- Good eye for timing and color
- Solid knowledge of at least one major particle editor(UDK, CryENGINE etc.)
- Understanding of shaders and node-based shader creation skills
- Several types of effects: explosions, spell effects, environment fx(water, fire etc.)
- Fluid simulation samples for flipbook textures like muzzle flashes(FumeFX, Maya Fluids etc.)
- Good interdisciplinary communication skills to interact with shader programmers, environment artists etc.
Extra Credit: Math skills like 3D geometry and trigonometry
Personally in terms of tech artists we're moving from script monkeys to proper tool development with software engineering practices. So maybe showing the process of the tool development would be good.
So what would differentiate a tool developer and a script monkey? Since this is about portfolios, what would be a good example of well thought out tool, rather than a simple script?
So what would differentiate a tool developer and a script monkey? Since this is about portfolios, what would be a good example of well thought out tool, rather than a simple script?
Well tool programmers (to me atleast) would be programmers that handle access to your engine etc while a tech artist would be providing a pipeline for artists to make their lives easier importing to engine or doing x mundane task. Maybe even improving on a prototype that a tech artist wrote up.
Script monkey was probably a terrible term on my part. Meant that we need to start moving away from hacked up scripts that don't offer re-usability, utilize test driven development etc. Though this stuff would kinda come up in an interview or when they look at the code if you offer it.
Actually looking at other tech artists would rephrase well thought out tool to well documented tool like TexTools for example. Straight forward and simple.
Ah cool. At work the other tech artists and myself are trying to move away from single use stand-alone scripts into something that more re-usable and build up a libary of common methods. So its good to know that where on the right track.
And I think script monkey is an acurate discription of how I was when I first started doing this. Just throwing code around, as long as it ran and did what it needed to at the time it was considered complete.
I consider a hardsurface modeler/texturer to be basically the same as a Prop Artist. If I was looking for one I would evaluate using all the same criteria as Environment Artist, except for the bits about constructing a whole scene.
Speaking as someone who has been looking for "that job" for six years now I have a few thoughts/questions on the topic:
I ended up going back to school and recently getting a graphic design degree (backup plan) so my main portfolio is a squarespace page with graphic design, general 3d art (character, environment, car, human head, arch vis, etc.), illustrations and animation. I do feel a strong concern that I must look like I'm lost, flaky, indecisive, etc. Thoughts? I'm thinking of making the squarespace 2d only and using my CGtalk site as my 3d portfolio as a possibly solution.
You have to eat and its rough out there so I'm afraid to go in one direction only, but that maybe my downfall. Even if I separate my industry disciplines, there's still the issue of how specific the 3d gallery needs to be. In my experience over the years, what I've learned is to be an artist first and a specialist later. If I think game asset I end up making a tiny little thing that will work in UDK but isn't interesting. Maybe a wall that is optimized but boring. If I just think of making the best piece of art I can then I'm motivated and do just that. I've never had good game pieces in the gallery for that reason (my goal is from now on to just make a piece of 3d art, comp it in PS all I want to my hearts content ... and then after words decide if I will make a game version or not). I can't remember who it was but I read an interview lately with a game env art professional who said basically that ... the optimizing should be the last thing you worry about, just make great art first and foremost. Having said all that, just how much rendering can be in my portfolio when I apply at EA? Or how many game pieces when I'm applying at Digital Domain? I did both of those recently with the same generalist portfolio knowing they were both real long shots.
Speaking as someone who has been looking for "that job" for six years now I have a few thoughts/questions on the topic:
I ended up going back to school and recently getting a graphic design degree (backup plan) so my main portfolio is a squarespace page with graphic design, general 3d art (character, environment, car, human head, arch vis, etc.), illustrations and animation. I do feel a strong concern that I must look like I'm lost, flaky, indecisive, etc. Thoughts? I'm thinking of making the squarespace 2d only and using my CGtalk site as my 3d portfolio as a possibly solution.
You have to eat and its rough out there so I'm afraid to go in one direction only, but that maybe my downfall. Even if I separate my industry disciplines, there's still the issue of how specific the 3d gallery needs to be. In my experience over the years, what I've learned is to be an artist first and a specialist later. If I think game asset I end up making a tiny little thing that will work in UDK but isn't interesting. Maybe a wall that is optimized but boring. If I just think of making the best piece of art I can then I'm motivated and do just that. I've never had good game pieces in the gallery for that reason (my goal is from now on to just make a piece of 3d art, comp it in PS all I want to my hearts content ... and then after words decide if I will make a game version or not). I can't remember who it was but I read an interview lately with a game env art professional who said basically that ... the optimizing should be the last thing you worry about, just make great art first and foremost. Having said all that, just how much rendering can be in my portfolio when I apply at EA? Or how many game pieces when I'm applying at Digital Domain? I did both of those recently with the same generalist portfolio knowing they were both real long shots.
So, making a loot chest utilizes similar skills to make Enterprise E ? Why didn't I think of that...
Do I detect some sarcasm here? Truth is, the skills really are the same. As the master says, size matters not. A talented artist is going to be able to make both large and small models, and know how to combine techniques to get the best results (for the loot chest, less subdivision surface modeling, and more sculpting, and more painting if the game lighting tech is more primitive).
be an artist first and a specialist later. If I think game asset I end up making a tiny little thing that will work in UDK but isn't interesting. Maybe a wall that is optimized but boring. If I just think of making the best piece of art I can then I'm motivated and do just that. I've never had good game pieces in the gallery for that reason (my goal is from now on to just make a piece of 3d art, comp it in PS all I want to my hearts content ... and then after words decide if I will make a game version or not).
It comes down to a question of what you want to do. Joopson's idea is good. Looks like you might enjoy graphic design more than 3d, so maybe go for that.
But yes, I do feel your folio suffers from lack of focus, and is hamstrung by some weaker pieces here and there. It is true that we are judged by our weakest pieces. I know I do this when evaluating an artist for a position. What is their weak spot? Can I live with that in this position on my team?
I look at the strong pieces and tick an internal checkbox (yep, can do lighting), and look at the weak pieces and untick another (nope, can't do AAA characters). Yeah it's harsh, but that's how you got to be to weed thru a mass of applicants.
Here's an exercise... start a new folio from scratch. Take a real hard look at each piece, and rate it 1 to 10. Then put only the top five "10s" in this new folio. Use that set to help you pick a discipline to focus on. Hammer on that discipline until you have a couple really awesome pieces. Profit.
Also, post your folio in Pimping and Previews. There's stuff I'd like to say about your folio, but this really isn't the place for specific crits. And it's very helpful to get feedback from others!
...rate it 1 to 10. Then put only the top five "10s" in this new folio
Better yet have your friends, peers, people on here, etc rate your pieces. You'll learn what you're good at from that and where you should spend your time improving upon. It helps you develop your artistic eye a bit more than rating them yourself. At least starting out it's hard to have a good judge of what's good/bad.
It comes down to a question of what you want to do. Joopson's idea is good. Looks like you might enjoy graphic design more than 3d, so maybe go for that.
Thanks. While the Squarespace is meant to "look" like 2d is my passion, it definitely is not. It's only designed to make an ad agency hire me because the 3d job that I live for eludes me still. So I guess if nothing else I succeeded in that deception lol.
Also, post your folio in Pimping and Previews. There's stuff I'd like to say about your folio, but this really isn't the place for specific crits. And it's very helpful to get feedback from others!
Make two completely separate portfolio websites. One for graphic design, and another for the specific area of games you want to get into. The larger issue is the risk you run of becoming mediocre at both if you try to split your time between the two disciplines.
Concept Artist requirements by Shaddy Safadi Studio. [I don't have any dealings with this studio but studio owner's requirements, I find, are pretty tough - but in a positive way.]
Critical Requirements:
1. A knowledge of natural color and light
2. Ability to quickly blockmesh in 3D and light in mental ray, slop modeling that focuses on compositions/lighting!
3. Proficiency in finding the right photos and blending them into concepts
4. A great eye for classy simple compositions
5. A unique perspective and desire to push ideas farther
6. And most importantly an extreme attention to polish and PHOTO REAL finish.
Epic's requirements for concept artist [they're hiring now!]
Qualifications:
Experience designing stylized environments, characters, weapons and vehicles
A creative mind, the ability to create scenes with a memorable wow factor, but with grounding details to make it believable and personal
Ability to work within gameplay design restraints (environment scale, character abilities, etc.) and translate those restrictions into visuals that enhance the experience
Ability to show visual storytelling within an environment design
Strong Traditional drawing skills and visual knowledge of human anatomy
Experience creating mechanical designs
Strong understanding of color theory and how color affects mood & focal points Strong portfolio showcasing your concept art skills
Excellent communication skills (written, verbal and visual)
3D software knowledge (Maya/Max/SketchUp) is a plus
Ability to create matte paintings or skydomes is a plus Graphic design and previous UI experience is a plus
With the environmental artist, with the texturing does this include knowledge of PBR and traditional texturing, or just texturing as a whole, because i'm still yet to understand PBR workflow, none of it makes any sense to me at all.
With the environmental artist, with the texturing does this include knowledge of PBR and traditional texturing, or just texturing as a whole, because i'm still yet to understand PBR workflow, none of it makes any sense to me at all.
Replies
- Good eye for timing and color
- Solid knowledge of at least one major particle editor(UDK, CryENGINE etc.)
- Understanding of shaders and node-based shader creation skills
- Several types of effects: explosions, spell effects, environment fx(water, fire etc.)
- Fluid simulation samples for flipbook textures like muzzle flashes(FumeFX, Maya Fluids etc.)
- Good interdisciplinary communication skills to interact with shader programmers, environment artists etc.
Extra Credit: Math skills like 3D geometry and trigonometry
So what would differentiate a tool developer and a script monkey? Since this is about portfolios, what would be a good example of well thought out tool, rather than a simple script?
try that
Well tool programmers (to me atleast) would be programmers that handle access to your engine etc while a tech artist would be providing a pipeline for artists to make their lives easier importing to engine or doing x mundane task. Maybe even improving on a prototype that a tech artist wrote up.
Script monkey was probably a terrible term on my part. Meant that we need to start moving away from hacked up scripts that don't offer re-usability, utilize test driven development etc. Though this stuff would kinda come up in an interview or when they look at the code if you offer it.
Actually looking at other tech artists would rephrase well thought out tool to well documented tool like TexTools for example. Straight forward and simple.
And I think script monkey is an acurate discription of how I was when I first started doing this. Just throwing code around, as long as it ran and did what it needed to at the time it was considered complete.
I ended up going back to school and recently getting a graphic design degree (backup plan) so my main portfolio is a squarespace page with graphic design, general 3d art (character, environment, car, human head, arch vis, etc.), illustrations and animation. I do feel a strong concern that I must look like I'm lost, flaky, indecisive, etc. Thoughts? I'm thinking of making the squarespace 2d only and using my CGtalk site as my 3d portfolio as a possibly solution.
You have to eat and its rough out there so I'm afraid to go in one direction only, but that maybe my downfall. Even if I separate my industry disciplines, there's still the issue of how specific the 3d gallery needs to be. In my experience over the years, what I've learned is to be an artist first and a specialist later. If I think game asset I end up making a tiny little thing that will work in UDK but isn't interesting. Maybe a wall that is optimized but boring. If I just think of making the best piece of art I can then I'm motivated and do just that. I've never had good game pieces in the gallery for that reason (my goal is from now on to just make a piece of 3d art, comp it in PS all I want to my hearts content ... and then after words decide if I will make a game version or not). I can't remember who it was but I read an interview lately with a game env art professional who said basically that ... the optimizing should be the last thing you worry about, just make great art first and foremost. Having said all that, just how much rendering can be in my portfolio when I apply at EA? Or how many game pieces when I'm applying at Digital Domain? I did both of those recently with the same generalist portfolio knowing they were both real long shots.
Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!
https://scott-honeycutt.squarespace.com/
http://Scott31.cgsociety.org/
Have you considered getting into Motion-graphics? Kind of the best of both worlds. Combines 3D with design.
Do I detect some sarcasm here? Truth is, the skills really are the same. As the master says, size matters not. A talented artist is going to be able to make both large and small models, and know how to combine techniques to get the best results (for the loot chest, less subdivision surface modeling, and more sculpting, and more painting if the game lighting tech is more primitive).
It comes down to a question of what you want to do. Joopson's idea is good. Looks like you might enjoy graphic design more than 3d, so maybe go for that.
But yes, I do feel your folio suffers from lack of focus, and is hamstrung by some weaker pieces here and there. It is true that we are judged by our weakest pieces. I know I do this when evaluating an artist for a position. What is their weak spot? Can I live with that in this position on my team?
I look at the strong pieces and tick an internal checkbox (yep, can do lighting), and look at the weak pieces and untick another (nope, can't do AAA characters). Yeah it's harsh, but that's how you got to be to weed thru a mass of applicants.
Here's an exercise... start a new folio from scratch. Take a real hard look at each piece, and rate it 1 to 10. Then put only the top five "10s" in this new folio. Use that set to help you pick a discipline to focus on. Hammer on that discipline until you have a couple really awesome pieces. Profit.
Also, post your folio in Pimping and Previews. There's stuff I'd like to say about your folio, but this really isn't the place for specific crits. And it's very helpful to get feedback from others!
Better yet have your friends, peers, people on here, etc rate your pieces. You'll learn what you're good at from that and where you should spend your time improving upon. It helps you develop your artistic eye a bit more than rating them yourself. At least starting out it's hard to have a good judge of what's good/bad.
Thanks. While the Squarespace is meant to "look" like 2d is my passion, it definitely is not. It's only designed to make an ad agency hire me because the 3d job that I live for eludes me still. So I guess if nothing else I succeeded in that deception lol.
Thanks, I'd love to hear what you have to say:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2007837#post2007837
Thank you ... and I agree.
Critical Requirements:
- 1. A knowledge of natural color and light
- 2. Ability to quickly blockmesh in 3D and light in mental ray, slop modeling that focuses on compositions/lighting!
- 3. Proficiency in finding the right photos and blending them into concepts
- 4. A great eye for classy simple compositions
- 5. A unique perspective and desire to push ideas farther
- 6. And most importantly an extreme attention to polish and PHOTO REAL finish.
- See more at: http://www.shaddyconceptart.com/hiring#sthash.FeGXuWPl.dpufQualifications:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2002050#post2002050
That's just my opinion.