Asking for advice as new artist in the industry
Hello everybody! Im very new here in polycount and also new in the cg industry and I would like to ask for advice from those who have been in the industry for a long time that may have gone through the same experience. First off, this topic may sound a little too personal since its coming straight from the bottom of my heart so this maybe a long read for you guys. Anyways, let's start!
I recently graduated with a degree in design while majoring in 3D and chose the path as a 3D artist. I've tried my luck in applying for a job but almost all the studios i have tried applying are only looking for experienced artists and saying i dont have enough experience to work with. It went on leaving me unemployed for quite awhile. With only 2years of experience under my belt as a student I do understand that its gonna be a tough road ahead of me.
Anyways, since I live in Canada, i thought of doing freelance work instead and try my luck there. I managed to score a position in a new company from the USA as a 3D modeler. It's been a fun experience for me since im finally able to work and put my skills to some use and at the same time work at the comfort of my own home with the extra benefits of me not having a hard time to find some personal time to do my personal work. Although, Im recently starting to doubt the actions I've been doing the past few months working like this and not getting paid up-front since they only give out a profit sharing plan and will only start to give you an invoice once the project launches. Of course, who am I to whine since I AM just currently a fresh meat in the industry and still has a long way to go and I do understand this myself.
Im also not trying to say that the company and the people im working with are horrible, in fact, they are all really nice and pleasant to work with. And, the company appears to be very professional since they themselves hand out legit contracts to sign and even provide workshops, tutorials, and guidance to us if we are having trouble with our projects. But, no matter how much I say that I love the work, the thought of money and getting paid once this is finished keeps going inside my head. Especially since the game is almost ready to launch for January. And I do understand how this works, if the project flops the pay won't be as any good but if it does well then all the hard work is going to pay off. I really don't mind if the pay ends up being little since I find this road quite fun and exciting for me but just the thought of relying on the support of my parents forever scares me. I can't live off them forever and at the same time I do want to help them in helping them to pay off debt, rent, food, and whatever else because to me, family is everything. But at the same time I want to master my craft, but in the current society we live in its impossible without money.
I guess I just want to ask the people who have worked in the same kind of scenario at some point in their life and hear their thoughts and past experiences with this. Like, is this profit sharing thing going to be real? is the invoice going to be real? its not something like the cheque would just go straight to a 401k-thingy? am I just wasting my time and its time to move on? again, am i really gonna get paid since they are on the other side of the map? am I really gonna land a good job if i just dedicate myself and beautify my portfolio? how long is it gonna take for me to atleast land a regular job? should i just keep doing the thing that makes me happy? am i just holding on to some false dreams and its time to wake up? or am i just overthinking things?
I guess I just want some closure especially in this tough time im currently experiencing and it just keeps getting harder with all this overthinking happening inside my head. I do really love working as an artist especially in this industry and hope to continue working in it as long as possible but I never knew that the path of an artist is going to be a lonely one.
Anyways, before this gets too much dramatic, I'd like to hear some advice from other artists! ^^
I recently graduated with a degree in design while majoring in 3D and chose the path as a 3D artist. I've tried my luck in applying for a job but almost all the studios i have tried applying are only looking for experienced artists and saying i dont have enough experience to work with. It went on leaving me unemployed for quite awhile. With only 2years of experience under my belt as a student I do understand that its gonna be a tough road ahead of me.
Anyways, since I live in Canada, i thought of doing freelance work instead and try my luck there. I managed to score a position in a new company from the USA as a 3D modeler. It's been a fun experience for me since im finally able to work and put my skills to some use and at the same time work at the comfort of my own home with the extra benefits of me not having a hard time to find some personal time to do my personal work. Although, Im recently starting to doubt the actions I've been doing the past few months working like this and not getting paid up-front since they only give out a profit sharing plan and will only start to give you an invoice once the project launches. Of course, who am I to whine since I AM just currently a fresh meat in the industry and still has a long way to go and I do understand this myself.
Im also not trying to say that the company and the people im working with are horrible, in fact, they are all really nice and pleasant to work with. And, the company appears to be very professional since they themselves hand out legit contracts to sign and even provide workshops, tutorials, and guidance to us if we are having trouble with our projects. But, no matter how much I say that I love the work, the thought of money and getting paid once this is finished keeps going inside my head. Especially since the game is almost ready to launch for January. And I do understand how this works, if the project flops the pay won't be as any good but if it does well then all the hard work is going to pay off. I really don't mind if the pay ends up being little since I find this road quite fun and exciting for me but just the thought of relying on the support of my parents forever scares me. I can't live off them forever and at the same time I do want to help them in helping them to pay off debt, rent, food, and whatever else because to me, family is everything. But at the same time I want to master my craft, but in the current society we live in its impossible without money.
I guess I just want to ask the people who have worked in the same kind of scenario at some point in their life and hear their thoughts and past experiences with this. Like, is this profit sharing thing going to be real? is the invoice going to be real? its not something like the cheque would just go straight to a 401k-thingy? am I just wasting my time and its time to move on? again, am i really gonna get paid since they are on the other side of the map? am I really gonna land a good job if i just dedicate myself and beautify my portfolio? how long is it gonna take for me to atleast land a regular job? should i just keep doing the thing that makes me happy? am i just holding on to some false dreams and its time to wake up? or am i just overthinking things?
I guess I just want some closure especially in this tough time im currently experiencing and it just keeps getting harder with all this overthinking happening inside my head. I do really love working as an artist especially in this industry and hope to continue working in it as long as possible but I never knew that the path of an artist is going to be a lonely one.
Anyways, before this gets too much dramatic, I'd like to hear some advice from other artists! ^^
Replies
I don't suffer from existential anxiety about my work because it's simple. I get paid and the customer gets value for their money.
I think you too should always create work that has value and charge a fair price for it. It will help with your anxiety.
I was in a similar position with my last employer, which I relocated for in my final month of school, although I was actually being paid a salary at the time. There came a point where repeated promises of bonuses and royalties seemed very unlikely in the near future. You have to be a good judge of your own work and make a decision of whether putting in your valued time for a company and receiving no immediate compensation for it in your case is something you want to be doing for a (sometimes) indefinite period of time. It's a gamble. I ended up flying home a year and a half later and getting a better job at a game studio. Your time is extremely valuable and you will never be able to get it back...
You could always beef up your portfolio and try applying to studios again. Your skill has likely improved so you'll have a greater chance of landing an interview. Do you have an online portfolio? Are you willing to relocate? I am also Canadian, and I found loads of opportunities within Canada and even got a few application follow-ups from independent studios when I was still in school, but >90% of the job opportunities were outside my province.
I'll pay you Tuesday for some artwork done today.
You are investing money into this company. Not only your own money, but your parents money if they are supporting you. You are investing money into a project that you don't seem to have any confidence in. Would you pay this company X.xx$ a week to fund this project- X.xx$ = a junior rate times the amount of hours you spend working for them (20$ x 35 hours 700$ a week). Of course you wouldn't. If you had that money you would be using it to pay your bills.
Concentrate on your portfolio. You get it up to spec, and you should have no problem finding a freelance position that pays you for your time.
http://polycount.com/discussion/89972/getting-into-the-game-industry-inspiration-of-a-different-kind/p1
it simply dosnt, im not even gonna consider that that they might be tricking you, look at it this way: first of the project you work on needs to be completed and published, which can take up to years. so are you gonna work for free for that long? secondly, its not guaranteed the project your working on will even be completed or published. and even if it does, who knows if it even makes any money? even if they do, how much is your percentage? how much will the project need to earn for you to even get any money out of it? usually most contract says the company needs to break even before they pay out revenue. so unless the game goes viral (which you should absolutely not count on) your pretty much working for free.
thats okay though, working for free is totally fine, if thats what you want, but it sounds to you like thats not the case.
This is something a teacher said to me a long time ago, you take on work for 3 reasons:
1 - you get real exposure for what you do, that can help you in the future.
2 - your learning something that can help you in your future career (note, something you could not have learned on your own in that same time).
3 - you get paid real money, so you can eat and pay rent and other adult shit.
if your getting either of those out of your project and you feel happy, thats good. If you dont feel fulfilled with what you do, and you think there are other options to get a better deal at at those three reasons, you tell that to the company, work something out, or leave.
early in your career its fine to aim for 1 and 2. but later on you should almost exclusively do work for option 3.
But be careful about the promises of "exposure." Unless the opportunity was absolutely amazing I would use caution when those terms are used. I was once offered payment in the form of "networking opportunities." I scoffed behind the safety of my monitor, declined, and moved on. This sort of thing doesn't happen in any other industry; and whether you think so or not, the whole idea of not paying you money for your services is unprofessional, disrespectful, and insulting.
You should be looking for clients who will be as professional as you are trying to be. Those are the people you will want to maintain relationships with, people who will return to you with more work, or pass your name along to their contacts for other opportunities. This can happen through unpaid work opportunities too, but you shouldn't be wasting all your time trying to gain clients for free. Avoid the ones who only take free work, promise rev share, or try to haggle your prices down below your lowest rate (your rate should be a calculation based on cost of living, taxes, etc. so going any lower means you're losing money / not making your overhead costs)
For your particular predicament, depending on how you feel about the company you are working for, you could always have a talk with your boss and tell him you need to start getting paid or you will need to move on to other opportunities that will pay the bills. Don't let them continue to dangle the carrot by saying "January is almost here" either, I've seen other freelancers get hooked into that and they just keep getting lied to as the forecasts get pushed further back.
Even if you don't have any backup gig after getting out, you'll have all that extra time to look for other leads and work on your portfolio. It's not like you'll be losing any money, right