Hey is there any chance of thier being a new crunch cast before the year end ? And I thought of an idea for a segment, where you guys look at the latest threads on the pimping and previews section and comment on what they could do to make thier art better,I thought it could make for some interesting conversation. I love the show keep them up!
You guys talked about money in the freelance one. Something alot of people shy away from for some reason, but alot of juniors are getting boned on salary now adays, it seems. They are just eager to get their foot in the door, or dont know their worth.
Could you guys talk about starting salaries, knowing your worth, salary negotiation, and possible strategies for asking for a raise? I hear the biggest raises come from salary negotiation between jobs. Im sure others would love to hear about this stuff too.
CrunchCast 25 Salaries and the Future
The leader Chris Holden, the manly Bryan Mcconnell, the "REAL" Jon Jones, and the hairy Jesse Sosa (who has an awesome mutant challenge entry).
You guys are cool! I listen to this every once in a while when i draw. Lots of good info -- you guys make me feel guilty for not trying harder to have a portfolio and get into the industry.
Have you guy considered compiling a list of highlight, or 'key' episodes for those of us who dont want to slag through 25 of your videos at random to find the most relevant information?
hahahah! Nice episode... Listening to it in the new year... so Happy New Year! May 2012 be "crunchier" than ever... did that sound right... dunno thinking with a massive hangover hehe
I'm loving the content of these videos. I had asked a question awhile ago about improving education outcomes, basically "how do I send you better graduates?"
I think I missed it if you guys answered it. I know you wanted Jon to be back before you answered it, but I don't think I caught it.
Hey guys, any chance you could cover the topic of relocation? Things like cost of moving, finding a place to live and other tips you may have. As a recent graduate who will be moving towards the industry soon, it would be very helpful.
Thanks for fielding my question, guys. I really appreciate it!
I would really love to integrate some type of Polycount challenge for my students. Maybe in the spring. They have a large final project that I think could jive with that type of format. Jon's point on this idea is excellent, we can work in parallel even if we don't post directly to the forum.
In response to your followup questions, I teach specifically art for games, so the focus is always about real-time assets. We touch on Unity at points too. In the final project the students create an environment and get it running in Unity so they can walk around in it.
Pat's feedback was great. These are sentiments that I will definitely try my best to convey to my students.
I actually came up with a follow-up question of my own after listening to the cast again.
What is the best advice I can give to my students that want to pursue a career in technical art? I've poked around at a few tech artist portfolios out there and they seem very diverse. The definition of that role seems to change depending on which studio you ask too.
I actually came up with a follow-up question of my own after listening to the cast again.
What is the best advice I can give to my students that want to pursue a career in technical art? I've poked around at a few tech artist portfolios out there and they seem very diverse. The definition of that role seems to change depending on which studio you ask too.
Hello CC hosts. Props for the effort and wisdom you all are dropping per episode.
When Jon recommended saving a portion of your earnings...man, I just hope student listeners will believe and accept that as gold. The rates you mentioned (I think for both freelance and salary) confirms what I expect as a freelancer.
I live in Canada (but went to a high school in Fairfax County VA, Chris) and you mentioned a cost of living calculator in one of your recent shows. Here's a salary calculator that can give you and idea how much you'll take home if you work in Canada: http://www.ees-financial.com/calculators/TakeHomePayCalculator.htm
Vancouver is in British Columbia, Montreal is in Quebec, Toronto = Ontario, original Bioware = Alberta. I'm not gonna go into politics but 75K in Vancouver is not the same as 75K in Montreal.
Super cool guys, starting to really like listening to these.
If you have any openings at illfonic, please hire me so I can come hit the heavy bag -- I don't have the space to hang one. I'll bring and share gloves!
Awesome Crunch Cast as always, love modeling and listening to you guys.
I had a poop ton of questions:
I consider each of you Senior in your abilities / experience (I know Brian is newer to the industry, but you can tell that guy busts ass and cares about what he does) and I would love to hear what key things in your professional / personal experience that has helped you progress to where you are today.
Are you one of those workers that always puts in the extra love / time to make sure the project / product your working on is that much "better"?
Do you share your ideas with your lead(s) / producer(s), try and give input on the project(s) you're working on? (Do you put personal / emotional investment into the projects you are on?)
Have you made any mis-steps / mistakes along the way that you've learned from? (could you talk about some).
And... What do you think it takes to be a "Valuable Person" within the industry?
Hopefully these haven't been asked before, if so, my bad :P And thanks again for an awesome Crunch Cast.
Awesome as always guys, I did have a question that im not sure has been brought up yet. What do you think is a good balance between working personal art and the rest of life for a student and for industry professional? I used to spend near 10-15 hours a day working on personal art but I found it had negative effects on the rest of my life.
Oooo, good one biofrost. Balance is a good topic. alot of the time i get home from work and just dont wanna work on more stuff. I use to get really down about it all too, but then I realized that I do this stuff 8 hours a day, at minimum. Im improving regardless of if i do stuff at home. When Im working on stuff i actually enjoy at work, I dont really feel a need to do stuff at home. but when its crappy stuff at work, I like to do more personal stuff. Plus juggling the g/f, bowling league, friends, swimming, games and family, spending an additional 5 hours a day on art isnt always an option.
Thanks guys for this episode. Being from Michigan I know I will eventually have to relocate..so this will be a must-listen-to again in the future when I have to relocate.
Could you talk about vfx field on a upcoming crunch cast? maybe the different types of vfx jobs out there? the job market for it like for freelance and studio jobs,Thanks
awesome cast.
You and Ryan had a pretty nice dialogue going where you actually broke down what you talked about. considering using this as a "video game art 101" video for anyone who doesnt understand what goes into games.
Keep it up
Just adding some info re: US banking while in Canada like what Ryan was sharing in #28
There's an option for a US dollar account for at least one Canadian bank that I know of (TD, I think it's now like an American-Canadian bank) . And you can just do an international transfer online from same account to your American account if you want (plus some fees of course). Your studio hr should spell this out for anybody anyway if they're international. (I know Ryan's no longer at DE, just giving this info to others who might now know.)
Paypal works too if you have a Canadian bank account but I'm not sure how big or small is their cut when you make a transfer to your own non-Canadian banks. All I know is I "lose" money (to Paypal) when I transfer my American payments into my Canadian bank account, like in the hundreds if you get paid something like 2K and up. But you don't get charged to send money on Paypal to another paypal account far as I know.
Gotta factor that transfer fee amount next time I make a quote.:poly127:
Haha. Bad moment for a screen! If only you could grab one with one of Jon's ridiculous puns and everyone laughing! I'm amazed that you knock these out so quick. Very much enjoyed the last one, and it always brightens my day to see a new one emerge from the ether. Thanks guys!
That was an awesome episode, one of the funniest ones yet. This had become my favourite podcast after Jordu Schell stopped doing Nerdcast.
But all this talk about the industry being so small made me paranoid about all those dumb comments I make here on a weekly basis. Someone's watching me sleep, I know it :poly122:
damn..its great to listen on them while working in the lab, great laughs too, although most of the time i'm just laughing cause you guys are, that sounds weird o_o
Replies
Could you guys talk about starting salaries, knowing your worth, salary negotiation, and possible strategies for asking for a raise? I hear the biggest raises come from salary negotiation between jobs. Im sure others would love to hear about this stuff too.
Thanks
The leader Chris Holden, the manly Bryan Mcconnell, the "REAL" Jon Jones, and the hairy Jesse Sosa (who has an awesome mutant challenge entry).
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Have you guy considered compiling a list of highlight, or 'key' episodes for those of us who dont want to slag through 25 of your videos at random to find the most relevant information?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBZ1WuDxpn8&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBZ1WuDxpn8&feature=youtu.be
Great episode Tracy and crunchcast
Tracy, if you`re gonna be on the show more often, sell your Saturn and buy a better F'ing microphone!
Awesome stuff guys, appreciate it
Fixed it for ya.
Or
I think I missed it if you guys answered it. I know you wanted Jon to be back before you answered it, but I don't think I caught it.
I would really love to integrate some type of Polycount challenge for my students. Maybe in the spring. They have a large final project that I think could jive with that type of format. Jon's point on this idea is excellent, we can work in parallel even if we don't post directly to the forum.
In response to your followup questions, I teach specifically art for games, so the focus is always about real-time assets. We touch on Unity at points too. In the final project the students create an environment and get it running in Unity so they can walk around in it.
Pat's feedback was great. These are sentiments that I will definitely try my best to convey to my students.
btw... Who the hell has their gmail chat going the entire time? it drives me nuuuts. I always have mine open, so I think people are messaging me. haha
What is the best advice I can give to my students that want to pursue a career in technical art? I've poked around at a few tech artist portfolios out there and they seem very diverse. The definition of that role seems to change depending on which studio you ask too.
Aaron Canaday did a podcast with Greg Bahm (http://media.blubrry.com/gamesindustrymentor/gim.acanaday.com/episodes/gamesindustrymentor_002.mp3) and there was also one with Adam and Rob Galanakis (http://media.blubrry.com/gamesindustrymentor/gim.acanaday.com/episodes/gamesindustrymentor_014.mp3) Those two should definitely give some good info though would love to hear what crunch cast thinks.
This is great! Thanks for pointing those out to me, should be a great resource.
When Jon recommended saving a portion of your earnings...man, I just hope student listeners will believe and accept that as gold. The rates you mentioned (I think for both freelance and salary) confirms what I expect as a freelancer.
I live in Canada (but went to a high school in Fairfax County VA, Chris) and you mentioned a cost of living calculator in one of your recent shows. Here's a salary calculator that can give you and idea how much you'll take home if you work in Canada: http://www.ees-financial.com/calculators/TakeHomePayCalculator.htm
Vancouver is in British Columbia, Montreal is in Quebec, Toronto = Ontario, original Bioware = Alberta. I'm not gonna go into politics but 75K in Vancouver is not the same as 75K in Montreal.
Keep it up guys.
If you have any openings at illfonic, please hire me so I can come hit the heavy bag -- I don't have the space to hang one. I'll bring and share gloves!
I had a poop ton of questions:
I consider each of you Senior in your abilities / experience (I know Brian is newer to the industry, but you can tell that guy busts ass and cares about what he does) and I would love to hear what key things in your professional / personal experience that has helped you progress to where you are today.
Are you one of those workers that always puts in the extra love / time to make sure the project / product your working on is that much "better"?
Do you share your ideas with your lead(s) / producer(s), try and give input on the project(s) you're working on? (Do you put personal / emotional investment into the projects you are on?)
Have you made any mis-steps / mistakes along the way that you've learned from? (could you talk about some).
And... What do you think it takes to be a "Valuable Person" within the industry?
Hopefully these haven't been asked before, if so, my bad :P And thanks again for an awesome Crunch Cast.
/Entropy shader
awesome cast.
You and Ryan had a pretty nice dialogue going where you actually broke down what you talked about. considering using this as a "video game art 101" video for anyone who doesnt understand what goes into games.
Keep it up
link to the valve slides for anyone who's interested ---http://www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2010/GDC10_ShaderTechniquesL4D2.pdf
There's an option for a US dollar account for at least one Canadian bank that I know of (TD, I think it's now like an American-Canadian bank) . And you can just do an international transfer online from same account to your American account if you want (plus some fees of course). Your studio hr should spell this out for anybody anyway if they're international. (I know Ryan's no longer at DE, just giving this info to others who might now know.)
Paypal works too if you have a Canadian bank account but I'm not sure how big or small is their cut when you make a transfer to your own non-Canadian banks. All I know is I "lose" money (to Paypal) when I transfer my American payments into my Canadian bank account, like in the hundreds if you get paid something like 2K and up. But you don't get charged to send money on Paypal to another paypal account far as I know.
Gotta factor that transfer fee amount next time I make a quote.:poly127:
But all this talk about the industry being so small made me paranoid about all those dumb comments I make here on a weekly basis. Someone's watching me sleep, I know it :poly122:
Congrats to Pat on the new job! You'll be missed by the art team! We'll have to mail out some TX BBQ to you in CA
"Chris Zdemeremumblemumble"... thanks Ryan.