Art Tests

3devo

ok, long time lurker first time poster so be gentle.
i was lurking round the net today and i came across this.

I've only been to a few game devs site in my day but this is the first i've seen present an art test strait off the bat (as well as normal C.V. and reel requirements).

So i immediately thought, perhaps this is something i can use to sharpen my skills(i,e working within given restraints, to a commercial Quality).

So i'm going to collect and post as many as i can, in the hope that someone else will also find this useful. Feel free to post any that you find here as well.

I'm thinking particulary of environment art but any will do.

stimpack

Ive seen that before, and thought it a great idea. If the person is interested they can take the test and send it in with there portfolio. On the flip side, it does give the person all the time in the world to complete it. sooooo not really sure its a very accurate tool in judging someones ability to hit a artistic deadline and still meet quality standards. Perhapse this is just used to judge someones true interest? This deffinately will eleminate people from just spamming there inbox with resumes and portfolios that they mailed out to 15 other companies in that sitting.

Filbot

Ive been toying around that art test for a bit this week. Trying to push the concept a bit to produce something a tad more interesting. I see the concept art the guys at Splash Damage provided as a very rough / lose guideline to follow. Currently I've compiled a fair amount of reference images to add some character to the environment. Starting modeling a few pieces earlier this week. I'd be more than happy to bounce some ideas / work together to give feedback / criticism with you over the next couple of weeks. Right now I plan on building all the assets for UT3 and creating the final environment in UT.

joe gracey

http://www.boanergesstudios.com/careers.php

http://www.bizarrecreations.com/jobs/environment_modeller.php

TheWinterLord

stimpack wrote: »

On the flip side, it does give the person all the time in the world to complete it. sooooo not really sure its a very accurate tool in judging someones ability to hit a artistic deadline and still meet quality standards.

They will ask you about it in the interview, how long did it take you to create this scene? If your answer is one month theyl probably not be happy about it.

If you decide to change the concept and then send it in I think it will be a insta failure unless u made something super cool.


Oh the one month im not sure how long it should take to make it but if they feel it took to much time they will question why.

These are my ideas, I havent done the test or even been there. (so things can be different)

3devo

ok have been scanning all the games companies websites i can think of. Not much luck so far. Just the one already posted and another from splash damage so far.

http://www.splashdamage.com/envarttest
http://www.splashdamage.com/3darttest

Stimpack- yeah i know what your talking about. Definately would have to be another test further along to gauge speed/quality as part of the recruitment process.

Filbot- no worries, if you need to bounce ideas/get feed back just P.M Me .Not sure if i can help
probably be a few days before i get a chance to start myself.

joe gracy- thanks, thats the kind of stuff i'm talking about. gives good perspective on the way different studios work and/or quality targets. also following them will be good practice.

TheWinterLord - yep, too true. one of the reasons that practicing on these will give you good perspective on your skill level

3devo

Some More Art Tests

http://www.nlgames.com/Art_Test/
http://www.play.net/hj/info/apply/texture_map.asp
http://www.play.net/images/corporate/Simu3Dtest.jpg

will add more if i find them, will check periodically.

JO420

Its a good way to practice your environment work as well as your speed. Good thing about this test it gives you a good bit of creative freedom with the overall look of it.

Ged

good idea, Id like to have a go at a few of these, Im pretty sure Im getting close to being able to make the kind of game quality stuff Ive always wanted to, but this should allow me to test myself further.

JO420

One piece of advice i can give you guys when you do these types of art test (if youve never had an industry job) is to keep your work nice and organized,especially your psd's. One aspect of being an artist in this industry many of us learn after we get a job is changing work you have done in an asset and in a speedy fashion. Myself i work with alot of layers in photoshop as well as groups. I name all of the layers and what they specifically do as well as organise different elements of a texture into groups with layers in the group which related to the group. For instance i divide a diffuse into 3 groups.

Base: Which place the base image of a diffuse.

Overlays:which i have all overlays,highlights,etc

Light:which i add the AO map and any other sort of shadow work

In the same PSD ill have similar groups for my normal and spec maps.

In the past i didnt organise my work at all and when i first had an Art Direrctor come up to me and request work changes i kinda freaked because i had to redo a ton of work that could have been easier to change if i organised my PSD better.

Another advantage of good psd organisation is being able to make variants to a texture/normal/spec real fast. When i get a request for a variant i can easily go in the psd,stip all of the uneeded elements real fast and have a variant finished within an hour or two depending on the complexity of the variant texture. Also you can strip elements of an old texture like bases and overlays to make new textures as well. When you have strict time contraints on work it helps alot. I currently have an average of 2 hours time per texture from scrtach to finish and having a good orginasation system helps to work in the proper speed that i need to.

And if you are required to turn in a PSD for an art test showing good organisation will get you some brownie points as well because it shows you have good work structure and if someone else has to change your work its much easier if you have it all nice and tidy in the PSD.

Well cheers and good luck with those art test.

Kawe

These are interesting indeed. If I were a little bit more confident I'd give them a try.. looks mighty fun

J Randall

Kawe, just do it, post here get crits, get better, go for it man.

Cryocat

I think that comment about the art test not being effective as you have a large amount of time to complete it might not be entirely accurate. I've noticed splash damage changes their art tests over time to different concepts, though they still leave them up there for far longer than one would have with a typical art test.

3devo

Found another this one looks hard (no visual refs)

http://www.torus.com.au/index.php?page=artTest