CRUNCHCAST LISTENERS! We're trying a new short-show format called CrunchBites where we pick one subject or question, talk for ~10 minutes on it, and that's an episode. I'd like tough questions. "I'm 30 and want to switch careers into games. What should I do?" or "I want to get a job at [specific game company.] What would you do to get it?" or "My lead treats me like crap. Is there anything I can do?" We're recording TONIGHT, so please post your questions now and we'll start filming the first few episodes for release! If you know people that would have good questions, please share this with them!
Some questions that dont necessarily have anything to do with me but i'm sure will help with situations others are in.
"I've been laid off, or am in between jobs, what do I do in the meantime?"
"How do I get a job without any previous experience"
"What are the advantages/disadvantages to working in a big corporate studio vs a smaller/indie studio"
but only a nickel...cuz I heard youtube pays less than a penny per view if you don't have banner ads or pre-rolls
Seriously, why not? CC info is gold! :thumbup:
Shit, can someone delete dustinbrown's post? That's WAY too hard a question! Jeez, man!
Nah, but seriously, that's a terrific and difficult question. I'm going to talk to Chris and some people about it to see if we can bring in some more people and perspectives on that. Having run an extremely niche startup for over three years through a crashing economy, I'm not the model of fiscal stability.
Excellent episode guys, some solid advice on marketing ones self. Just to build off the marketing theme, I've always found it somewhat difficult to make contacts in a purely digital way. I've personally found it easier, at least initially, meeting the person face to face or having a preexisting mutual contact; would you guys say that there's a particularly good method or platform to use in order to build up a solid network of people that could either be friends or professional contacts?
And as far as dustinbrown's question goes, I'm no where near an expert on the matter, but it's always been my opinion that large purchases such as a car are better done as one large payment, as opposed to smaller, monthly payments. For one reason, there's no way of it recouping or covering it's initial cost after you've purchased it; unless you used it as a private taxi on the weekends. Which, frankly, sounds like more hassle than it's worth. This means that if you were to get laid off and had no direct means of paying the monthly installments it would potentially be repossessed.
However, something like a house or flat, does have the potential to cover it's initial cost after it has been purchased through renting it out. Let's say, you buy a flat and take out a mortgage on said flat in order to cover it's initial cost. Then you get laid off, you would have several options, look for work in your local area, is there any? No? Well, then you could freelance or look for jobs elsewhere. let's say you choose the latter; and move to a new city. What would you do with your old flat, sell it? Can't do that. Pay for both a new flat and the one you own? What a waste of cash. Have one hell of a commute? I hate travel. No, if you could you would rent it out and live where your new job is, and have the rent of the flat you own cover the cost of the mortgage.
Now that's a little convoluted and all over the place, but what I mean is, I've always felt that its better to save monthly payments for things which have the potential to pay for themselves as opposed to things which only depreciate in value once you've purchased them.
Just my two cents, not sure how relevant it is to your question but was thinking about something similar recently.
I have a "tough question" regarding large purchases such as a car. In an industry where job security is hard to come by, and in a society where most people spend money they don't have by getting into debt for long periods of time, what are some smart approaches to getting yourself a new set of wheels. I'm currently going with the "save up for a long time and pay mostly with cash" method because I'm petrified by the prospect of having a monthly car payment, suddenly finding myself out of work, and facing the potential of my car being repossessed because I can't make the payments. I'm currently driving a beater that I'll need to replace soon. Would honestly like to buy new or newish for admittedly self-indulgent reasons.
Long term, learning to do repairs yourself will save you a lot of money. I can put new brakes on my car for $60 plus an hours time, or I can pay a shop to do it for $300. Most repairs are extremely easy.
Haha thanks for posting! I'm especially proud of this CrunchBite abut transitioning into being a lead. If you haven't noticed, we record four to six episodes in one session, then pick which ones to release in what order. The last two were from the same session. That was a solid night!
Great Job Guys! - iam not sure if this was debated or not - iam interesting in the question how you handle layoffs when you have kids and a family - jumping to another country every 2 years, seems great now - when you in the mid 20th - but how do vets handle this ?
for crunch bites, a question i've heard come up a few times..
should i be a generalist or should i specialize in one specific area.
specifically how this relates to me, when i was in school a lot of my teachers were saying we needed to generalize because we more than likely would end up working at smaller/indie studios needing to wear multiple hats. i kind of felt like that was putting a restriction on the students to not try and strive for anything bigger.
Great Job Guys! - iam not sure if this was debated or not - iam interesting in the question how you handle layoffs when you have kids and a family - jumping to another country every 2 years, seems great now - when you in the mid 20th - but how do vets handle this ?
Great Job Guys! - iam not sure if this was debated or not - iam interesting in the question how you handle layoffs when you have kids and a family - jumping to another country every 2 years, seems great now - when you in the mid 20th - but how do vets handle this ?
I hate to say this, but it's our generation. It's not just in games. Unless you're working somewhere in the public sector, EVERY industry is likely very mobile and volatile.
It's not really advice I know, but it's a sign of our times. That said, what helps greatly is being in a location with a thriving industry, and several solid 'backup' industries that your skills could transition to.
Montreal, LA, SF, and Seattle are the ones that come to mind in North America.
Those cities offer plenty of options for 3D Artists outside of games.
- Film / TV
- Medical Simulations
- Military Simulations
- Advertising / Marketing
- Web/UX Agencies
- Education
Man, i have also been checking crunch cast for new episodes. Shame you guys seem to be on a pause. But i will also re listen the old ones then, good suggestion. I am a student and i appreciate all the info a ton. Sort of lifting the curtain, its very motivating to hear about what goes on.
Just found this, it's awesome, listening to episode 53 right now. Couldn't agree more with what Jon is saying about Twitter, in that it promotes good, concise writing.
Thanks so much for this guys, I'll be listening to this while I'm working. Awesome stuff!
Always appreciate these, even though I pretty much never actually apply any of the knowledge being shared. At a minimum, at least I'll know I'm to blame when shit hits the fan for me:P
I've a question for you guys, if you don't mind. I was listening to the latest CrunchBites episode and Jon mentioned asking a question about how long the average employee stays at the studio. He said though, not to ask that if you feel the interview is going well. Do you guys feel like that is a bridge-burner question? I think the turnover rate is an important thing to know going into a new studio and says a lot about the studio culture and management.
Take for example, a friend of mine who is a programmer at a studio where he has to work so much overtime he's basically making minimum wage per hour. He & his wife have a kid on the way and so the studio culture isn't a good fit for him anymore. He already has a job so he doesn't need to jump at whatever comes along, but he wants to avoid making a leap into a fryingpan-into-the-fire type situation. What's the best way to gauge the health and culture of a studio without actually being in it? Are there specific questions you could ask in an interview that won't offend anyone? Can you find & ask an employee of that studio without it being weird or making a bad impression?
(Also if you guys covered this already somewhere, maybe you could point me in that direction? There are a lot of episodes to sort through now )
crunch cast 1 (year 2011) 31 minutes in the guys seem to be brainstorming the future of gaming and basically seem to describe what weve seen the hololens do with minecraft this year at E3 haha
Replies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=h42UK6XDUe8
Curious what you guys come up with...
"I've been laid off, or am in between jobs, what do I do in the meantime?"
"How do I get a job without any previous experience"
"What are the advantages/disadvantages to working in a big corporate studio vs a smaller/indie studio"
This, along with:
"Ways to better market yourself for a new job. such as online presence/whoring yourself out."
Does Chris know Vimeo has a tip jar for "Plus" users?
http://crunchstudios.com/
and yes I'm aware. Are you want to send me money?
YE$
but only a nickel...cuz I heard youtube pays less than a penny per view if you don't have banner ads or pre-rolls
Seriously, why not? CC info is gold! :thumbup:
[ame="
pretty funny that you guys need to adres basic hygiene in the last video :P
seems like common sense but i guess its not
[ame="
Nah, but seriously, that's a terrific and difficult question. I'm going to talk to Chris and some people about it to see if we can bring in some more people and perspectives on that. Having run an extremely niche startup for over three years through a crashing economy, I'm not the model of fiscal stability.
And as far as dustinbrown's question goes, I'm no where near an expert on the matter, but it's always been my opinion that large purchases such as a car are better done as one large payment, as opposed to smaller, monthly payments. For one reason, there's no way of it recouping or covering it's initial cost after you've purchased it; unless you used it as a private taxi on the weekends. Which, frankly, sounds like more hassle than it's worth. This means that if you were to get laid off and had no direct means of paying the monthly installments it would potentially be repossessed.
However, something like a house or flat, does have the potential to cover it's initial cost after it has been purchased through renting it out. Let's say, you buy a flat and take out a mortgage on said flat in order to cover it's initial cost. Then you get laid off, you would have several options, look for work in your local area, is there any? No? Well, then you could freelance or look for jobs elsewhere. let's say you choose the latter; and move to a new city. What would you do with your old flat, sell it? Can't do that. Pay for both a new flat and the one you own? What a waste of cash. Have one hell of a commute? I hate travel. No, if you could you would rent it out and live where your new job is, and have the rent of the flat you own cover the cost of the mortgage.
Now that's a little convoluted and all over the place, but what I mean is, I've always felt that its better to save monthly payments for things which have the potential to pay for themselves as opposed to things which only depreciate in value once you've purchased them.
Just my two cents, not sure how relevant it is to your question but was thinking about something similar recently.
Long term, learning to do repairs yourself will save you a lot of money. I can put new brakes on my car for $60 plus an hours time, or I can pay a shop to do it for $300. Most repairs are extremely easy.
you guys rock! :thumbup:
[ame="
[ame="
Great job guys
should i be a generalist or should i specialize in one specific area.
specifically how this relates to me, when i was in school a lot of my teachers were saying we needed to generalize because we more than likely would end up working at smaller/indie studios needing to wear multiple hats. i kind of felt like that was putting a restriction on the students to not try and strive for anything bigger.
I would like to see this one covered too
I hate to say this, but it's our generation. It's not just in games. Unless you're working somewhere in the public sector, EVERY industry is likely very mobile and volatile.
It's not really advice I know, but it's a sign of our times. That said, what helps greatly is being in a location with a thriving industry, and several solid 'backup' industries that your skills could transition to.
Montreal, LA, SF, and Seattle are the ones that come to mind in North America.
Those cities offer plenty of options for 3D Artists outside of games.
- Film / TV
- Medical Simulations
- Military Simulations
- Advertising / Marketing
- Web/UX Agencies
- Education
I think I've listened to each one a couple of times. Thanks for making my work days more enjoyable.
CrunchPlan
SuperCastRitual
Phil Collins : No Crunching Required
CAST
CrunchYeah
Crunk H. Cast and the Crunchbites
Crunch Anthem
CrunchCast 53 Project End Prep w/ @chrisholdendev @jonjones
http://youtu.be/UGPysLzoXs4
https://vimeo.com/85695732
http://crunchstudios.com/crunchcast53.mp3
Thanks so much for this guys, I'll be listening to this while I'm working. Awesome stuff!
Take for example, a friend of mine who is a programmer at a studio where he has to work so much overtime he's basically making minimum wage per hour. He & his wife have a kid on the way and so the studio culture isn't a good fit for him anymore. He already has a job so he doesn't need to jump at whatever comes along, but he wants to avoid making a leap into a fryingpan-into-the-fire type situation. What's the best way to gauge the health and culture of a studio without actually being in it? Are there specific questions you could ask in an interview that won't offend anyone? Can you find & ask an employee of that studio without it being weird or making a bad impression?
(Also if you guys covered this already somewhere, maybe you could point me in that direction? There are a lot of episodes to sort through now
edit:: holy f... i lost it at "Well.. that might be something worht talking about"
crunch cast 1 (year 2011) 31 minutes in the guys seem to be brainstorming the future of gaming and basically seem to describe what weve seen the hololens do with minecraft this year at E3