Internship advice

leslievdb

Hey guys

Well around this time next year i`ll probably be able to do an internship of 4 months.
So the last few years i have been trying to gain as much knowledge on both 2d and 3d art so i would be able to decide what suits me more.

Now i`m at a point where it`s time to start working on portfolio material so i`m able to put the things i learned to use in a series of works that were given some more time and effort. (not the cheesy every student in the course has made it 3d models)

Now i would love to do an international internship as a character artist or concept artist or the ideal job taking care of the design as well as the models.
Yup, the two positions that are pretty much the least available i guess.

Now my question is what should i focus on and what quality of work should i be able to produce to have a chance to work as a character artist at an AAA game development studio or maybe a company that does outsourcing for AAA games.

I know it`s a broad question and that every company has different things that they look at but there must be some sort of overall quality to get considered as an applicant.

Also are there any tips/advice in general that you guys can give me?

The reason i ask it here is because this is about the best input i can get from pros and not waste a year doing the wrong stuff

(admins: Hope this isn`t considered blogmaterial )

aesir

as an intern you get to do the grunt work. You don't get to design and model the characters...

(in my experience)

Progg

In my internship I mostly did editor optimizations and texture work, with some asset creation. Most of the time you get cleanup work from others, even if you are qualified. It's just the nature of the position/company.

leslievdb

tnx for the comments so far guys,

So is this so with every gamestudio that you don`t even get the chance to do a bit of creative input? I mean why do they even bother trying to get the best ones out there if its all cleanup work...

crazyfingers

Finding an internships is pretty much the same deal as finding a job and the internship experience can vary wildly depending where you end up. If you want to end up somewhere worthwhile, find a company that offers internships, figure out what they're looking for and gear your portfolio towards that internship. In all honesty, in a lot of ways actually landing a job is easier than getting an internship. They're not mandatory for entry into this field and internships are fairly rare, especially if you want to do one from abroad.

My take: If you live near a company offering them while going to school, by all means do what you can to get there. If not, just work on your portfolio as if you're going for a job, because odds are you'll actually find employment before scoring an internship worth its salt and building this portfolio will also help you land an internship if that's what you're going for.

Above all, figure out what kind of art you want to do, where you want to work, and push your art like hell in that direction.

Anuxinamoon

Ravenslayer wrote: »

tnx for the comments so far guys,

So is this so with every gamestudio that you don`t even get the chance to do a bit of creative input? I mean why do they even bother trying to get the best ones out there if its all cleanup work...

Because most studios dont have the time to spare someone to teach someone engine, pipeline theme style and all that shiz to have them leave in a few weeks.

What you do get is an insight into how a team works and that is what you should be observing mostly. How team members interact and bounce off each other (and yell at each other throwing pencils and chairs)

leslievdb

tnx for the comments

crazyfingers: The reason that i have to do an internship is to get enough credits to get my diploma. ( but i want to do it to get my foot in the industry more fcourse )

Also would it be best limit myself in lets say 5 companies i would like to work at and try to make sure i have work in my portfolio that is in tune with their style of games that are in development?

Would it also be best to have a portfolio that shows nothing but character work?

Anuxinamoon: yeah i totally get that point.
And i can`t imagine what it must be like in such a big workgroup when we were already pissed of at each other after a halfyear student gameproject

samgriffiths

I think if you're applying for char art or thats what you want to be then in a perfect world have only characters. Though as I am an aspiring artist too I think it would be better if you put together a folio which shows some all around skill (environ/weapon/char), perhaps this will help you land your first gig.