what companies want from aspiring artists article?

Submitted by Saeron on
Forum
Artists

hiyas,

dont post much, but talking to a guy at work today and he mentioned that there was an article posted about what companies are looking for in artists. steve from THQ with some other ppl i beleive wrote it, and i'd be interested to get the thing so i can pass it on to my modeller/animator friends.

if anyone has any info on this, would be muchly appreciated [:)]

-t

Submitted by Kalescent on Sun, 13/02/05 - 3:08 AM Permalink

Can I please just underline something, If youll notice in that article the " does an artist need a tertiary education " question - Dave King Wrote :

" Absolutely not important at all... there are three qualifications in this field. 1) What you can do (your showreel) 2) What you have done (your experience or previous titles) and 3) what people think of you (your interview skills and industry gossip about you). Everything else means squat unless you have learnt from it. "

I couldnt have said it any better myself. And the theme runs pretty much consistant throughout all of the replies.

Submitted by Saeron on Mon, 14/02/05 - 11:28 PM Permalink

Thanks Jacana, muchly appreciated :)

-t

Submitted by Gibbz on Thu, 17/02/05 - 8:01 AM Permalink

Hi guys, just wondering as im expanding my resume, should i try and put up a showreel? ive had many people tell me that i need one even tho i have a few short videos available for download, would i be better off with a showreel?

What content should go in a show reel(ingame stuff, still renders/wires,animations/textures/sketeches? what length(max 3 mins?)?

Submitted by Kalescent on Thu, 17/02/05 - 10:57 AM Permalink

Hiya Bronson,

Yeah pick your best 2 - 3 models and present them nicely, but most of all express your strengths - if you cant animate very well, then dont animate the models at all or get someone who can animate well to do it for you and accredit them accordingly.
Same goes for concept / modelling and texturing.

Having a longer reel than 3 minutes is crazy for a modeller / skinner position. IMO aim for a short reel that definately focusses on quality not qauntity. Even a single eyepopping model & texture spin with no animation at all will draw more attention than a 2-3 minute long epic with 8 - 10 models showing wires and whatnot.

And if possible avoid clunky flash demos, with whizbang 'sliding in and out of screen' gadgets every time one wishes to view the next item.

Overall aim for the end user to simply double click, sit back and prepare to be instantly wowed.

Submitted by Gibbz on Fri, 18/02/05 - 7:01 AM Permalink

Thanks, so it should be about 2-3mins and more or less a teaser ? :)

I can do some animation id really like to show some stuff such as ingame work that seems to never work on other peoples computers so ive recorded a bit of that to flash by quickly....

Submitted by Gibbz on Fri, 18/02/05 - 7:36 AM Permalink

one other question, what about music? is it ok to use some from a cd? or i can only use free stuff?

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sat, 19/02/05 - 5:21 AM Permalink

im no pro myself but the majority of guys that ive talked to say that if theres music in it, they by and large just turn off the sound anyway.

Submitted by Gibbz on Sat, 19/02/05 - 1:08 PM Permalink

okay wont worry about sound then, what codec should i use to compress it? something generic like cinpac which is ugly or something like divX?

Submitted by LiveWire on Sun, 20/02/05 - 3:32 AM Permalink

bink is good. make it a self executing file and then all you need to give them is that - it has the codec in it so all they need to do is run it.

Posted by Saeron on
Forum
Artists

hiyas,

dont post much, but talking to a guy at work today and he mentioned that there was an article posted about what companies are looking for in artists. steve from THQ with some other ppl i beleive wrote it, and i'd be interested to get the thing so i can pass it on to my modeller/animator friends.

if anyone has any info on this, would be muchly appreciated [:)]

-t

Submitted by Kalescent on Sun, 13/02/05 - 3:08 AM Permalink

Can I please just underline something, If youll notice in that article the " does an artist need a tertiary education " question - Dave King Wrote :

" Absolutely not important at all... there are three qualifications in this field. 1) What you can do (your showreel) 2) What you have done (your experience or previous titles) and 3) what people think of you (your interview skills and industry gossip about you). Everything else means squat unless you have learnt from it. "

I couldnt have said it any better myself. And the theme runs pretty much consistant throughout all of the replies.

Submitted by Saeron on Mon, 14/02/05 - 11:28 PM Permalink

Thanks Jacana, muchly appreciated :)

-t

Submitted by Gibbz on Thu, 17/02/05 - 8:01 AM Permalink

Hi guys, just wondering as im expanding my resume, should i try and put up a showreel? ive had many people tell me that i need one even tho i have a few short videos available for download, would i be better off with a showreel?

What content should go in a show reel(ingame stuff, still renders/wires,animations/textures/sketeches? what length(max 3 mins?)?

Submitted by Kalescent on Thu, 17/02/05 - 10:57 AM Permalink

Hiya Bronson,

Yeah pick your best 2 - 3 models and present them nicely, but most of all express your strengths - if you cant animate very well, then dont animate the models at all or get someone who can animate well to do it for you and accredit them accordingly.
Same goes for concept / modelling and texturing.

Having a longer reel than 3 minutes is crazy for a modeller / skinner position. IMO aim for a short reel that definately focusses on quality not qauntity. Even a single eyepopping model & texture spin with no animation at all will draw more attention than a 2-3 minute long epic with 8 - 10 models showing wires and whatnot.

And if possible avoid clunky flash demos, with whizbang 'sliding in and out of screen' gadgets every time one wishes to view the next item.

Overall aim for the end user to simply double click, sit back and prepare to be instantly wowed.

Submitted by Gibbz on Fri, 18/02/05 - 7:01 AM Permalink

Thanks, so it should be about 2-3mins and more or less a teaser ? :)

I can do some animation id really like to show some stuff such as ingame work that seems to never work on other peoples computers so ive recorded a bit of that to flash by quickly....

Submitted by Gibbz on Fri, 18/02/05 - 7:36 AM Permalink

one other question, what about music? is it ok to use some from a cd? or i can only use free stuff?

Submitted by MoonUnit on Sat, 19/02/05 - 5:21 AM Permalink

im no pro myself but the majority of guys that ive talked to say that if theres music in it, they by and large just turn off the sound anyway.

Submitted by Gibbz on Sat, 19/02/05 - 1:08 PM Permalink

okay wont worry about sound then, what codec should i use to compress it? something generic like cinpac which is ugly or something like divX?

Submitted by LiveWire on Sun, 20/02/05 - 3:32 AM Permalink

bink is good. make it a self executing file and then all you need to give them is that - it has the codec in it so all they need to do is run it.