touch a computer to get their point across. As long as the underlying idea is good, it can be expressed effectively in any number of ways; you just have to find the one that works for you.

Granted, my experience comes from an architecture degree, but I'm sure some of that transfers to game art (at least in terms of environments and basic design principles).

I have used many of them. unity3d, blender, photoshop and such... none of them really met my needs. I am not sure which one to move to next, but when I get home to my desktop I thought of giving Unreal Development Kit and Cry Engine 3 a try. they are free, but you have to pay to publish things... this shouldn't be a problem though, if your just practicing.

Hope I was helpful

**and yes, blender is better than unity3d, in my opinion at least

Unity3d, UDK, and CryEngine 3 are game engines and not in the same category as programs as 3dsMax, Maya, Blender, or any Adobe stuff really. They can be useful as a rendering tool for 3D assets, but I don't think they need to be mentioned in this conversation at all.

thanks alot i will try all of thse softwares, by the way my other question do i need eny skills with drawing, cause at the moment i have no skill with painting, drawing and things,

but if it is needed for my dream job i will work really hard to learn how to paint,

but just want 2 know if i need before i dedicate hours of it. enyway thanks everyone that has helped.

In my experience, painting is a novelty that's never really necessary. I only ever did it maybe twice; it just takes too long to be useful. Drawing with pen and pencil (and sometimes marker, but those things are really expensive) is a far more useful skill, especially if you're good at sketching out the basics of your concept quickly (we always called it "rapid sketching"--I don't know if that's a widely used term or something unique to my professor). Getting good at that comes down to practice. A lot of it. As in never be without a pen/pencil and paper.

If you absolutely can't draw, keep in mind that 3D modeling is a completely different skill--you can be great at one and terrible at the other. I've known a lot of people who used modeling software exclusively, and a few who never even needed to touch a computer to get their point across. As long as the underlying idea is good, it can be expressed effectively in any number of ways; you just have to find the one that works for you.

Granted, my experience comes from an architecture degree, but I'm sure some of that transfers to game art (at least in terms of environments and basic design principles).

I agree, but learning the basics about anatomy and building up skills with a pen will really help.

Considering the jobs of 3D generalists or artists in the game industry are pretty demanding, I've seen folks with okay portfolios and a couple years of experience get over-looked because they aren't as great as the studio wants.

That's something that you'll need to strive for to get that consistent, salaried job as a character artist at a studio; to be as great as you can be.

Learn everything you can about the human body, learn everything you can about perspective, line, and shadow, and practice your heart out with a sketch pad and a pencil. Find styles you like and can emulate all while trying to maintain basic art principles and a believable anatomy for what your drawing.

And yeah, what thade wrote will help you get you going, but it still depends on you.

It's not an easy path that you're choosing, but its pretty freaking fun!

Good luck!

ok, thanks again everyone, now i finnally know were to start.

before i came here everything was so unclear. so thanks alot.