Freelance/Portfolio Advice
polycounter lvl 10
Hello everyone. I hope all of you are doing well. My name is Jason. I need some help/advice on a few things. Do to the economy here in Ohio and my personal situation I am going to be forced to stay home with my kids. I really want to work in the videogame/cg industry however I can't really find direction. I really enjoy modeling/texturing but I find myself finding pitfalls ect. when doing either. I would like to know some tips on entering the freelance world without any experience at all. I understand that at first it will be rough, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be successful. I really would like a professional mentor of sorts if at all possible to help with critiques and direction starting from small to big. I've seen the work on here and it all looks wonderful. Can anyone help?
Replies
http://www.jonjones.com/2012/01/27/from-full-time-to-freelance/
To be frank, though, if you're starting from no experience, I suspect you have at least a year of practicing really hard and making no money. Freelancing as a means of supporting yourself isn't a fallback position from working full-time... it's a completely different way of working, managing your time, and living your life. Many extremely talented artists can't even pull it off.
That being said, learn UDK or Unity and how to make art that looks good and works in a game. Live, eat, and breathe art. Make it all the time for fun, and post it here for critiques, and learn how to take those critiques to improve your craft. Donate your time to indie game and mod projects to hone your skills and build a network. Make friends in the community and surround yourself with fledgling artists and developers that want the same thing you do. Be persistent, find out what you love about doing what you do, and learn to remember that when you're feeling discouraged.
Can't do better than Jon's articles.
Just sharing a tips from my freelancing experience.
-don't work for free unless you actually want to (like joining a mod team); demand 50% upfront or in thirds; I'd just do the invoicing for full payment after completion if I trust the other party
-Guys offering gigs are usually small budget programmers. I find it rare for an established studio or Stateside outsourcing company to offer remote jobs. Having said that, up to you how to keep your "plate" full whether you want to accept low rate or wait for a gig that pays what you're really worth.
-"feast or famine"; somedays you'll be slammed with work if you have multiple clients, other days there could be weeks were you'll see no action; and it's all up to you how you can organize your time to meet deadlines if any
-cast a wider net beyond game gigs if you want to stay busy
-"multiple revenue streams" via Unity asset store, Valve's DOTA marketplace, sell your tutorial video sites
-listen to podcasts from other indie artists from other industries to get survival tips; I'm not based in the U.S. but some comic artists recommend these sites to handle their financial affairs (taxes, student loan payments, etc):
https://www.mint.com/
http://outright.com/
https://www.tuition.io/
A big question you should consider is: are you ready for freelance work?
If you are still in the throes of learning, I'd say take a step back. Hone your skills till you can hit a decent quality/speed.
If you are spending more time on games than working on your portfolio- you don't want the job
If you are spending more time on the internet than working on your portfolio- you don't want the job.
The magic bullet to getting the job/getting better, is putting in the time- it's like prison, only less rapey
Where are you at in Ohio?
Double++ everything in Mr Jones' Article