thoughts on moving to US from UK for work?!?!

SA_22

hey guys, just about done with university, doing game art, focusing mainly on characters... my problem being where i live in the north east of the uk there is maybe 4 or 5 studios that i could apply for with out moving away from home, but looking a the game devmap site places like cali have hundreds of studios, ( i say cali because always wanted to move there, won first place for a scholarship at AI over there but couldn't afford the rest of the moneys )

i know its a huge ask and i will probably be better off working over here in london or somewhere, but theirs so many good studios and opportunities over there it has really got me thinking...

what i wanted to ask was has anyone here done this, how did it work etc etc.?
what are people opinions of moving and moving in my situation?
and if anyone know like the legal aspects of moving or any other info like that, that would be awesome to!!

thx sa

Sculptaur

I would get some work experience and strengthen my portfolio before making a move like that. The move to London would be far cheaper if things didn't work out and you needed to move home.

I think generally as well, that the paperwork involved in hiring someone from overseas isn't really worth it for companies who are hiring for junior roles, and you would need a company to support you in order to get a work visa.

So yeah, my advice would be to stay in the UK for now. And in a few years apply for work in the states when you have a kick ass portfolio and the experience to back it up.

Bibendum

I'd never suggest moving someplace with the hope of finding a job AFTER you get there... You move when you've gotten a job in the area you're moving to.

If you insist on moving without a job then you damn well better make sure you're financially set for a while and have a plan for how you're going to deal with it once money runs out.

chrisradsby

It'll be easier for you to get into a studio if you're a local. So stay in UK til you get your first job, stay there for a while and get your skills up then apply for jobs in the US.

I moved from Sweden to England for my first job (2 weeks after they said I got it) and it was a great experience having to deal with everything. You grow up a lot doing stuff like and you start appreciating things that you never thought you would so I highly recommend it.

You need to get better, looking at your portfolio I can tell you don't have the skills right now. I'm not saying this to be mean but you need to look at the other soon-to-be graduates around you and your work needs to be at least as good as theirs. I know school can be demanding and all and they teach you all sorts of crap, but you need to focus on one area and become specialized in it. At least til you get your first job then it's easier to branch out because you have industry experience.

So I have to say no, don't move. It won't help unless you get your skills up, doing stuff like that is how people end up homeless.

Rick Stirling

Stay at home and work on your portfolio. It's not god enough. Tip number 1: Don't render against black.
Get involved in a mod.
Get a UK based job
...
Then look at moving to the US.


Self Promotion:
http://www.rsart.co.uk/2011/07/31/what-new-artists-need-in-a-c-v-and-portfolio/

http://www.rsart.co.uk/2006/09/21/how-to-present-your-model-in-the-best-way-possible-for-feedback/

dii

Tip number 1: Don't render against black

You mind explaining why?

SHEPEIRO

in my experience you will struggle to get a fast tracked visa without a AAA title under your belt once you have that lawyers can claim that your are needed for the project....otherwise your in the lottery process which can take forever

so stay in europe... get a title or two under your belt and then think of moving stateside if you still want to

and yeah dont render against black...it sucks and means the silhouette is hidden which is an extremely important part of a model

SA_22

thanks for the feedback on this guys.. kinda the same feeling i have about it.

my portfolio is quite out of date and needs a big update before i send it to anyone.

Torch

dii wrote: »

You mind explaining why?

Because it looks gash? (Not meaning the OP's work, just rendering on black in general)

dii

@Rick Stirling: Nevermind I read your article after posting that

and yeah dont render against black...it sucks and means the silhouette is hidden which is an extremely important part of a model

Because it looks gash? (Not meaning the OP's work, just rendering on black in general)

Could you guys give me your opinion on this?




I tend to think that silhouette/detail readability issues are usually a result of poor lighting choices and not background color. People say the same thing about blown out white backgrounds...

Here's some concepts on a full white bg by Khang Le: http://cghub.com/images/view/226660/

Here's one by Trevor Claxton: http://cghub.com/images/view/225522/

Admittedly you get a wider range of value with a neutral bg but neither of these approaches seem at all bad to me...

SHEPEIRO

i agree that lighting helps....but i think those gears assets would look better against a non-black BG... esp the spider thing which is harder to read due to the bg choice.

never go full tard



also science
"People with astigmatism (aproximately 50% of the population) find it harder to read white text on black than black text on white. Part of this has to do with light levels: with a bright display (white background) the iris closes a bit more, decreasing the effect of the "deformed" lens; with a dark display (black background) the iris opens to receive more light and the deformation of the lens creates a much fuzzier focus at the eye."

cptSwing

If you're a citizen of the UK, you can basically start working hassle-free within all of Europe..

dii

Maybe I just have bad taste but the difference between black/grey seems pretty negligible to me with the gradient looking worse than both..

Interesting read on the astigmatism though.

Ruz

would n't you be better off looking for work in the midlands as there seem to be more game companies there. London is very pricey and has perhaps has less opportunties for games
I am from the north east BTW and live in London:)
I think if you can get a games job in the USA that would be awesome, you are young and If I were you would try and do it.
great life experience

SA_22

where bouts in the north east you from ruz?... how was it when you first moved to london?.. yea i fiqured london would be pricey, been there acouple times before, to be honest not a big fan..

yea i've been looking at pretty much everywhere in the uk to see whats around... will probably end up atleast applying for jobs in the US, i mean its worth a shot if nothing else.

note on my portfolio, will be done in 2 weeks with uni and will be taking a bunch of renders of my newest work in the next couple of days and updating the whole site, will probably make a thread on here for feedback on that

Sandro

I am very sorry that I am contributing to derailment of this thread, but Gears characters look great against black background. Grey is not perfect choice here, as they already have pretty strong rim light kicking their silhouettes out of background

Torch

dii - Those pictures look great but I'd have to agree with Shep that the models look much better on a dark grey, almost off black background rather than 100% black. Could be subjective, to me the pure black is a little too harsh

Drav

No one from America is going to hire you as a junior, simply due to the paperwork. Also I think there is a thing in American law where they can only hire foreigners if there are no Americans that can do the job. This can be interpreted in many ways of course if you are actually special to them, but simply put, there are lots of decent American juniors looking for work, so theres no way theyre going to sort you out a green card and fly you over instead of simply hiring one of them.

I know your pain tho, the UK game industry is a small pond full of big fish, and they dont seem to want to hire anyone who isnt full of AAA, or sucking off someone that works there......




oh ok, I guess really talented juniors get hired too. Bet they still have to dish out the BJs at lunch tho :P

MagicSugar

SA_22 wrote: »

what i wanted to ask was has anyone here done this, how did it work etc etc.?

Tip: search linkedIn for sr. or director level game devs in the U.K. Some of those guys have global work experience like US -> Canada -> China -> back to UK as Directors or leads (check profile details). A lot of those guys would be good for practical advice.

Also here this guy who I don't know personally but has worked in Vancouver for a Turok game as an animator but now does cg in feature films in LA LA Land: http://fliponline.blogspot.ca/