Questions about starting out as an Environment Artist
polycounter lvl 6
Hi all,
I'm an aspiring Environment Artist who wants to enter the video game industry. I have some questions about when Environment Artists first start out and after they have been an artist in the industry for a little while.
1. When you first start out in the industry as an Environment Artist, whether it is a regular position, or if you start out as a Junior Environment Artist or Prop Artist, what is the amount of workload per week? What I mean by this question is that is there a deadline at the end of each week, or like every two weeks that the artist needs to meet? Or does it depend on the company that the artist works at?
2. This is referring back to question 1, but when you first start out are you only expected to model a few objects per week, or do you need to model a lot of objects within one or two weeks? I'm not sure if every company follows the same amount of workload, or if it just depends on where you are working.
3. So in the situation that the artist does not complete all the tasks/work that they were assigned, however they were very close to finishing all of it, would they be allowed extra time, or would they get into a lot of trouble? I would never ever do this once I become an Environment Artist in the industry, but I want to avoid that situation.
4. What type of questions should I ask in interviews that would make me stand out more from other candidates?
5. When you are first starting out as an Environment Artist in the industry, will the company put you on a project that has already been mostly completed, or will you be put on a project that is just first starting? Or does it depend on the project that they assign you to?
6. Will companies have starting out positions available such as a Prop Artist or Junior Environment Artist job even if it's not posted on the Career section of their website? If that's true, would I need to contact Human Resources about that, or are there some Temp Agencies(I think that's what they are called) that offer those type of jobs to artists who are first starting out? If there are any Temp Agencies that do offer those type of jobs, which Temp Agencies offer those types of jobs?
I think that's all the questions I can think of for now, I'll post some more later if I think of any more. Any information to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
I'm an aspiring Environment Artist who wants to enter the video game industry. I have some questions about when Environment Artists first start out and after they have been an artist in the industry for a little while.
1. When you first start out in the industry as an Environment Artist, whether it is a regular position, or if you start out as a Junior Environment Artist or Prop Artist, what is the amount of workload per week? What I mean by this question is that is there a deadline at the end of each week, or like every two weeks that the artist needs to meet? Or does it depend on the company that the artist works at?
2. This is referring back to question 1, but when you first start out are you only expected to model a few objects per week, or do you need to model a lot of objects within one or two weeks? I'm not sure if every company follows the same amount of workload, or if it just depends on where you are working.
3. So in the situation that the artist does not complete all the tasks/work that they were assigned, however they were very close to finishing all of it, would they be allowed extra time, or would they get into a lot of trouble? I would never ever do this once I become an Environment Artist in the industry, but I want to avoid that situation.
4. What type of questions should I ask in interviews that would make me stand out more from other candidates?
5. When you are first starting out as an Environment Artist in the industry, will the company put you on a project that has already been mostly completed, or will you be put on a project that is just first starting? Or does it depend on the project that they assign you to?
6. Will companies have starting out positions available such as a Prop Artist or Junior Environment Artist job even if it's not posted on the Career section of their website? If that's true, would I need to contact Human Resources about that, or are there some Temp Agencies(I think that's what they are called) that offer those type of jobs to artists who are first starting out? If there are any Temp Agencies that do offer those type of jobs, which Temp Agencies offer those types of jobs?
I think that's all the questions I can think of for now, I'll post some more later if I think of any more. Any information to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Replies
2) Again, this depends on a lot of factors. Depending on the studio or the game, expectations from an intern or junior artist may vary considerably. A good art lead will work with you to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are and how much work can be reasonably expected of you.
3) This is also dependent on the situation. I would say if you are 'very close' to finishing an assignment, put in some extra time and just get it done. It's going to reflect a lot better on you as an artist if you just buckle down and put in a few extra hours to get an assignment done than if you come up 'almost done' but a few hours short. That being said, I doubt a junior artist would get in a lot of trouble for taking a bit too much time on something. Just make sure to keep everyone in the loop, make sure your lead is aware that you don't think you will be able to finish the assignment in the given amount of time and find out if they are ok with you spending some more time on it.
4) Ask questions that make it apparent you are actually interested in the job/game/studio. If an interviewer asks if you have any questions for them and your answer is "nope!" it makes you seem like you don't really care. Ask questions about the team, the game, the studio, future plans for the studio, opportunities for growth within the team/studio, etc. If you are actually passionate about the job you should have no shortage of questions about the team/project you may potentially be working with.
5) Again, it depends. When I started in the industry I was assigned to a project that had just gone into production and I spent the next 3-4 years working on the title. However, I've also seen junior artists hired as support to finish up a title that was nearly complete and later be moved on to other projects. It really just depends where artists are needed.
6) I would say in general, especially when you're just starting out, apply to as many studios as you can regardless of the jobs listed on their website. Many companies only list positions on their hiring pages that they have a strong need to fill as soon as possible. Lots of studios are always on the lookout for talented junior artists that have potential even if they haven't listed a specific position on the website.
For the team do you mean ask questions about how big the team is and how many artists and other team members you would be working with?
Do you mean what type of game you would be working on, or do you mean something else?
For the studio do you mean questions pertaining to if the studio has plans to expand in the future, or if they are planning on changing the types of projects that they are currently working on to something else, or do you mean something else?
For the opportunities for growth section with the team/studio, do you mean questions such as if you start as a Junior Artist or Prop Artist, then you would become a regular Environment Artist, or do you mean something else?
I had an interview recently and I asked a lot of varied questions. How many people work at the company? Does the company plan to expand or are they interested in limiting the studio to a set size? (This was important to me, it may be entirely irrelevant to some). What are the company's plans for future projects, do they plan to continue working with existing titles/DLC or do they plan to launch new IPs? If they have new IPs in the works, is it something they can talk about? I'd be interested in knowing what I may have the opportunity to work on in the future with a studio. What tools/software are available to artists? Does the team have a dedicated tech artist? Does the company allow for lateral movement (would it ever be possible for you to change disciplines, for example environment art to character art, design, production, etc) or can you expect to always be in the same position?
Depending on what you are looking for, some of these questions may be very important to you, some may be irrelevant. Especially as a junior artist potentially looking for your first job, questions about the future of the company or future projects may be moot if all you're looking for is to get your foot in the door. However, it can't hurt to at least ask and it will give the impression that you're very interested in the job, the company, and the industry.
If I may ask a question myself, are game artists always given references for their assignments?
For example, say it's your job to model the interior of a house. Are you given a simple guideline or concept art to look at, or do they actually provide you references of chairs, tables, windows, etc?
As I gained experience and larger and more important assignments came to me I would sometimes be given very specific instructions and/or reference to work from, or I would be asked to pull together a bunch of reference for something and then I would sit with the lead or senior artist I was working with and we would pick out ref images that worked for us.
I think in general the more experience you have and the more your lead/team grows to trust your judgement, the more you'll be left to your own devices and allowed to make your own calls.
I only ask this since I feel that with some projects you might not be able to find objects in the real world to reference from, and you would have to go off of concept art or something, but I could be wrong about that.
Also when you mentioned about starting out as a Prop Artist, are a Junior Environment Artist and Prop Artist the same position, or are they two separate types of positions? If a company was looking for a Prop Artist, would they list the position as a Prop Artist, or would that be listed as a Junior Environment Artist position?
As far as Prop Artist/Junior Env Artist, it probably varies from studio to studio. When I started, my title was Junior Environment Artist, but for the first year or so I basically served as a prop artist to support other more senior environment artists. After that I started doing all sorts of other environment art related tasks (including some animation and FX work). However, there are probably studios that hire specifically for Prop Artists who are expected to create props and not much else, but I can't say for sure. Maybe someone else can chime in who has experience in a Prop Artist position.
Or do you have to explain it a different way?
Like most things in our line of work, there is no single definitive answer other than "everything is dependent on the needs of the project."
Its all incredibly dependent on the situation, but you will be given tasks to deliver before a given date. Sometimes that'll make 3 props in 2 weeks, sometimes that'll mean 1 prop in 1 week. Sometimes it'll be 1 'hero piece' prop in a month. It's very dependent on the needs of your project and leads.
It will be up to you to communicate to your lead/manager if you are not going to be able to deliver your task in the time they've given you. And, if they're a proactive lead, they'll run the estimates by you before setting them in stone to make sure the timeline they're thinking isn't out of sync with what you are actually capable of doing.
As for how and when you start on a project: Every developer is different and every situation is different. Meaning there is no set-in-stone process here. Sometimes you'll be hired because they simply want to work with you, and they will find a spot for you to help. Sometimes they need people to help finish a project. Sometimes they simply need to 'staff up' to get things done.
I won't answer your other questions because I think you'll see the pattern here: It's very situational and every project reacts to those situations differently. There is no right or wrong concrete answer, just the right answer for that group of developers at that given time.
I've had a few interviews where I've been asked hypothetical questions about how I would tackle a given task. I think this is more or less simply a way for an interviewer to see what your process is and ensure that you understand a game art pipeline. If you're unable to explain how you went from zero to finished product, something is amiss. If you understand the process, you should be able to explain how you went through it. They may have you explain which tools you used and what your general workflow is, but in general there isn't a right or wrong answer. Lots of people go about things in different ways. Overall the process is usually similar (make a high poly model, make a low poly model, bake, texture, etc) but the tools or methods may vary somewhat from person to person.
I wouldn't stress about this type of question too much. I don't think anyone is going to come down on you because you used Maya for baking instead of Xnormal or something. At the end of the day, the final result is what really matters, and as long as you have a good understanding of the workflow that brought you there (whatever that may be), you should be ok.