Art Production Houses, what are they like?

Spock

As an aspiring game artist, I've recently been looking at a lot of companies that do nothing but art work, for other peoples games.

I was wondering if anyone has worked in/with such companies, and if so, whats it like working for one?

Is it like a sweap shop of the Digital world, or a dream come true for poly heads like ourselves?

~Matt

Mark Dygert

It really depends on the place. I've heard horror stories and then I've also heard great things, often about the same place. I'm left scratching my head.

I think the best thing to do would be go in with your eyes open assume the place is a sweat shop and be surprised when its not.

If they are open to it, freelance from home.

Cybroxide

I think the greatest advantages of working at an art outsourcing house are being able to work on a great variety of different styles and constraints ie (next gen, previous gen, handheld, realistic, stylized etc) in a short amount of time and you are constantly being pushed to learn new techniques because almost every company wants you to build assets that will hamonize with their pipeline.
There are often tight deadlines though, so you have to be able to deliver a great looking asset in a very short time. OR ELSE!

I'm sure this varys from company to company but this has been my expierence.

Spock

Thanks, both of you. I figured tight deadlines would be a certainty, but I am excited by the possibility of getting a lot of good stuff I could put in a portfolio. I hadn't considered the possibility of freelancing for such a company either. Thats certainly something I'll check out when the time comes!

stimpack

Doin freelance from home is nice, but you have to be able to discipline yourself to draw a line between your personal life and your work life. I have trouble doing that, so i wind up spending all day every day working, or ill blow off work. I cant balance the two very well, so a studio job is ideal for me. doing a structured 8-5 or what ever is much easier on me than coming home at 10pm and finding out my asset was approved and i gota do a quick texture job for the morning turn in....

It is true tho, you will learn alot of new techniques, and styles! In that respect, its been alot of fun doing freelance.

Rhinokey

i worked at liquid dev for a couple years, one at home, and one in house. i liked at home, and when in house i loved living in portland, but some of the people there are really hard to work for.. totaly full of themselves. if you chose them watch out.

it was nice just making art, tho frustrating having to swap specs and file formats and naming conventions every day or so to work for seperate companys,.

Eric Chadwick

I worked for Mondo Media for 9 years, and it was awesome working with so many different game developers. We got to work on a lot of cool projects, got to know a lot of people, got to try out many different styles.

I liked the constant change, but we also got some longer projects in there too.

I think it's a great way to work with some really talented people, since you can't make it in that environment unless you're doing consistently great work, there's no parachute.

JO420

I worked for an outsourcing company which i shall keep unamed outside of the U.S. Positives was that i got to work with alot of cool people from all over the world,i got to improve quite alot as an artist and got to work on two really good titles.

Negatives,i was never working legally in the country where this company was based,i was basically underpaid and paid under the table. I had a fateful run in one night with a person who worked at the tax office in this country and found out if i was caught i was going to face serious penalties which would effect my wallet,my career and ability to work/travel outside of the U.S in the EU. So i resigned the from the company and left the job and the country.

My advice research any company you might plan to work with as much as possible. My experiences had its positives but the negatives could have seriously bit me in the ass.

TWilson

For a first job I would definitely recommend an in-house game studio job. That's where you'll learn how to make games and the art that works with them. As a freelancer you're just making bits of art and it's difficult to impossible to understand their actual effect and implementation in a game.

Working freelance is a fine way to make some money when you're not in a studio. I'm freelance right now and I dig it... for now. Just about time to rent some office space or join a studio again though. Working from home is not easy.

Spock

Thanks for all the info guys. Gives me a lot to think about indeed!