Asset Creation Speed
Hi guys,
We're always working with freelancers on our project. The speed isn't really up to my taste (not to devalue their work). For example in case of weapons we usually get 2 weapons done per month. (that is if they work full time).
I personally don't have any experience with having hired an AAA artist to work full time in-house so I wanted to check with you and figure out how much we'll gain on speed if we do that. i.e how many typical weapons can an AAA weapon artist get done in a month?
Thanks in advance.
Ali
We're always working with freelancers on our project. The speed isn't really up to my taste (not to devalue their work). For example in case of weapons we usually get 2 weapons done per month. (that is if they work full time).
I personally don't have any experience with having hired an AAA artist to work full time in-house so I wanted to check with you and figure out how much we'll gain on speed if we do that. i.e how many typical weapons can an AAA weapon artist get done in a month?
Thanks in advance.
Ali
Replies
How complex are the weapons?
Are they historical or modern weapons?
Is customization supported? If so, to what level?
Do internals need to be built?
Do UVs need to be built in a particular way?
Do you need a second UV set on the model?
Separate first and third person models?
About what polycount is being targeted?
How much time is spent ensuring the blockout looks good in first person?
How does the rigging and animation process work?
Do you have a texturing pipeline in place?
All of these can quickly add time to the asset creation process. 1 weapon in 2 weeks could be a great speed. It's hard to just give a blanket yes or no statement to your question without more information.
Moderate complexity
WW2 era
No customization
No internals
Nothing particular about UVs
No second UV
No separate first and third person models
Our M1 Trench Gun is 7200 tris - Generally around there
Almost no time spent on ensuring it looks good in first person
Rigging and animation is handled by an animator
Standard texturing workflow (Using quixel or substance painter) and no special setup
Even if you cut it down to 7 days, that's still only 3 per month while risking quality and burning your animator(s) out in the process.
Of course a simple pistol may take less time than a rifle or LMG.
To add: As soon as polycount, texture size, complexity, etc goes up, time can add on fairly quickly. For example, going from 2k to 4k can be a pretty big headache. Saves take longer, exports take longer, etc. If you do bring someone in house, you may be able to save on texture time by setting up a good material library in Painter which can be re-used from asset to asset.
2 weeks is maximum - this would be an outsourced hero asset. i'd be looking at 7 days at most really for an average model.
8 hours blockout / rapid back and forth iteration between client and you (ensuring that everything will work and work will not have to be redone when you find out at the end)
16 hours of proper modelling/unwrapping,
16 hours texturing.
There's a full 40 hour work-week for a single average model. That's actually a lot! But I'd settle for it. Double for hero asset, I guess.
This doesn't mean all assets take that long though, but as a guide i think its fair enough to both sides.
In future be sure to iron this out before they start work, there should be a section of the contract that stipulates time requirements!
Speed when modelling guns is also a lot up to how finnicky you want to be with exact detailing tbh. Takes longer to sit and nag over correct rivet placement on a ww1 gun than it takes to model half a scifi rifle depending on how annoying your art director is
Very hard to make estimates on guns imho, since they are often so dependant on interaction with other disciplines. Just making a mesh doesnt take very long though.
My estimation is 3 weapons per month with really full time work .
So if you are working on some nice FPS 2 guns per month is quite good speed.