I want to work for Blizzard

Proxzee

I want this job:
http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/artist-3dcharacter-weapons.html

I want it so bad it hurts.

Here is my website:
www.jeffrey-chuang.com
I graduated from Art Center about 9 months ago
I've done a 3 month internship at Disney Interactive doing concept art
Been playing Blizzard games since Warcraft II. Been Playing World of Warcraft since Beta.

Any advice on how I can laserbeam towards that specific position and hit the mark with a critical strike?

-new pieces?
-more 3D?
-specific samples?
-resume tips?
-cover letter tips?

Timeframe: End of This Year.

Also I apologize if this thread does not belong in this section.

praetus

yeah, this will probably be moved to pimping and previewing. So, your website. First of all I don't like that I have to click to get to your art and I REALLY don't like how I have no idea what I'm going to see when I hit the buttons on the bottom. If I saw something cool, how do I find it again if I wasn't paying attention to what button I pressed for the numericals?

The art isn't bad but I think you need to make some art that fits their universe. Blizzard is a very specific art design and if you're applying there you should show you can match it. Make more characters, props, and weapons. Check out the art of Warcraft books -

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Trading-Card-Game/dp/0811861937/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220723540&sr=8-1[/ame]

I own it. It's awesome.

Proxzee

Thanks Praeteus! Ill move this thang.

edit: err...how do I move this thang?

Jeremy Lindstrom

Yes, you'll need MMMMMMMUUUUUUCHHHHH more 3d, 3d character positions have TONS of competition especially for companies like Blizzard. I'd suggest browsing these forums and check out some of the character artists that are in the industry here and if work towards their degree of modeling. I honestly don't think you'll be close to get a 3d character artist job by the end of the year unless you bust hump every day to create some awesome 3d.

http://www.pioroberson.com/
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/
http://www.bbriley.com

Start working towards that level of 3d and you may stand a chance.

nitzmoff

The answer to your question is remarkably simple- when your portfolio has a selection of low poly, 3d characters and weapons that are as good as if not better than the work you're obviously intimately familiar with from playing WoW so long (in addition to the nice 2d stuff you already have) then you're a potential candidate for the job.

You can worry about cover letters and the like after you have a much stronger 3d portfolio. If your time frame is the end of the year it's time to quit your day job and get cracking!

Proxzee

Thanks! Good thing i dont have a Day Job! Watch me work!

cholden

Create art visually indistinguishable from their product. Your portfolio currently does not reflect your desires. Find their concept art, screen shots, et cetera and make that stuff!

Without being annoying, contact developers in the positions you want and ask for feedback on your work. Present your goal, show your work, ask how you can better reach it, thank them and get to work.

Other opportunities may springboard your success. Taking long term goals into consideration; a specific skill, product shipped, networking and so on you gain from one company may be what another is looking for.

Proxzee

Thanks for the advice Cholden.

benclark

heres some inspiration for you...
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=121&t=39470

one of the coolest threads I have ever seen on tinternet. Its kinda old now but still very inspiring. Starts off saying he wants a job at Blizzard and ends with him saying he is working there

Proxzee

thanks ben! That was inspiring. I will try my very hardest.

almighty_gir

An exceptional understanding of human anatomy and a creative imagination with a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to modeling.
Superior eye for light, shade, color and detail in creating digitally painted texture maps.


i'm wondering if they finally realised how shitty all the stuff in WOW looks...

TheWinterLord

almighty_gir wrote: »

An exceptional understanding of human anatomy and a creative imagination with a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to modeling.
Superior eye for light, shade, color and detail in creating digitally painted texture maps.


i'm wondering if they finally realised how shitty all the stuff in WOW looks...

So ur saying they dont have any talent working on WOW? World of Warcraft that me and many many others think is beautiful...


Good luck with your goals Proxzee! need any help and polycount will be here! :P

Rob Galanakis

almighty_gir wrote: »

i'm wondering if they finally realised how shitty all the stuff in WOW looks...

Right. You are aware that WoW released 4 years ago and is an MMO? Look at the other MMO's released in 2004 and tell me which looks better than WoW (which I don't play, I'm just saying, your assessment is decontextualized, narrow minded, and abrasive).

http://pc.ign.com/articles/474/474754p1.html

Proxzee

wow lots of replies! I remember back when people thought EQ2 or FFXI would win over WoW. Truth is EQ2 had a higher polycount and used bump and spec maps, but they made everything look like fake plastic logs. The art direction was horrible and the concept design quite bland. FFXI had some neat designs, but was still rather stiff looking and had some intense system specs. The gameplay narrowed FFXI's audience, being a very harsh grindfest.

WoW has excellent art direction, with very stylized cartoony designs that have aged well because they are so abstract. The designs create a suspension of disbelief that allows for lower poly models, which means much more thoroughly populated environments.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

Michael Knubben

almighty_gir wrote: »

An exceptional understanding of human anatomy and a creative imagination with a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to modeling.
Superior eye for light, shade, color and detail in creating digitally painted texture maps.


i'm wondering if they finally realised how shitty all the stuff in WOW looks...

ur dumb lol

almighty_gir

you're dutch lol

nah there's a lot of great talent working on WoW. but i hate the art style as a personal opinion.

guild wars was 4 months behind btw. except it was only 2 months behind the EU release of WoW. and it looks a heap better.

i think my point is: it's an excellent goal, and i wish you all the best in achieving it.

but i don't think it's too difficult a style to achieve.

sir-knight

benclark wrote: »

heres some inspiration for you...
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=121&t=39470

one of the coolest threads I have ever seen on tinternet. Its kinda old now but still very inspiring. Starts off saying he wants a job at Blizzard and ends with him saying he is working there

art is pretty much long gone, go to his site to see more examples of this project (and others)

http://www.fausto3d.com/home.html

Proxzee

sir-knight wrote: »

art is pretty much long gone, go to his site to see more examples of this project (and others)

http://www.fausto3d.com/home.html

Yeah I followed the link to his sites. He got into the cinematic division.

e-freak

Fausto is a blast - I'd not try to compare with him. Your style is pretty nice but it seems you should be looking into concept-department as it seems you really got the hang for colors and stilistics. Blizzard has some nice guys sitting on the concepts and you'd fit well in there if you can cope with the style they are looking for (http://www.sonsofthestorm.com/).

Proxzee

Well I am doing concept are for the models I will be making...but I dont think they are hiring concept artists right now.

Mark Dygert

Professor420 wrote: »

Right. You are aware that WoW released 4 years ago and is an MMO? Look at the other MMO's released in 2004 and tell me which looks better than WoW (which I don't play, I'm just saying, your assessment is decontextualized, narrow minded, and abrasive).

http://pc.ign.com/articles/474/474754p1.html

You also have to count in the dev time. It's not like when it launched it was using 2004 technology. When any game launches its had its tech locked in for awhile. There might be a few improvements as time goes on but really when you look at WoW you're looking at a 6-8 year old game.

I also think its a smart business plan (unlike 90% of the other companies out today) to design most of their games to run on a wide range of systems to hit the largest target audience possible.

Proxzee

I heard from the podcast that they developed WoW and Frozen throne at the same time. It's crazy how old the tech is, yet because of the art direction, the game has aged quite well.

I think that what they are doing in DIII is about as good graphically as I need to enjoy a game. That level of detail would work well in Blizz's next MMO. Anything more then that would create a high level of visual static that would give people headaches. It was smart of them to not make things so high contrast in the images like fans wanted.

They look pretty neat in screenshots, but when everything is moving and you're playing a game, you have to be able to tell what things are.

For me Starcraft II looks like it's starting to tip over that edge, because I see a lot of dark black speckles, and intense highlights on the mechanical units and if you get 30 marines and Battle cruisers and zerg on the screen, all that speckling is gonna be look rough.

Another concern is grayscale hierarchy, where the ground has to be within a different value range then units. The units are at full value range, so that color has to be the main identifier for units.