Level of skill required for Junior
Hi there,
I'm currently having a bit of a mid-life crisis... about 25 years too early, and am looking for a bit of a career change.
I currently work as an assistant for an Architectural practice doing visualisations and helping with some CAD work. While it's been good experience, my interest in CG has always leaned more towards games or animation.
I'm somewhat of a creative, always sketched, painted and drawn since I was a kid, and I suppose the 'limitations' of Arch-Viz have always frustrated me, creating sterile reproductions of Architects plans, with a constant strive for the most real looking images kind of defeats my idea of what CG is about. I don't mean to offend those working in Arch-Viz, because there are plenty of fantastically talented people in the industry, but I just want to unleash my creativity a little more and feel that the gaming industry might be a better outlet.
Aside from this, the current economic climate (whether it's improving or not) is not exactly doing wonders for the construction industry, and therefore those linked to it. I've found myself with a little more free time than usual and have been developing my skills outside of Architectural renders by working on character and environment creation.
I've done character work in my spare time since I started working in 3D but never geared towards games, so I'm learning the kind of workflows and considerations for CG in the gaming genre. I've started looking into the Unreal engine and plan to use that as a bit of practice area for creating assets and environments. I've also just downloaded the Marmoset engine and while I haven't done much more than drop a few basic models in, I'm loving it's results.
The more I work with game art in mind, the more I'm enjoying it, I love the balance of creativity, while sticking within limitations like poly budgets and thinking about animation considerations, deformations and texture distortion etc. On top of all of this, going from a sketch of a character, to concepts, to models, through to animation is a rewarding process.
So while it may be a little way off yet, I'm just wondering what kind of level of skill I should be looking to achieve to enter the industry at Junior level.
I'm fortunate enough to live very close to at least 3 good game studios, all of which recruit artists and animators on a seemingly regular basis.
I've had a look through their requirements and expectations but haven't found much for people at Junior level.
Realistically, what kind of level of work do studios expect from a 'Junior'? I get the impression that it still requires a high level of skill, although having seen the necessary skills for a 'regular' artist, which don't seem that out of reach, I'm not sure just how skilled a junior should be.
I know it's a difficult question to answer, but it would be good to hear the opinions of some of those working in the industry.
Many thanks
I'm currently having a bit of a mid-life crisis... about 25 years too early, and am looking for a bit of a career change.
I currently work as an assistant for an Architectural practice doing visualisations and helping with some CAD work. While it's been good experience, my interest in CG has always leaned more towards games or animation.
I'm somewhat of a creative, always sketched, painted and drawn since I was a kid, and I suppose the 'limitations' of Arch-Viz have always frustrated me, creating sterile reproductions of Architects plans, with a constant strive for the most real looking images kind of defeats my idea of what CG is about. I don't mean to offend those working in Arch-Viz, because there are plenty of fantastically talented people in the industry, but I just want to unleash my creativity a little more and feel that the gaming industry might be a better outlet.
Aside from this, the current economic climate (whether it's improving or not) is not exactly doing wonders for the construction industry, and therefore those linked to it. I've found myself with a little more free time than usual and have been developing my skills outside of Architectural renders by working on character and environment creation.
I've done character work in my spare time since I started working in 3D but never geared towards games, so I'm learning the kind of workflows and considerations for CG in the gaming genre. I've started looking into the Unreal engine and plan to use that as a bit of practice area for creating assets and environments. I've also just downloaded the Marmoset engine and while I haven't done much more than drop a few basic models in, I'm loving it's results.
The more I work with game art in mind, the more I'm enjoying it, I love the balance of creativity, while sticking within limitations like poly budgets and thinking about animation considerations, deformations and texture distortion etc. On top of all of this, going from a sketch of a character, to concepts, to models, through to animation is a rewarding process.
So while it may be a little way off yet, I'm just wondering what kind of level of skill I should be looking to achieve to enter the industry at Junior level.
I'm fortunate enough to live very close to at least 3 good game studios, all of which recruit artists and animators on a seemingly regular basis.
I've had a look through their requirements and expectations but haven't found much for people at Junior level.
Realistically, what kind of level of work do studios expect from a 'Junior'? I get the impression that it still requires a high level of skill, although having seen the necessary skills for a 'regular' artist, which don't seem that out of reach, I'm not sure just how skilled a junior should be.
I know it's a difficult question to answer, but it would be good to hear the opinions of some of those working in the industry.
Many thanks
Replies
Can't really answer "what level you should be at" since its hard to define a "level". But you can look at my portfolio to use that as a example that is "not good enough"
Oh yea timing is also very important, alot of the times studios just arent looking for an artist even if you are suitable. However if you were exceptionally good I believe you will stand a much higher chance getting a job quicker regardless of whether a studio is actively seeking an artist at that time.
You could post some of your work over in P&P and then people could critique your work and get an idea of your skill level and maybe offer some better advice.
But don't let that get you too down, this is a profession that can be largely self taught. I'd suggest competing in the upcoming unearthly challenge and challenges after that. Great time to learn and get better. And once you're really good, you might even place. It's a great place to get some recognition and possibly even job offers. Posting in the pimping and previews is great for critiqs and learning for people of any skill level as well.
The only formal 3d training I had was a 10 week Maya animation class after I had been using Max for a couple of years. Other than that I'm self-taught/polycount-taught. If it is something you want to do you can definitely do it!
seriously, just go over there and show them some of your artwork.
if they don't think you're good enough, work on improving your skills for a year or so, then come back, and apply again.
I got rejected tons of times before I got my first job and THAT was at a serious games/viz studio. Just gotta keep improving.
Dekard's right, it's a little rough out there right now. All these years later and on my most recent and 3rd layoff, it took me 7 months and a move across the country to get another job. Good luck man, post some work.
I will definitely post some work up in the P&P section when I get some of my own work done.
While I don't like to blow my own horn as it were, I do think my intentions are in the right place when it comes to looking into breaking into the industry. Even at my level, I cringe every time I see people ask 'Which software should I learn to get a job in games', or 'OK I know Max inside out, can I have a job please'.
With this in mind, I always try to keep my creativity and ideas higher priority than my physical ability in any given software packages, because as many of you have pointed out, it's the portfolio that counts. Still on the subject of self-appreciation, I'm hoping my whole 'spend every hour of free-time developing skills' dedication might look good on my resume too since I'm not a fresh out of college graduate who thinks I'm now qualified for a job.
So I will indeed keep working, keep learning and eventually post some work up here to get some critique, and will just go for it when I feel ready, and as Dejawolf said, if it's not good enough, then I know I need to improve, and try again!
Thanks again all and I look forward to posting some work.
I just wanted to chime in and say, don't expect to find a job as a "junior artist". They really are not available atm. If you do some job searches, this becomes painfully clear, quite quickly. So your real goal should be to get a regular environment artist, prop artist, or whatever your specialty is type of position.
Enough talk, let see some work from you already!
Sr comes with seniority and a raise or two. It also denotes you have some shipped titles and have been production tested and not cracked or been totally turned off by the process.
Considering the number of Sr's floating around out of work its going to take a higher level then Sr to win out over people with experience.
I am in the same situation as you. Been doing Arch Vis stuff for 3 years while at home working on characters, rigging, doing environments, scenes etc so I can get into film or game industry. At the moment I am looking for work as you and mostly seeking for Junior positions too, but no luck so far. At the moment situation is tough so my plan is to get some pc technician or just some random job to get me by for a year or so and work on my skills and art in my free time.
Good luck!
The portfolio requirements are probably pretty much the same. I don't think many places would take on a sub-par artist and hope they improve, unless that is their only option.
Sr has more to do with responsibility and familiarity with how someone works than artistic skill.
If it was the army, it would be the difference between knowing the guys in your squad have your back and not being sure if the new guy is going to turn into a quivering ball or not.
A Sr can look at some crazy ass bug report from QA and know exactly whats wrong and have it fixed ASAP. A Jr would ask and probably hover over the Sr's shoulder while they fixed it.
At least that's how I understand it.