Comps, how important are they?
polygon
In a medium to large studio, how much, if any comp work would a lower level prop artist be expected to do?
im sure it depends on the lead and the project and all that, but does anyone have any experiences to share on this topic that may give me some ball park idea?
i figure i may want to start this early on as i am right now pretty inexperienced.
also, how do you go about estimating how long a task will take you? it seems like to me every time i try to guess it takes me 10x longer. perhaps its just b/c i have sooooo much to learn?
im sure it depends on the lead and the project and all that, but does anyone have any experiences to share on this topic that may give me some ball park idea?
i figure i may want to start this early on as i am right now pretty inexperienced.
also, how do you go about estimating how long a task will take you? it seems like to me every time i try to guess it takes me 10x longer. perhaps its just b/c i have sooooo much to learn?
Replies
What is this comp work btw? I'm not a proffesional so probably I can't answer that question but I'd like to know what it is
My guess is he means "compensatory" work. In other words overtime.
And this really really depends on the studio. Some studios do a lot. Some do very little. It can vary from going home every night and every weekend to virtually living at the studio. There's no overall rule. Usually overtime is towards the end of a project and near a milestone.
But as i have no fucking clue as to what you were really asking i really cant help.
Even if it's off topic, for me, competition is pretty important to my motivation, though not necessarily for the competitive aspect, more for the community collaboration aspect.
Oh yea and if your estimates are consistently 10x off, then just multiply them by 10 each time.
but if what he meant is compensatory, I would say just do what you are confortable doing, some ppl do overtime ALL the time, because they dont mind and think they will get a good benefit out of it (many juniors or 1st projects at the company) but they do get some sort of experience benefit, not cash really... do not do this for cash..
some do overtime because they feel they work slowly compred to others...
Personally I just do OT when absolutely needed and im sure I will get compensated time in return... feel I need the time home to get my batteries charged up to go full speed on another 8 hour day.
but do not encourage companies not paying you for overtime, its drains ppl out, affect their personnal lives and most of all makes a lot of stress which isnt good for creativity
my 2 cents
Hahaha, yep
Or curry, in England anyway.
i meant, comprehensive.... you know, when you make a quick sketch of an asset before you go and spend a bunch of time on it, or color comps? you guys are messing with me right? just kinda hammering out what it will look like "quickly" on paper before going into your 3d suite.
i know in some studios your 2d guys are gona supply you with most of what you need, but i was just wondering b/c i was always told to do comps first then start modeling etc.
lol "computer work"... really? lol, thanks guys....
as far as overtrime, il take the pizza since thats what i would buy with the money!
Anyway probably not too important! Most places medium -> large places are not going to expect that, afaik. But learn to draw really well anyway, if you've got the time, because you're an artist and that's just what we do.
oh ok, i think my roots are showing. sorry, went to art school for advertising before i got into 3d. lol oh well, so now that we now wth im talking about.....
my buddy tells me i need not worry about it as i can just ask for it from the people who are paid to do nothing but that and are probably better at it then me anyway, whew.
You should probably tell us what you meant
You should learn to draw anyway!
snide comment redacted, whoops :x
I find it easiest to get take images of my reference, throw them together in Photoshop and fit them all together into one cohesive piece. Rarely do I just draw concepts from scratch unless they are just basic shapes.
dign ding ding!
yeah this is what im looking for, all my school projects had to be drawn out before i started modeling. so, im gona keep on keepin on and try to do my best to sketch and color things quickly to get the feel right.
SupRore, i love to draw so i most certainly will continue!
thanks guys. i guess its not as important as i may have thought as it seems most dont do it, but it really helps me save time and communicate the idea before i get to far in to want to start over.
What is more likely to be required is working from quite nonspecific concepts or photo refs. You may have a number of paintings from the concept artist that have the suggestions of the types of props that are in the environment -- bins, signs, crates, etc. Maybe the concept artist only had the time to suggest the shapes and of the props and they're not the sorts of things that exist precisely in real life-- your job will be to elaborate on their intent and make something that fits the environment. Creating something good from crappy photo reference (i.e., only one or two angles, low resolution, etc) is also a valuable skill. If you can do this well, you will be a very valuable artist indeed.
As for time estimations, it is fairly important for production to have an accurate idea of how long a given task will take so that they can decide what needs to get done and ship your game on time. The safest thing is to overestimate somewhat to begin with and pare back when you get a better idea of what's what. People don't expect a brand new junior to be totally perfect, but it shouldnt' take you long to learn expectations and find your feet. This was a problem for me when I first started out, but it wasn't long before I got my head around it.