ArenaNet- Character Artist Intern
We’re ArenaNet, a studio making online worlds infused with innovation, hand-crafted excellence, and creative passion. Our passion is broadly shared; gamers made Guild Wars 2 the fastest selling MMO game in the West with more than 3 million copies sold in its first 9 months, and players and press have consistently called it one of the best MMOs of all time.
Our studio is built on foundations of excellence with a focus on community. We constantly innovate, unlocking the true potential of online role-playing with game-changing titles like Guild Wars 2 and beyond. The status quo isn’t good enough for our dedicated worldwide community of players which is why we question the de facto industry conventions and demand more from ourselves as developers.
ArenaNet is looking for a character artist intern to help out our team of dedicated and passionate artists. At ArenaNet, we’re serious about art. We’ve built an art -centric studio culture where the artist plays a vital role in game creation and presentation, and our art team is full of award-winning talent from all over the world. We created our art internship program to help develop young artists, providing them with the skills they need to be successful in the game industry. We’re looking to cultivate artists who have the raw talent, but lack one thing: work experience.
It’s our experience that artists learn more in the first few months of a game industry job than in their entire time at art school. We’ve created an immersive work-based educational program where intern artists work alongside professionals to develop real skills that are relevant and sought after in the game and entertainment industry. This isn’t a standard studio internship, where you’ll be expected to make copies or perform menial tasks for studio artists. You can’t develop your skills if you’re doing “grunt work” for a year, so expect to be challenged artistically and provided with opportunities to contribute to the success of the studio in a substantive way.
Program Features
Small cohort. Work and learn with a small group of motivated interns.
Professional environment. Hone your skills at the ArenaNet studio working side-by-side with top game industry artists in a dedicated work space.
Meaningful work. You’ll work on a variety of important art assignments that contribute to the success of the company, not “grunt” work.
Broad training, relevant skills. You’ll receive training in a broad variety of skills rather than specializing on creating specific content. We want our interns to emerge from the program as stronger all-around artists, not as experts in creating eyeballs or helmets.
Hourly stipend: You will receive a $14 per hour stipend and will work in the ArenaNet studio Monday through Friday for the duration of the year-long program.
Pacific Northwest location: Enrollees in the ArenaNet internship program will be expected to relocate to the Bellevue, WA area at their own expense. Bellevue is in the beautiful greater Seattle area, which offers a wide range of cultural and natural activities.
Interns are welcome to participate in ArenaNet University, our internal program of classes and workshops presented by experts from our studio and guest speakers from the game and entertainment fields.
The ArenaNet Internship Program is not an internship-to-hire program. We’re looking for interns who can commit to a 12-month program and 30+ hours of work per week. We’re not guaranteeing jobs to any intern in the program, but you will emerge from the program with an arsenal of professional skills, an incredible portfolio, and an invaluable experience under your belt
Our Ideal Candidate
-Self-motivated
-Well-balanced repertoire of art skills
-Has experience working with Maya, Photoshop and Zbrush
-Comfortable using the Internet and related communications technology
-Familiarity with the game industry is a plus
Requirements
-Must be available for 30+ hours a week for a 12 month duration
-Must be currently legally eligible to work within the United States (In compliance with Federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document upon hire)
Character Art Test Guidelines
-Please complete the following test before you apply. Upon completion, please apply and provide a link to your completed test either in your resume, cover letter, or send it to robin@arena.net. We do not accept Zip or Dropbox files unless they are hosted on a site as they will usually do not send properly.
-This test is required for a complete application to our Concept Art position: if you fail to complete the test, you will not be considered for this position.
Create a high resolution mesh using a package such as ZBrush, Mudbox and or Maya; email robin@arena.net for character image. Then convert the high resolution mesh to a 7500 poly low resolution mesh using a 1024 diffuse, specular, and normal map (3 maps total). Your test should demonstrate an understanding of modeling in high and low resolution, diversity in the appearance of texture using a single material. Only .jpgs from front and back side views accepted.
-7500 triangles for the entire model (don’t worry about double-sided)
-Diffuse map, normal map, specular map (grayscale), alpha map (1-bit) – each 1024 x 1024
-Optional: Reflection map mask to adjust environment reflections
-Although this is primarily a test on armor, we expect the body to be made as well. The face/head is not important and can be somewhat obscured as long as what IS visible does not seem awkward. Please remove unnecessary geometry (e.g., we only need the skin mesh where it’s actually visible).
Some criteria we’d like to see met:
-Very clean and effective normal map that shows a command for creating both organic shapes and hard edged armor
-Texture materials clearly defined (leather looks like leather, metal looks like metal, etc.)
-Artistic sense of proportion and contrast to bring out the best qualities of the armor set
-Effective combination of alpha transparency and modeling out shapes to communicate complex forms within the polygon budget
-The diffuse map should be made agnostic of specific lighting conditions, but artistic judgment in occluded shadows and general lighting to enhance the model’s presence is appreciated
-No follow-up phone calls, please. Attention to detail is a key requirement for this position, so if you’re unable to follow these instructions specifically, you will not be considered for the program. Good luck!
We offer an open and casual environment, competitive pay, and free snacks. This is a full time contract position located on-site in Bellevue, Washington. Please apply online at www.arena.net
Replies
Cheers,
ArenaNet Recruiting Team