Got a foot in the door

Sean VanGorder · Oct 2010

So I officially have a foot in the door of the industry, or at least a toe. Last week I landed a job as a 3D artist at TerraSim here in Pittsburgh, creating assets for military simulation software

I know that it might not technically be a GAME art job, but I'm extremely happy that I will get to experience a professional production environment and improve my workflow while I'm finishing up school here. I owe a big thanks to everyone on Polycount for helping me learn enough to get the job, and hopefully I can post another thread like this in a few years when I land a job at Epic

adam · Oct 2010

Hey man, great to hear it. Here's some advice now that you're pushing polys and getting paid:

Keep on building your portfolio. Use what you're learning and better your package.
Do not get cocky. You're making money for what you love to do, and I am sure you have friends or peers who would love to do this as well. The worst thing you can do is get cocky or become a know-it-all. I've seen this happen to a number of people in the past.
Be vocal. If you've ideas or direction ideas make sure you voice them, objectively. If your lead/boss/manager calls for something, then do it, but if you have ideas I am sure they'd love to hear them.
Post pics

notman · Oct 2010

Congrats... any kind of job is a good job, in this market

And like Adam said, at least you're getting paid for pushing polys

Wells · Oct 2010

adam wrote: »

Post pics

topless, preferably

*edit - also, congrats!

Rurouni Strife · Oct 2010

Congrats dude!

Purplepaint · Oct 2010

Congrats bro!

I second the topless pics!

Firebert · Oct 2010

Topless!?! I want full frontal!!!!!!

Congrats dude!
Like adam said, work on your portfolio as much as you can, but do take some time to relax.

Lamont · Oct 2010

Military sim stuff pays and can pay well, so if you're good at it, keep going, build relationships with people in the sim industry as it can lead to great contract work.

Ben Apuna · Oct 2010

Congrats! sounds like a solid job.

haikai · Oct 2010

That's pretty much how I started out as well. I admit that I learned some things in those times that helped me out in games so it wasn't a waste of time, but it did put me behind the curve when I finally made the jump. Unfortunately, I don't think most game companies see sim stuff to be relevant experience, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Good luck with it, and I hope you're able to make it to where you really want to be soon. As others have said, continue working on your portfolio on your off time. It's not always easy to bust your ass more after a full day's work, but you don't want to fall into the trap of becoming complacent because you're able to pay the bills. $:\$

tanka · Oct 2010

Congrats man!

I'm currently working in a similar job. Just remember to keep modelling outside of work, because the chances of you using military sim stuff in your portfolio is incredibly slim. (we've had the issue arise at my work)

danshewan · Oct 2010

Awesome news, Sean, well done!

What kind of work did you submit to them when you applied? Or did they give you some sort of proficiency test in addition to a portfolio submission? Quite curious, as I've been eyeing serious software companies as a potential day job when I get to the States.

BradleyWascher · Oct 2010

Hey nice job finding 3d work in Pittsburgh, I'm from Pittsburgh also and its hard to find industry work in the area. I graduated AIP about 7months ago and been working at a outdoor structures company in the city making models and trust me as much as its not the games industry its a lot better to be modeling that flipping burgers haha. Good job on the new job!

Sean VanGorder · Oct 2010

Thanks for all the kind words and advice guys, you've earned yourselves some nOOdz. I'm definitely going to keep working on my portfolio, as my main goal is still to land a job at a major game studio someday. I think working here will really improve my workflow and speed, since I'm required to produce a lot of assets in a relatively short amount of time.

danshewan - Since I'm still in school, and I got the interview on such short notice, I didn't really have a proper portfolio to show them. I pretty much just grabbed any images of my work I could find and dropped them on a disk to bring to the interview. Since my main focus of the job is modeling and creating a lot of textures, I tried to show off my skills in those areas.

I can't speak for all serious software companies, but at least for here, pretty much all the assets are very low poly and rely heavily on photo-sourced textures. They were really just looking for somebody who knew 3ds Max and Photoshop very well, and could created accurate representations of real world locations and objects. As an experienced polycounter, I'm sure you would have no trouble landing a position as an artist at a software company should you get the chance.:)