Am I doing something wrong? Others with little skill who have jobs in the industry
polycounter lvl 4
So for most people that I see who work in the industry they are pretty damn skilled, however, every now and then I notice someone who has like literally no skill that say they work at some big/semi big studio. I'm currently looking for a job and haven't had any success. I don't even know if recruiters actually look at my work cause I just get generic rejection letters like 2 months after applying. For the most part I've thought I just need to get better at art. But I've met a few people now where I go back and look at their portfolio and it looks like they literally have been doing 3D stuff for like 3 months and yet they work at some studio that I've applied to multiple times. And this isn't just being negative about others and elevating my own work above theirs. I've literally seen some blobby sculpts with no detail and childish anatomy while saying on their linkedin page they work for a mid size studio. I should also note some of these are more traditional vfx/film studios.
So I don't want to be all negative about it but I have to wonder am I doing something wrong? Is it just a lucky few who have the right connections? Do I not stand a chance if I don't have the right connections?
Anyways I don't mean to demean anyone, like I said at the start pretty much everyone is incredibly talented and I'm happy for those I'm criticizing that they have jobs. Who knows maybe I just suck more than I know
So I don't want to be all negative about it but I have to wonder am I doing something wrong? Is it just a lucky few who have the right connections? Do I not stand a chance if I don't have the right connections?
Anyways I don't mean to demean anyone, like I said at the start pretty much everyone is incredibly talented and I'm happy for those I'm criticizing that they have jobs. Who knows maybe I just suck more than I know
Replies
Where do you feel like you're at right now? Are you done with uni? Transitioning between careers?
@TeriyakiStyle I'm not trying to focus on others I just had to wonder if maybe there was a smarter way to approach getting my foot in the door because evidently others have gotten in quicker than I.
@sacboi I know that connections obviously help. I guess my question is, is it essential? Is it possible to get a job without knowing someone in the industry?
As advised, f**k it. Forget about it. Concentrate on your own portfolio. Learn Max or Maya. You might be getting overlooked because you're using Blender and a studio is going to have to train you up on Max/Maya(as 9/10 that's a requirement) As it is you haven't reached a level that a studio will overlook that and invest time in training you up when there's another 10 people at a similar level but with proficiency in Max/Maya.
Also, on your portfolio, fill it up with relevance. You're advertising yourself as an environment artist but you have 1 or 2 props, no environments, a gun, and a character. Focus your folio.
I like the hand-painted cart. It's a solid prop to display.
The gun shows potential but doesn't hold up under scrutiny, and shows that you might not have polished your fundamentals. The texturing of the gun is a clear sign that you're on the 'substance painter texturing wave' - slap on a default material/edge wear mask and some random dirt/grime. This just shows that your texturing fundamentals are weak.
Hope this helps. Just keep honing your skills. If you have the drive you'll get there. You're only 21 ffs. You have plenty of time.
That hand-painted cart was like the easiest thing I've ever done. Why is it that the quickest and easiest things end up turning out the best and the ones you spent the most time on and can't bear to axe are the worst?
I see a lot of people having some art posted on their portfolios and then sitting in the dark waiting for someone to knock knock their door with a job offer. That mostly never happens. You should also engage the communities while frequently doing new and better work. I personally have had lots of job offers from well known companies while having zero connections there, and I've always refused them due to being busy with personal things but point being, for the most part I think that's because I try to stay very active in what I'm doing even though I have no intention to end up getting employed somewhere. Also from my experience recruiters tend to reach the guy whose work is unique to himself / not similar to the rest of the artists. My work isn't that good, but I think it's unique to myself and that's why I regularly get job offers from here and there. I hope that helps.
Edit: Use Artstation. That's where most job offers come from.
Haven't slept for a whole night, I apologize if what I said doesn't make any sense.
So you questioned how these artists with less skill got into the industry. So yep it can be connections as others have stated. Although I've also found it can just be applying to absolutely everything out there. I have known people who do this and it still takes them a year or two but they manage to get a role eventually. But this is with them literally spending all their free time and weekends applying for jobs. It is a lot of work as it's a lot of contacting recruiters, emailing companies who don't have job adverts up, going to networking events and quizzing people about any job available and constantly going through job boards. Although the time spent intensely job hunting takes away from the time you could spend on your portfolio and getting yourself to the level where you don't need to job hunt as hard.
I agree that you should make some environments for your portfolio as that is what an employer is looking for when you apply to environment art positions. They don't count props towards this a lot of the time.
You have no choice but to be you. If you are not super sociable, and don't have amazing connections, you should focus on having demonstrable skills. It's not a terrible situation to be in. It's nice to actually be good at your job, as opposed to knowing that you are a bit of an impostor.
The reality is that the game industry has a big oversupply of people trying to get hired. No matter who you are, it might be tough to get and keep jobs in this day and age. The jobs that are easy to get tend to suck, of course (e.g. service industry drone).
It doesn't seem like you are doing anything wrong. You are simply being observant. Good for you.
As stated earlier, it is possible that your using blender could be an issue for many studios.
Get 3ds Max its out there. (free for students too)
And your portfolio would have to be more specific for what your applying for (atleast when you've made applications)
I would not consider getting a foot in the door (job) as a measure of who you are as an artist and a person. In some cases maybe, but people get jobs for various reasons/companies hire for various reasons.
Also remember that while there are people that can get jobs because of reasons that have little to do with their portfolio or skill, these are the first people to either be laid off or quit the studio because they can't keep up, or remain anchored to entry level positions the rest of their careers.
Latter is definitely not a good place to be, but many "artists" do join game companies because of the bragging rights and fan factor and find it difficult to keep up once on the inside. (Of course no one brings this up for fear of losing the job)
One classic case is a character artist with a good reel but terrible speed and versatility because of insufficient practice and limited styles. They might be character artists but their job is making props (bags, belts, boots) for the characters made by other artists. Relevant to their skill level but possibly not what they signed up for.
Keep up the practice! Your unwrapping particularly shows a high level of packing precision!
I'd say your characters were pretty good, I would make some changes to the facial anatomy, proportioning and rendering in some cases.
Your sculpture of the earth elemental sprite is my favorite!
Yes, sometimes it is a combination of contacts and timing that land people a job. In that case, there isn't much you can do about that outside of networking. But your portfolio you can address.
I agree with everyone else that your weapon is your best piece.
Your beyond human street props are weaker and bring your portfolio down.
Your "Hogsmid" cart shows excellent promise from a hand painted perspective. However, looking at your UV map I see a lot of inefficiencies. I think a lot of the smaller pieces that are painted identical could have been overlapped.
But here's the thing, your have two styles going in your portfolio. I'd recommend pick a direction (real vs stylized and focus on that)
Keep at it. Focus on yourself and your work and you'll get there.
I'm gonna make an example from what I've seen personally.
let's say a big game studio in montreal wants to hire 40 modeler. Of course they want 40 very good modeler. But you know, most of the good people have jobs. So they might actually find 5 very good modeler that are willing to change job. What do you do to get the 35 other people? Maybe someone might know some juniors, because they are their students or are friends, maybe they will have to pick the second best interview they got. It can be so many factors It's hard to pin point a specific one.
If they fill up all the positions, and you apply a few days after that, well you just had bad timing.
It's just life. You can't focus on this. Just focus on how you can get a job. Not how others get jobs. Otherwise it's just jealousy and jealousy won't feed you and pay your rent
Do you only apply to big studios? Did you try smaller places? Doing maybe a bit more generalist job? Freelance for indie games ? There is so many options.
My GF is an animator and had the same problem for over a year and a 1/2. She worked grocery stores and call center. She would apply everywhere and get rejected. She kept working, applying repeatedly, did online classes, redid her demo completely 2 or 3 times. At some point she went to a VFX conference and met a recruiter. She didn't even want to go at first, I had to convince her. Well good thing she did because they talked a bit, they had a good connection and she hired her. It was just timing and hard work. But it wasn't an animator job. It was some entry level layout job. Once she was in, she made friend with animators, eventually was able to work on a few shots, then she landed another job as animator. Just shows you that someone who really wants to succeed can succeed.
@Maximum-Dev made a very solid statement too.
You see, sometime what someone likes to do on it's personal time isn't relevant to what someone can do on the job. Maybe when they got their job they showed past professional work that isn't available to the public or under NDA, and all you see is their personal work and you don't understand. Maybe though, these people really are very bad. But they won't stay at the studio for long, maybe someone took a chance and they will eventually realize it wasn't a good idea. Bad employees don't stick.
Maybe you just don't see the beauty of things the same way these people do too.
For exemple this is something I've done on my free time. Is it going to land me a job ? Probably not. At least it shows my personality though.
But that's why I've got this demoreel. I don't want to do realism at home. When I work 8h+ a day on something I don't want to do this same thing at home. I want to have fun.
I've known a bunch of people who had very shitty personal portfolio, to my taste, but what they can make within a team is just amazing. Maybe you just need to open you mind a bit ?
When I click on your website, you have 3 assets. Nothing stand out, but it looks good and could be enough to earn you a job. Just keep working, create more work, keep applying, keep getting rejected and at some point someone will see your potential and hire you.
Being rejected is part of the job research process. I've been rejected on probably 90% of my application to studios, and yet was able to work on blockbusters. Don't give up, forget other people, and focus on yourself
[Edit] Just realized this thread is a month old. But hey, if it can help someone with the same problem that stumbles on it, why not.
Quality of work isnt always what matters. I've had good portfolios come in but there's spelling mistakes in the cover letter or bad grammar, or a quick facebook stalk has revealed the person isn't who they say they are.