I don't think its that people are saying uni is useless, I certainly wouldn't, I had some fantastic tutors who often come here. The problem is they don't make all the rules and there are still academic traditions that might not fit so well in today's world as they used to.
The thing is, a lot of people are finding ways to get into this industry without going to uni, you could quite easily do that if you were a regular on polycount from age 16 for example. There is so much to learn here and its totally free. In other industries there are also shifts to vocational training, apprenticeships and so on where they get total focused education and they often have a lot of success when they finish but they already know people in the industry and know how to do the job to industry standards.
I was going to make a retort but actually I agree with pretty much everything you said. I would argue that these days it's hard to measure educational value, while we have plenty of success stories from polycount's teachings it can currently only be compared to other self-taught disciplines, which is definitely not the status quo for all skill types.
Really it's society in general where these shifts and disconnects are making it difficult. The world requires that you get a job so now the whole point of entering academia is to get one. Learning stops being about betterment for its own sake and whether or not it has value rests on just how much industry and academia get along.
TLDR yes I'm sure we can all agree that both industry and education have made little effort to work towards a future that benefits each other and gives hope to all those who participate. Then again I don't know how well run Starfleet Academy is either. :poly121:
Hey there,
i had read the first few posts an i accept partly with the problem of the industry, if you want to work at AAA Games but if you new in the industry, like me, you have to start small. I have many little jobs with a small pay. On the other hand im 22 years old, i dont need that much money at this time.
It is'nt realy hard to get access to the industy if you not lazy and still talk to people and show them your passion for Gameart and gaming.
And still learn! the industry, the Hardware and tools are still growing.
Ohh and still have a acceptable Portfolio. ;D
If you want to work on AAA games, i hope that you have an Outstanding and Awesome Portfolio and know the right workflows and People.
I hope this help someone.
here is my portfolio Portfolio
not up to date becouse i dont have that much time to update but if i have done my School im going to
Unfortunately we (2 freelancers) are just starting out with this project and we need to make a lot of assets to create a catalog.
We are not in the position to afford anything above 90 USD / asset as of now.
If you know anyone who is junior to you who might be interested in this project please let me know
Again, thank you very much for your time and maybe we can work together in the future or on a different project.
Regards
Now I know you're probably asking: Wait, who posted this? What's the job? Would this be less than minimum wage?
4 months later. Well, you were right, it's not impossible, clearly, and certainly not for any reason I stated in the OP. Unfortunately luck hasn't been kind enough to reward me for my efforts so far. It gets depressing when you do put in a lot of effort but are left wondering if you're even getting anywhere, or if you can even be confident in your own talent when there's not much to show for it.
I'm sure others will say I'm not putting in enough effort or maybe just don't have any talent, but it certainly doesn't feel that way (effort-wise at least) since I'm spending pretty much most of my waking hours in front of the computer learning new things or trying to build new stuff.
To give some sense of what I thought was some progress, let me say that when I first made this topic, I only knew how to use Maya and Photoshop to make objects. Now I use Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush, xNormal, CrazyBump, nDo2, and UDK. Though, whether one can even call that progress is up in the air I suppose.
But yeah, it's not impossible. Though, I don't think I can wait any longer to hope something will occur, as I kind of need money to pay bills and those pesky student loans.
From looking at your work I'd say that you have a pretty good chance of landing a job. I've seen people with worse portfolios get jobs and I think it's all a matter of time. Don't quit working on your stuff though, that would be giving up! Create new things, improve on what you have or whatever.. Just keep at it.
4 months is not much. Before I got my first job as a 3d artist I had to apply for jobs for about 9 months or so. It's taken years for other people... I know from experience that a job will come sooner or later if you just keep at it. (Yeah, it sounds cheesy but it's true!)
4 months later. Well, you were right, it's not impossible, clearly, and certainly not for any reason I stated in the OP. Unfortunately luck hasn't been kind enough to reward me for my efforts so far. It gets depressing when you do put in a lot of effort but are left wondering if you're even getting anywhere, or if you can even be confident in your own talent when there's not much to show for it.
I'm sure others will say I'm not putting in enough effort or maybe just don't have any talent, but it certainly doesn't feel that way (effort-wise at least) since I'm spending pretty much most of my waking hours in front of the computer learning new things or trying to build new stuff.
To give some sense of what I thought was some progress, let me say that when I first made this topic, I only knew how to use Maya and Photoshop to make objects. Now I use Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush, xNormal, CrazyBump, nDo2, and UDK. Though, whether one can even call that progress is up in the air I suppose.
But yeah, it's not impossible. Though, I don't think I can wait any longer to hope something will occur, as I kind of need money to pay bills and those pesky student loans.
I know how you feel, ive been looking for a job the past few months too and also starting in dec ill be needed to pay back my student loans. You just have to keep trying and working on art. It will be hard but you just gotta push though it and sooner or later all the hard work will pay off!
I know how you feel, ive been looking for a job the past few months too and also starting in dec ill be needed to pay back my student loans. You just have to keep trying and working on art. It will be hard but you just gotta push though it and sooner or later all the hard work will pay off!
I'm in the same boat haha and kinda depresses and motivates me. Just keep working on your portfolio and keep posting on polycount Also remember that some of it comes down to just timing and connections. So dont stop making those
After University it took me a year to get my first job. Granted I was offered one before I graduated, but funding for the project fell through, and my position was no longer available (that really knocked me back a few months as I didn't apply while I was waiting for the project to start). So keep at it if it's what you really want to do. I know plenty of people who've taken 2 years to get something after University! But they got there with perseverance and continued hard work on their portfolio.
If anyone is finding it hard to get a job with no requirements on location and salary then they are simply not good enough and need to work more on improving themselves. A game industry job is like any profession, it takes time and a lot of hard work.
Honestly if I have learned anything from looking at games industry/university applicants its that everyone expects something with no concept of the time and focus it takes to become a valuable professorial.
Just because I have read books about space for over 10 years it doesn't mean I walk up to NASA and expect a job. I have driven a car for over 10years but that doesn't mean I could be a professional rally driver. Just because you have used 3dsmax for 10years it doesn't mean you can become a game industry artist.
If you want to be a professional you need to treat it as a profession. Looking at what skills you need to know and what is expected of you.
To anyone out there struggling to get a job, if you can't get one your not good enough. The solution? Work harder! Not enjoying working hard? Think of another career!
While a lot of young kids these days have a skewed perspective on what real "hard work" is, I do want to note that working smarter is more important than working harder. Just because you are spending 14 hours a day "learning and practicing" it doesn't mean you will get better. I would definitely focus on the "art" side of this craft rather than the technical knowledge.
Here at DE, the specifics of software experience are seldom a deciding factor when looking for a right candidate.
I haven't found anything yet, no luck on the job hunt, but I know its not impossible. I know the flaws in my work and what I need to fix to become a better artist. I think that you need to just improve yourself and focus on you and your work instead of a job. I used to make art intending to get a job, and my work suffered, I can see a HUGE improvement in my work by just changing my mindset to just making art for bettering myself. Anyways, it's not impossible
I know how you feel, ive been looking for a job the past few months too and also starting in dec ill be needed to pay back my student loans. You just have to keep trying and working on art. It will be hard but you just gotta push though it and sooner or later all the hard work will pay off!
This might be because you only have about 4 pieces in your portfolio. Most of which are very simple and small. Keep making moar!
It took me 3 years of flopping about before I really put my nose to the grindstone and said "I will have a job by this time next year" - I missed the deadline by about a month but I discovered what hard work really was. In the mean time I was doing IT work for about $8 an hour to pay off my loan.
I think another part of the feeling is the sense that I'm always "playing catch up" when it comes to learning. Even when I do feel that I've learned something new or integrated a different feature into the workflow, it still feels as if that's not really an accomplishment, because I'm sure tons of others have been using those new features or skill sets for long periods of time already.
Well, I certainly hope "I will have a job by this time next year", but I won't hold my breath for it to be in art.
I've already sacrificed a personal/social life in pursuit of my goals and am not being distracted by such things. But again, that's what can lead to constant second guessing as you devote more and more time into your work, but it never seems to pay off.
How much finished artwork have you done since May 19th ?
this made me think back - In that time I produced 9 player armors (boy & girl versions), 2 pets and a mount. All this working mostly 8 hours a day 5 days a week, significantly less than every waking hour like the OP claims.
I made every 3d object in our concept trailer (4 environments, fx, 7 characters)
3 furniture sets
built 3 websites
concepts for a haunted house
a set of hair styles for ps home
set of wings for ps home
lots and lots of documents
No worries. But still, you have to admit the industry at this moment is not in the most healthy of states.
I disagree. I think the industry is ever evolving and changing, but its vitality and health has never been stronger. I think the fact that companies are hiring more strictly and carefully is a smart thing. First, Companies will hold on to great talent. And, second,the lack of *frivolous hiring will curtail mass layoffs later. Companies are also starting to hold on to core teams while outsourcing the rest. If you want a job, better art is the key. Bottom line! And that's what just about everyone here is saying.*
How much finished artwork have you done since May 19th ?
Well, to start off, a week after I started this thread I underwent hip surgery, which pretty much removed the month of June from anything productive. Everything else on my website that's posted since then is "finished" work, if it can be called that, of course, there's a lot of unfinished work, experiments, art tests, and such that took up time but aren't posted because they aren't good enough to be.
If anyone is finding it hard to get a job with no requirements on location and salary then they are simply not good enough and need to work more on improving themselves. A game industry job is like any profession, it takes time and a lot of hard work.
Honestly if I have learned anything from looking at games industry/university applicants its that everyone expects something with no concept of the time and focus it takes to become a valuable professorial.
Just because I have read books about space for over 10 years it doesn't mean I walk up to NASA and expect a job. I have driven a car for over 10years but that doesn't mean I could be a professional rally driver. Just because you have used 3dsmax for 10years it doesn't mean you can become a game industry artist.
If you want to be a professional you need to treat it as a profession. Looking at what skills you need to know and what is expected of you.
To anyone out there struggling to get a job, if you can't get one your not good enough. The solution? Work harder! Not enjoying working hard? Think of another career!
Damn, great words of advice there!! Its so simple but something I didn't realize about myself until recently. I always felt bad for myself thinking "why can't I get a job??".. but when it really comes down to it, I'm just NOT good enough... yet.
So, I only need to work harder at the thing I love to do in order to get employed. Simple
If anyone is finding it hard to get a job with no requirements on location and salary then they are simply not good enough and need to work more on improving themselves. A game industry job is like any profession, it takes time and a lot of hard work.
Honestly if I have learned anything from looking at games industry/university applicants its that everyone expects something with no concept of the time and focus it takes to become a valuable professorial.
Just because I have read books about space for over 10 years it doesn't mean I walk up to NASA and expect a job. I have driven a car for over 10years but that doesn't mean I could be a professional rally driver. Just because you have used 3dsmax for 10years it doesn't mean you can become a game industry artist.
If you want to be a professional you need to treat it as a profession. Looking at what skills you need to know and what is expected of you.
To anyone out there struggling to get a job, if you can't get one your not good enough. The solution? Work harder! Not enjoying working hard? Think of another career!
So true. Ironically, I remember years ago when Richard was working on that industrial scene for the CryEngine back on Game-Artist, it really made me kick myself in the ass, and was one of those that inspired me to get moving. Never regret it.
4 months later. Well, you were right, it's not impossible, clearly, and certainly not for any reason I stated in the OP. Unfortunately luck hasn't been kind enough to reward me for my efforts so far. It gets depressing when you do put in a lot of effort but are left wondering if you're even getting anywhere, or if you can even be confident in your own talent when there's not much to show for it.
I'm sure others will say I'm not putting in enough effort or maybe just don't have any talent, but it certainly doesn't feel that way (effort-wise at least) since I'm spending pretty much most of my waking hours in front of the computer learning new things or trying to build new stuff.
To give some sense of what I thought was some progress, let me say that when I first made this topic, I only knew how to use Maya and Photoshop to make objects. Now I use Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush, xNormal, CrazyBump, nDo2, and UDK. Though, whether one can even call that progress is up in the air I suppose.
But yeah, it's not impossible. Though, I don't think I can wait any longer to hope something will occur, as I kind of need money to pay bills and those pesky student loans.
It took me awhile to find a job after graduating... finding a job in this industry IS hard(especially with all the studios closing down lately). But every success story I've read so far no matter what industry has always had one thing in common. They spent a long time working hard before they hit it big. Life isn't going to hand anyone anything for free.
It's often not a matter of skill or talent (Although those things are VERY important. But keep in mind that there are many amazing artists who are out of a job currently.) It has a lot to do with being in the right place at the right time. The longer you spend trying to find that right place and right time, the higher your chances are for finding it What it really comes down to is how much are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals? Because the world will always be full of problems, no matter what century.
It took me 3 years of flopping about before I really put my nose to the grindstone and said "I will have a job by this time next year" - I missed the deadline by about a month but I discovered what hard work really was. In the mean time I was doing IT work for about $8 an hour to pay off my loan.
Oh man THIS. For me it was five years, then about this time last year something just seemed to snap and I put my head down and started knocking out art with the goal to have an application-ready portfolio in time for PAX so that afterward I would start applying in earnest.
I haven't been HALF as prolific as some of the guys here (only have myself to blame for that) and I've still managed to make the most of what I HAVE done. Don't do a project unless you intend to learn something from it.
my advise for anyone still looking for a job is to go to GDC and show your stuff at the career pavilion next march. its instant interviews, networking, and info. Thats where i went as a student. http://www.gdconf.com/events/careerpavilion.html
you have 6 months to make some good portfolio pieces.
Soul, your portfolio sucks. Blog format is a terrible way to show your art, I have no easy way of knowing what's your best piece, and you post a lot of WIP that brings down the quality level of everything.
As an aside, you also have some nasty jpg compression on a lot of images.
Biofrost, you need more stuff in your portfolio, and make some stuff that isn't sci-fi boxes.
I think going to GDC to get a job is a great goal - shoot to have your portfolio completely revamped with finished, next-gen ready pieces (not full of hand painted textures or iPhone spec stuff) by then.
Alright, I'll gladly accept that most of my artwork sucks. I also might even entertain the idea that I'm blind since you're apparently seeing "nasty" JPG artifacts/compression where I can see none (they look exactly like the source TGA files to me).
I won't accept this building up of GDC as some kind of salvation. I've attended it for several years, and there's no worse place to attempt any type of job hunting (anyone who's bothered to visit the career pavilion the past few years should know) given the sheer quantity of people you'll be immediately up against. Or the fact that most companies there will simply just shove an HR rep in your face who'll only tell you to go visit their website to look at their opportunities. And if they're not HR reps, then they're poor tired employees who've stared at so many portfolios for hours on end their eyes and moods will be sour by the time they get to yours.
Oh, and simply saying "wait a few months/years", when someone needs a job now, doesn't help at all.
Not working to improve does not help either.
As others have said there is only hard work and time that will give you a job, also potential employers can come be this topic if they are doing some research on you and I can't think of that helping your case...
Also there has been 4 months since you started this, what have you done in that time, in those 4 months you have had the time people said it would take, so if you worked hard for those months you should not be far from a job, right?
Why not try and get back into the industry as a tester? Judging by your resume it seemed like you found opportunities at your studio to help out with 3D during your free time... why not try this again and just bust ass to work your way up to junior artist or something?
There has been a lot of great / realistic advice given in this thread, clearly enough to get you set on the right track. At this point the biggest road blcok in your way seems to be all mental. Literally all you can do is power through it, keep busting out art and network with the right people.
Good luck
Edit: As this thread continues, you may have started burning down possible bridges to get you into the industry, at this point you should just stop posting and focus more on working...
It's even more insulting that you would make the insinuations that I've not been working these past four months or that I do not understand the hard work that is needed. I don't know what barometer you're using to judge four months of work, but I'll be damned if I won't stand up for the toil that I've underwent, even if the results are "disappointing" or "beneath you".
And don't get me started on "in those 4 months you have had the time people said it would take, so if you worked hard for those months you should not be far from a job, right?"
I don't know how you can say that when others have posted they've been unemployed for far longer periods of time and I doubt they've given nothing but their best efforts to find work. Now that's insulting.
he's exactly right though...
if i do a search on threads started by you, the earliest one that comes up is 4 months ago. there are 18 threads, of which one links to your portfolio, and one links to a piece you want to salvage for your portfolio. then it seems to be an even split between help threads (good thing) and threads about "someone is suing someone else", or "somebodys stocks went down the shitter", which is a bad thing.
your portfolio itself is a glorified WIP thread with its own domain name. it's full of half finished stuff, or small props which are finished but lost in the mess that is everything else. potential employers don't want to see that. read this: http://www.jonjones.com/2005/10/07/your-portfolio-repels-jobs/
it shouldn't take you 4 months to finish up the environment scene you're working on. if you're unemployed, it should take you 1 month, tops. because you have far more disposable time than people who ARE employed.
all that stuff aside though, i'll address the title of the thread, and prefix it by saying: i'm currently working some pretty awesome freelance stuff, but have yet to land a studio position.
it is not impossible to find work in this industry as a modeler. ESPECIALLY as an environment artist. ask anyone here who's worked in a studio, or is working in one right now, what is the ratio of enviro guys to character guys. you've chosen by FAR the least competitive path.
it will be difficult to find work, sure. but it's not impossible. i'd say 75% of it is attitude.
if you've "worked" on a single piece of art for 4 months, and it isn't finished yet, AND you're unemployed. it's because you're actively choosing not to work on it as much as you should.
that's for one reason alone: you're prioritizing other things in life over the artwork.
whether it's social life, other work, sleeping, masturbating, watching tv, listening to music, whatever... the fact of the matter is, you're not doing enough art if it's taken this long to finish one piece.
which means that as of right now... you just don't want it enough. you don't have the right attitude, and this industry isn't right for you... not right now anyway.
but that can change. and it's up to you to figure out what it is that will motivate you to change.
First off thank you to the people in this thread who have given great advice(especially those of you who said something to me directly!)
It really seems like almighty might be right, you might not want it enough. It is not about how many hours you put in or how much art you do if it is not productive work. The past two months I have had people criting my work and you know what I got from it. I have been playing it safe.
If you look at my portfolio you have a Deus ex scene that looks fine but honestly from a modeling standpoint not that complex. A air conditioner that's a box, a robot that's honestly a slightly modified box and a walkway. I for some reason had it in my head it was ok to play it safe as long as it looked decent. Thats not good enough to get a industry job! and you know what I spend a ton of time on those props too.
What I should of been doing was pushing myself artistically, and since then I have done more work in the past few weeks than I had in 3 or 4 months!
TL:DR You need to push yourself and stop lieing to yourself to get a job. You can tell yourself your working hard on something but you need to step back and really look at yourself and see if you are. You need to finish work and tons of it. A bunch of wips will get you nowhere.
TL:DR You need to push yourself and stop lieing to yourself to get a job. You can tell yourself your working hard on something but you need to step back and really look at yourself and see if you are. You need to finish work and tons of it. A bunch of wips will get you nowhere.
highlighted the important bit for emphesis. i made a thread recently about this exact thing. i think it's something a lot of us go through... telling ourselves we're good.
if you've "worked" on a single piece of art for 4 months, and it isn't finished yet, AND you're unemployed. it's because you're actively choosing not to work on it as much as you should.
This is a large part of it, well said gir. If you're not getting something done it's because you've decided that something else is more important. It's pretty much as simple as that.
This may sound like a stereotype for studios right now but it is actually very difficult to see the good artists through the masses of no effort crap folios out there. More people than ever now want to get into the game industry.
Lack of employable people isn't the same as lack of artists, I can pull 20-30 great artists off the top of the my head right now, the difference is great art = already employed.
And it's not like there is really a "lack" either, there are tons of good artist's looking for work out there, its just digging them out of the haystack.
Getting noticed is a big problem for new artists everywhere, you just don't apply enough or just don't spread your name & folio across the internet enough.
Heck even I'm not very well known and I'm the one in a position to hire people, (I've been in lots of comps & had art on kotaku, yet only maybe 7 other polycounters will recognize me if any lawl. My fault for lack of activity)
So you guys really need to pull your networking fingers out and get your names out there.
roderickweisehere is a nice example, get yourself hired already. I would have hired you had you appeared a few months back, so keep applying everywhere :P
Btw it's also nice to see that after 8 pages this still remains a gentlemen's discussion and hasn't digressed into a flamewar/political poop throwing contest, which I imagined it would have by now haha
spreading your name all over doesn't get you hired. It only gets you more offers if you're lucky. In the end it is good art that gets you hired.
Just look around any studio, the majority of people working there got their jobs without being well known on the internet. So if you ever have to decide if you want to spend time on self advertisement vs. sending folios/working on the folio, then stick to the later. (actually it's probably much less work building a solid folio than working yourself up to Antropus or Kolby Jukes like fame where you don't even have to mention the art and everyone knows how good they are )
There was a great video on GDC Vault talking about his and the stats made interesting reading.
Half the issue seemed to be retaining people in this industry, since a lot of the time the jobs are not what people imagined. Getting jobs was pretty easy all considered.
When I did my school/uni there were NO game/game art courses or anything. If you were in the industry you got there via programming/fine art/science type disciplines from University, and then applied it specifically to games. Lots of people I spoke to just did arty type stuff at school, did arty type stuff on computers, and sent their portfolio to games companies. This was mid to late 90's.
The only consistent variable seems to be that you love being creative then it shows in your work and you'll tend to get work.
The same could hold true today. Being a good fine artist is more valuable than a game artist because all that makes game art specific is the workflow I would imagine, and since on a large team workflow varies and morphs perpetually, a good chunk of your degree is just going out of date.
I'd focus on just being a better artist or designer. If you are good at that then the game aspect is just a matter of learning the process/workflow, which by all accounts is a learn on the job affair that might take a few months to get competent at.
Any employer will see that as irrelevant if you are the artist they want/need.
Learning Zbrush, blah blah whatever tools is just a distraction. Good art/design is good irrespective of what tools you use in my view.
In 5 years it'll be another unheard of program that is the 'must use' tool in game dev, so the consistent variable is your creativity and understanding of the overall process.
People don't become builders because they learn how to use a hammer. The hammer is just a tool to make buildings. You need to have a passion to make buildings irrespective of your hammer skills.
As per the unemployed must = not good thing, I think that is a harsh thing to say. Selling yourself can be quite tough.
Just bashing people over it isn't helpful, but I'll agree that often it's more a case of just finish some work so people can see you are good, swallow your pride as you will get knocked back some times, and then sell yourself hard.
Pontification is the thief of time. Some times that is nice if you have the luxury, but if you don't (ie, no portfolio), then don't pontificate. Even if the finished work isn't perfect for you it's perfect to sell your skills
No commercial work is ever perfect, so it's pointless working forever towards it but never reaching it, all the while doing very little to hone your skills and actually get work
Not everyone is entitled to be a great athlete, architect, painter, writer or actor now matter how "hard" they work at it. This is not for everyone, it's not just any job that you simply "practice" for.
spreading your name all over doesn't get you hired. It only gets you more offers if you're lucky. In the end it is good art that gets you hired.
Just look around any studio, the majority of people working there got their jobs without being well known on the internet. So if you ever have to decide if you want to spend time on self advertisement vs. sending folios/working on the folio, then stick to the later. (actually it's probably much less work building a solid folio than working yourself up to Antropus or Kolby Jukes like fame where you don't even have to mention the art and everyone knows how good they are )
I think the point was a little different than what I believe you took it as.
It's about visibility. Just submitting your folio to game studios is the very least you can be doing. Getting noticed is the key, IMO, to getting hired. For example, taking part in communities like Polycount where industry artists hang out is great for this. They'll see your work and that has a larger chance of getting you an interview than simply throwing your resume on the stack at Game Company X.
I got hired here 13+ years ago because Cliff saw and liked a level that I made in my spare time for Unreal Tournament. That got us talking and that led to a job offer. If I had simply applied for a job by sending in a resume I doubt it would have happened.
I know this sounds lame but Arnold Schwarzenegger is a prime example of someone who has pushed to be a great athlete, and then a great actor, and now a great politician.
Maybe he is just genetically wired for it, but I believe it's more a case of hard work and passion.
Without passion then hard work seems pointless. Why work hard for something you don't want?
So hard work will be valuable but you have to want "it" too!
I think the OP needs to ask if they really enjoy being creative or not.
If all of a sudden it was World War 3 and no computers left, would they tend to pick up a pad and pencil and draw their ideas out...
As said above, there is no work in using tools for tools sake. You have to have a passion to create things, and the tools are just an irrelevant means to an end.
If you need to use them you learn how, but they shouldn't be the important element in the bigger picture imo!
I know this sounds lame but Arnold Schwarzenegger is a prime example of someone who has pushed to be a great athlete, and then a great actor, and now a great politician.
This is possibley the WORST example.
Arnold is NOT a great actor, he is a famous one. Arnold is not a great politician, he is a famous one. There is a HUGE difference between being great and being famous.
Arnold is NOT a great actor, he is a famous one. Arnold is not a great politician, he is a famous one. There is a HUGE difference between being great and being famous.
nevertheless, it's a widely reputed that when he was a child in school, he wrote on the classroom board 3 things.
1. to become mr.olympia (now known as the arnold classics, after him)
2. to become a famous actor
3. to become a politician
he decided from an extremely young age that he wanted to be someone who could make changes in the world, not just in his own life. he trained at the gym almost religiously, i think there was a story in "pumping iron", that said he'd been to the gym and passed out on the way home. but rather than go home to recover when he came to, he went back to the gym so he wouldn't miss the next session.
that's dedication!
he invested all of his competition winnings into real estate and his own mail order company. he was a millionaire by 22.
THEN he decided to move into acting. he was already a millionaire, he was already starting to dip his feet into the circles of people who made the real decisions in the world.
literally everything he did in his life was a calculated move, aimed at getting him to his ultimate goal of trying to change the world... to say he's a bad example of someone getting where they want to be, is fucking retarded man.
literally everything he did in his life was a calculated move, aimed at getting him to his ultimate goal of trying to change the world... to say he's a bad example of someone getting where they want to be, is fucking retarded man.
Oh well I didnt mean it was a bad example of someone getting where and what they wanted. For that I think he is a great example and something to strive towards.
I just meant along the lines of it being a bad example of someone who wanted to be great at something working hard and eventually becoming great at it. As although he achieved his dreams of becoming an actor and politician he isnt GREAT at those things, just famous.
It was more of a comment on Mr.Whippy's word choice in the way he phrased his sentence using GREAT to describe Arnolds as a great political (based on the fact that I had him as my govinator ) and his acting career. If he just said, he pushed to become an actor and politician I wouldn't have made the comment :P
Alright, I'll gladly accept that most of my artwork sucks. I also might even entertain the idea that I'm blind since you're apparently seeing "nasty" JPG artifacts/compression where I can see none (they look exactly like the source TGA files to me).
I won't accept this building up of GDC as some kind of salvation. I've attended it for several years, and there's no worse place to attempt any type of job hunting (anyone who's bothered to visit the career pavilion the past few years should know) given the sheer quantity of people you'll be immediately up against. Or the fact that most companies there will simply just shove an HR rep in your face who'll only tell you to go visit their website to look at their opportunities. And if they're not HR reps, then they're poor tired employees who've stared at so many portfolios for hours on end their eyes and moods will be sour by the time they get to yours.
Oh, and simply saying "wait a few months/years", when someone needs a job now, doesn't help at all.
I'm sorry, when I said your portfolio sucks, I was referring to the layout. I wasn't judging the quality of the art, because it's difficult to find what your finished quality is on that site.
I went to GDC this year and while I agree that it's a meat market for students, especially moreso now than it was 5 years ago, it represents at least a goal and a deadline to work towards, which is pretty motivating.
If you need a job right now and you aren't ready to work in the industry, then go apply to a call center or a temp agency or whatever the fuck. Nobody is going to give you a job in the games industry because you need a job.
^^^Thank you very much for clarifying things, and I apologize for the tone of my reply to begin with.
You're most certainly right about finding a job in a non-industry role first and foremost, because I can really feel that the lack of one is hurting my ability to concentrate on art and just seems to be a drag down on anything I try to attempt. A big reason it takes me so long to finish my current pieces is, in addition to not being able to figure out what I want the final piece to look like, because I keep getting distracted by the job hunt.
As for my portfolio layout, yeah, I don't really know what to do with it, I used to have my own Dreamweaver layout but even that one wasn't working out well. Before I knew it I was spending weeks trying to get a website to work since I have piss poor web design and HTML/CSS skills. And because it seems to take me forever to finish a piece (again, because I don't know what the finished piece is supposed to look like in addition to technical problems that continue to hold me back), I feel compelled to keep posting WIP's just so that it looks like I'm accomplishing something.
I'll probably still go to GDC even despite what it's become. But you're right that it's become a huge meat market for students, because that's pretty much what I saw, and I felt so bad for them. I just wish there was a way to avoid standing in line for hours before someone can look at your work (or even worse, when you stand in line for hours to get an audience with a certain person, but then the person's shift ends and you end up with someone else, like a general HR, who isn't going to be of any help).
And thanks for pointing out the JPG artifact image, you were definitely right about that one, and I wish I had a better piece of media of those assets, but unfortunately I do not since those were made at EA and of course, they hold the assets now, in-engine at least.
I understand the need to vent a little frustration, but I also keep getting this whiff of entitlement. It's not supposed to be easy, you are up against a lot of talented kids who will go through the bullshit of the job fair and maybe even get that job that you want. What choice is there? There are literally thousands of students clawing at entry level positions. It's no different for anybody else.
The circumstances aren't conspiring against you getting employed in this industry. It's simply that hard for people who don't have standout work.
While I sympathize with your roadblocks, the industry does not care. So suck it up and stop feeling sorry for your misfortunes. People have gotten farther with much less. You don't realize how much of a leg up you have growing up and living where you are. People bust ass abroad just for a sliver of the same opportunity.
I'd advise you not to waste your time carrying on long threads of frustration but grab a beer, smoke a joint and get making work that you want to impress people with. Aim high.
I think the point was a little different than what I believe you took it as.
It's about visibility. Just submitting your folio to game studios is the very least you can be doing. Getting noticed is the key, IMO, to getting hired. For example, taking part in communities like Polycount where industry artists hang out is great for this. They'll see your work and that has a larger chance of getting you an interview than simply throwing your resume on the stack at Game Company X.
I got hired here 13+ years ago because Cliff saw and liked a level that I made in my spare time for Unreal Tournament. That got us talking and that led to a job offer. If I had simply applied for a job by sending in a resume I doubt it would have happened.
I really aim what I'm saying here at new grads or people who never had an industry job before.
You pretty much repeat what I said. Visbility gets you noticed, but it didn't get you hired. I seriously hope it was your art that made them go "let's hire that dude!".
Forget about that Flash folio, that blog, that twitter stream, that RSS feed, that WIP thread - yes, this can help you build connections, but if your art sucks it will not help a lot. You don't post WIP threads for vanity to get noticed - you post them for feedback! Spreading mediocre art everywhere on the net doesn't help you - it just takes away time from the essential: making art!
Visibility comes by itself. Post stuff on Polycount, get feedback. People will eventually notice you if your art ROCKS! and sometimes it even takes just 1 single thread, or 1 single piece of outstanding work to get noticed! Wait with the whole visibility stuff until your art is up to standards and only then worry about "getting noticed".
Just think of how many artists get "discovered" in our industry? Sure there's a a few, but it's the same as in Hollywood. The majority of us goes to auditions. Maybe super-star places like Blizz, Naughty, Id are different from the rest and 50%+ of their workforce got "discovered", but somehow I doubt it as they still run a careers page on their site. So if you got discovered, call yourself lucky - really, it's great when that happens - but it's just not working for every single artist out there.
I certainly wouldn't build my job seeking strategy around this. Especially how many juniors totally overestimate their artistic abilities. So don't lean back. Keep sending out those resumes and work on art!
Replies
I was going to make a retort but actually I agree with pretty much everything you said. I would argue that these days it's hard to measure educational value, while we have plenty of success stories from polycount's teachings it can currently only be compared to other self-taught disciplines, which is definitely not the status quo for all skill types.
Really it's society in general where these shifts and disconnects are making it difficult. The world requires that you get a job so now the whole point of entering academia is to get one. Learning stops being about betterment for its own sake and whether or not it has value rests on just how much industry and academia get along.
TLDR yes I'm sure we can all agree that both industry and education have made little effort to work towards a future that benefits each other and gives hope to all those who participate. Then again I don't know how well run Starfleet Academy is either. :poly121:
i had read the first few posts an i accept partly with the problem of the industry, if you want to work at AAA Games but if you new in the industry, like me, you have to start small. I have many little jobs with a small pay. On the other hand im 22 years old, i dont need that much money at this time.
It is'nt realy hard to get access to the industy if you not lazy and still talk to people and show them your passion for Gameart and gaming.
And still learn! the industry, the Hardware and tools are still growing.
Ohh and still have a acceptable Portfolio. ;D
If you want to work on AAA games, i hope that you have an Outstanding and Awesome Portfolio and know the right workflows and People.
I hope this help someone.
here is my portfolio
Portfolio
not up to date becouse i dont have that much time to update but if i have done my School im going to
Now I know you're probably asking: Wait, who posted this? What's the job? Would this be less than minimum wage?
[ame="
I'm sure others will say I'm not putting in enough effort or maybe just don't have any talent, but it certainly doesn't feel that way (effort-wise at least) since I'm spending pretty much most of my waking hours in front of the computer learning new things or trying to build new stuff.
To give some sense of what I thought was some progress, let me say that when I first made this topic, I only knew how to use Maya and Photoshop to make objects. Now I use Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush, xNormal, CrazyBump, nDo2, and UDK. Though, whether one can even call that progress is up in the air I suppose.
But yeah, it's not impossible. Though, I don't think I can wait any longer to hope something will occur, as I kind of need money to pay bills and those pesky student loans.
4 months is not much. Before I got my first job as a 3d artist I had to apply for jobs for about 9 months or so. It's taken years for other people... I know from experience that a job will come sooner or later if you just keep at it. (Yeah, it sounds cheesy but it's true!)
I know how you feel, ive been looking for a job the past few months too and also starting in dec ill be needed to pay back my student loans. You just have to keep trying and working on art. It will be hard but you just gotta push though it and sooner or later all the hard work will pay off!
I'm in the same boat haha and kinda depresses and motivates me. Just keep working on your portfolio and keep posting on polycount
http://www.indiedevmap.com/
Same as gamedevmap, but for indie companies, could be useful for people wanting jobbies.
Honestly if I have learned anything from looking at games industry/university applicants its that everyone expects something with no concept of the time and focus it takes to become a valuable professorial.
Just because I have read books about space for over 10 years it doesn't mean I walk up to NASA and expect a job. I have driven a car for over 10years but that doesn't mean I could be a professional rally driver. Just because you have used 3dsmax for 10years it doesn't mean you can become a game industry artist.
If you want to be a professional you need to treat it as a profession. Looking at what skills you need to know and what is expected of you.
To anyone out there struggling to get a job, if you can't get one your not good enough. The solution? Work harder! Not enjoying working hard? Think of another career!
Here at DE, the specifics of software experience are seldom a deciding factor when looking for a right candidate.
I haven't found anything yet, no luck on the job hunt, but I know its not impossible. I know the flaws in my work and what I need to fix to become a better artist. I think that you need to just improve yourself and focus on you and your work instead of a job. I used to make art intending to get a job, and my work suffered, I can see a HUGE improvement in my work by just changing my mindset to just making art for bettering myself. Anyways, it's not impossible
This might be because you only have about 4 pieces in your portfolio. Most of which are very simple and small. Keep making moar!
Well, I certainly hope "I will have a job by this time next year", but I won't hold my breath for it to be in art.
How much finished artwork have you done since May 19th ?
this made me think back - In that time I produced 9 player armors (boy & girl versions), 2 pets and a mount. All this working mostly 8 hours a day 5 days a week, significantly less than every waking hour like the OP claims.
I made every 3d object in our concept trailer (4 environments, fx, 7 characters)
3 furniture sets
built 3 websites
concepts for a haunted house
a set of hair styles for ps home
set of wings for ps home
lots and lots of documents
started up a studio
and i feel like i've been slacking
My freelancing since that day:
357 individual drawings, same client
at least 30 hard surface parts (not counting hoses, nuts & bolts) for military simdev, same client
4 small drawing freelance, 3 clients + 1 now on 2nd installment
about to discuss small drawing freelance for new client soon
For myself: about 25 portfolio level 2d pieces
I disagree. I think the industry is ever evolving and changing, but its vitality and health has never been stronger. I think the fact that companies are hiring more strictly and carefully is a smart thing. First, Companies will hold on to great talent. And, second,the lack of *frivolous hiring will curtail mass layoffs later. Companies are also starting to hold on to core teams while outsourcing the rest. If you want a job, better art is the key. Bottom line! And that's what just about everyone here is saying.*
Damn, great words of advice there!! Its so simple but something I didn't realize about myself until recently. I always felt bad for myself thinking "why can't I get a job??".. but when it really comes down to it, I'm just NOT good enough... yet.
So, I only need to work harder at the thing I love to do in order to get employed. Simple
So true. Ironically, I remember years ago when Richard was working on that industrial scene for the CryEngine back on Game-Artist, it really made me kick myself in the ass, and was one of those that inspired me to get moving. Never regret it.
Just gotta keep on truckin'.
It took me awhile to find a job after graduating... finding a job in this industry IS hard(especially with all the studios closing down lately). But every success story I've read so far no matter what industry has always had one thing in common. They spent a long time working hard before they hit it big. Life isn't going to hand anyone anything for free.
It's often not a matter of skill or talent (Although those things are VERY important. But keep in mind that there are many amazing artists who are out of a job currently.) It has a lot to do with being in the right place at the right time. The longer you spend trying to find that right place and right time, the higher your chances are for finding it
Oh man THIS. For me it was five years, then about this time last year something just seemed to snap and I put my head down and started knocking out art with the goal to have an application-ready portfolio in time for PAX so that afterward I would start applying in earnest.
I haven't been HALF as prolific as some of the guys here (only have myself to blame for that) and I've still managed to make the most of what I HAVE done. Don't do a project unless you intend to learn something from it.
http://www.gdconf.com/events/careerpavilion.html
you have 6 months to make some good portfolio pieces.
As an aside, you also have some nasty jpg compression on a lot of images.
Biofrost, you need more stuff in your portfolio, and make some stuff that isn't sci-fi boxes.
I think going to GDC to get a job is a great goal - shoot to have your portfolio completely revamped with finished, next-gen ready pieces (not full of hand painted textures or iPhone spec stuff) by then.
I won't accept this building up of GDC as some kind of salvation. I've attended it for several years, and there's no worse place to attempt any type of job hunting (anyone who's bothered to visit the career pavilion the past few years should know) given the sheer quantity of people you'll be immediately up against. Or the fact that most companies there will simply just shove an HR rep in your face who'll only tell you to go visit their website to look at their opportunities. And if they're not HR reps, then they're poor tired employees who've stared at so many portfolios for hours on end their eyes and moods will be sour by the time they get to yours.
Oh, and simply saying "wait a few months/years", when someone needs a job now, doesn't help at all.
As others have said there is only hard work and time that will give you a job, also potential employers can come be this topic if they are doing some research on you and I can't think of that helping your case...
Also there has been 4 months since you started this, what have you done in that time, in those 4 months you have had the time people said it would take, so if you worked hard for those months you should not be far from a job, right?
There has been a lot of great / realistic advice given in this thread, clearly enough to get you set on the right track. At this point the biggest road blcok in your way seems to be all mental. Literally all you can do is power through it, keep busting out art and network with the right people.
Good luck
Edit: As this thread continues, you may have started burning down possible bridges to get you into the industry, at this point you should just stop posting and focus more on working...
he's exactly right though...
if i do a search on threads started by you, the earliest one that comes up is 4 months ago. there are 18 threads, of which one links to your portfolio, and one links to a piece you want to salvage for your portfolio. then it seems to be an even split between help threads (good thing) and threads about "someone is suing someone else", or "somebodys stocks went down the shitter", which is a bad thing.
your portfolio itself is a glorified WIP thread with its own domain name. it's full of half finished stuff, or small props which are finished but lost in the mess that is everything else. potential employers don't want to see that. read this: http://www.jonjones.com/2005/10/07/your-portfolio-repels-jobs/
it shouldn't take you 4 months to finish up the environment scene you're working on. if you're unemployed, it should take you 1 month, tops. because you have far more disposable time than people who ARE employed.
all that stuff aside though, i'll address the title of the thread, and prefix it by saying: i'm currently working some pretty awesome freelance stuff, but have yet to land a studio position.
it is not impossible to find work in this industry as a modeler. ESPECIALLY as an environment artist. ask anyone here who's worked in a studio, or is working in one right now, what is the ratio of enviro guys to character guys. you've chosen by FAR the least competitive path.
it will be difficult to find work, sure. but it's not impossible. i'd say 75% of it is attitude.
if you've "worked" on a single piece of art for 4 months, and it isn't finished yet, AND you're unemployed. it's because you're actively choosing not to work on it as much as you should.
that's for one reason alone: you're prioritizing other things in life over the artwork.
whether it's social life, other work, sleeping, masturbating, watching tv, listening to music, whatever... the fact of the matter is, you're not doing enough art if it's taken this long to finish one piece.
which means that as of right now... you just don't want it enough. you don't have the right attitude, and this industry isn't right for you... not right now anyway.
but that can change. and it's up to you to figure out what it is that will motivate you to change.
It really seems like almighty might be right, you might not want it enough. It is not about how many hours you put in or how much art you do if it is not productive work. The past two months I have had people criting my work and you know what I got from it. I have been playing it safe.
If you look at my portfolio you have a Deus ex scene that looks fine but honestly from a modeling standpoint not that complex. A air conditioner that's a box, a robot that's honestly a slightly modified box and a walkway. I for some reason had it in my head it was ok to play it safe as long as it looked decent. Thats not good enough to get a industry job! and you know what I spend a ton of time on those props too.
What I should of been doing was pushing myself artistically, and since then I have done more work in the past few weeks than I had in 3 or 4 months!
TL:DR You need to push yourself and stop lieing to yourself to get a job. You can tell yourself your working hard on something but you need to step back and really look at yourself and see if you are. You need to finish work and tons of it. A bunch of wips will get you nowhere.
highlighted the important bit for emphesis. i made a thread recently about this exact thing. i think it's something a lot of us go through... telling ourselves we're good.
but if we are REALLY good, why are we unemployed?
Focus.
Lack of employable people isn't the same as lack of artists, I can pull 20-30 great artists off the top of the my head right now, the difference is great art = already employed.
And it's not like there is really a "lack" either, there are tons of good artist's looking for work out there, its just digging them out of the haystack.
Getting noticed is a big problem for new artists everywhere, you just don't apply enough or just don't spread your name & folio across the internet enough.
Heck even I'm not very well known and I'm the one in a position to hire people, (I've been in lots of comps & had art on kotaku, yet only maybe 7 other polycounters will recognize me if any lawl. My fault for lack of activity)
So you guys really need to pull your networking fingers out and get your names out there.
roderickweise here is a nice example, get yourself hired already. I would have hired you had you appeared a few months back, so keep applying everywhere :P
Btw it's also nice to see that after 8 pages this still remains a gentlemen's discussion and hasn't digressed into a flamewar/political poop throwing contest, which I imagined it would have by now haha
Just look around any studio, the majority of people working there got their jobs without being well known on the internet. So if you ever have to decide if you want to spend time on self advertisement vs. sending folios/working on the folio, then stick to the later. (actually it's probably much less work building a solid folio than working yourself up to Antropus or Kolby Jukes like fame where you don't even have to mention the art and everyone knows how good they are
Half the issue seemed to be retaining people in this industry, since a lot of the time the jobs are not what people imagined. Getting jobs was pretty easy all considered.
When I did my school/uni there were NO game/game art courses or anything. If you were in the industry you got there via programming/fine art/science type disciplines from University, and then applied it specifically to games. Lots of people I spoke to just did arty type stuff at school, did arty type stuff on computers, and sent their portfolio to games companies. This was mid to late 90's.
The only consistent variable seems to be that you love being creative then it shows in your work and you'll tend to get work.
The same could hold true today. Being a good fine artist is more valuable than a game artist because all that makes game art specific is the workflow I would imagine, and since on a large team workflow varies and morphs perpetually, a good chunk of your degree is just going out of date.
I'd focus on just being a better artist or designer. If you are good at that then the game aspect is just a matter of learning the process/workflow, which by all accounts is a learn on the job affair that might take a few months to get competent at.
Any employer will see that as irrelevant if you are the artist they want/need.
Learning Zbrush, blah blah whatever tools is just a distraction. Good art/design is good irrespective of what tools you use in my view.
In 5 years it'll be another unheard of program that is the 'must use' tool in game dev, so the consistent variable is your creativity and understanding of the overall process.
People don't become builders because they learn how to use a hammer. The hammer is just a tool to make buildings. You need to have a passion to make buildings irrespective of your hammer skills.
As per the unemployed must = not good thing, I think that is a harsh thing to say. Selling yourself can be quite tough.
Just bashing people over it isn't helpful, but I'll agree that often it's more a case of just finish some work so people can see you are good, swallow your pride as you will get knocked back some times, and then sell yourself hard.
Pontification is the thief of time. Some times that is nice if you have the luxury, but if you don't (ie, no portfolio), then don't pontificate. Even if the finished work isn't perfect for you it's perfect to sell your skills
No commercial work is ever perfect, so it's pointless working forever towards it but never reaching it, all the while doing very little to hone your skills and actually get work
Dave
It's about visibility. Just submitting your folio to game studios is the very least you can be doing. Getting noticed is the key, IMO, to getting hired. For example, taking part in communities like Polycount where industry artists hang out is great for this. They'll see your work and that has a larger chance of getting you an interview than simply throwing your resume on the stack at Game Company X.
I got hired here 13+ years ago because Cliff saw and liked a level that I made in my spare time for Unreal Tournament. That got us talking and that led to a job offer. If I had simply applied for a job by sending in a resume I doubt it would have happened.
IMO - Be visible. Get noticed.
I know this sounds lame but Arnold Schwarzenegger is a prime example of someone who has pushed to be a great athlete, and then a great actor, and now a great politician.
Maybe he is just genetically wired for it, but I believe it's more a case of hard work and passion.
Without passion then hard work seems pointless. Why work hard for something you don't want?
So hard work will be valuable but you have to want "it" too!
I think the OP needs to ask if they really enjoy being creative or not.
If all of a sudden it was World War 3 and no computers left, would they tend to pick up a pad and pencil and draw their ideas out...
As said above, there is no work in using tools for tools sake. You have to have a passion to create things, and the tools are just an irrelevant means to an end.
If you need to use them you learn how, but they shouldn't be the important element in the bigger picture imo!
Dave
This is possibley the WORST example.
Arnold is NOT a great actor, he is a famous one. Arnold is not a great politician, he is a famous one. There is a HUGE difference between being great and being famous.
nevertheless, it's a widely reputed that when he was a child in school, he wrote on the classroom board 3 things.
1. to become mr.olympia (now known as the arnold classics, after him)
2. to become a famous actor
3. to become a politician
he decided from an extremely young age that he wanted to be someone who could make changes in the world, not just in his own life. he trained at the gym almost religiously, i think there was a story in "pumping iron", that said he'd been to the gym and passed out on the way home. but rather than go home to recover when he came to, he went back to the gym so he wouldn't miss the next session.
that's dedication!
he invested all of his competition winnings into real estate and his own mail order company. he was a millionaire by 22.
THEN he decided to move into acting. he was already a millionaire, he was already starting to dip his feet into the circles of people who made the real decisions in the world.
literally everything he did in his life was a calculated move, aimed at getting him to his ultimate goal of trying to change the world... to say he's a bad example of someone getting where they want to be, is fucking retarded man.
Just saying.
Oh well I didnt mean it was a bad example of someone getting where and what they wanted. For that I think he is a great example and something to strive towards.
I just meant along the lines of it being a bad example of someone who wanted to be great at something working hard and eventually becoming great at it. As although he achieved his dreams of becoming an actor and politician he isnt GREAT at those things, just famous.
It was more of a comment on Mr.Whippy's word choice in the way he phrased his sentence using GREAT to describe Arnolds as a great political (based on the fact that I had him as my govinator
I'm sorry, when I said your portfolio sucks, I was referring to the layout. I wasn't judging the quality of the art, because it's difficult to find what your finished quality is on that site.
I went to GDC this year and while I agree that it's a meat market for students, especially moreso now than it was 5 years ago, it represents at least a goal and a deadline to work towards, which is pretty motivating.
If you need a job right now and you aren't ready to work in the industry, then go apply to a call center or a temp agency or whatever the fuck. Nobody is going to give you a job in the games industry because you need a job.
As for the jpg artifacts, this asset shows what I'm talking about:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QS7fNXMmgMo/T7E7rkdoZeI/AAAAAAAAAGI/0tvrol6npqE/s1600/Darkspore.jpg
You're most certainly right about finding a job in a non-industry role first and foremost, because I can really feel that the lack of one is hurting my ability to concentrate on art and just seems to be a drag down on anything I try to attempt. A big reason it takes me so long to finish my current pieces is, in addition to not being able to figure out what I want the final piece to look like, because I keep getting distracted by the job hunt.
As for my portfolio layout, yeah, I don't really know what to do with it, I used to have my own Dreamweaver layout but even that one wasn't working out well. Before I knew it I was spending weeks trying to get a website to work since I have piss poor web design and HTML/CSS skills. And because it seems to take me forever to finish a piece (again, because I don't know what the finished piece is supposed to look like in addition to technical problems that continue to hold me back), I feel compelled to keep posting WIP's just so that it looks like I'm accomplishing something.
I'll probably still go to GDC even despite what it's become. But you're right that it's become a huge meat market for students, because that's pretty much what I saw, and I felt so bad for them. I just wish there was a way to avoid standing in line for hours before someone can look at your work (or even worse, when you stand in line for hours to get an audience with a certain person, but then the person's shift ends and you end up with someone else, like a general HR, who isn't going to be of any help).
And thanks for pointing out the JPG artifact image, you were definitely right about that one, and I wish I had a better piece of media of those assets, but unfortunately I do not since those were made at EA and of course, they hold the assets now, in-engine at least.
The circumstances aren't conspiring against you getting employed in this industry. It's simply that hard for people who don't have standout work.
While I sympathize with your roadblocks, the industry does not care. So suck it up and stop feeling sorry for your misfortunes. People have gotten farther with much less. You don't realize how much of a leg up you have growing up and living where you are. People bust ass abroad just for a sliver of the same opportunity.
I'd advise you not to waste your time carrying on long threads of frustration but grab a beer, smoke a joint and get making work that you want to impress people with. Aim high.
I really aim what I'm saying here at new grads or people who never had an industry job before.
You pretty much repeat what I said. Visbility gets you noticed, but it didn't get you hired. I seriously hope it was your art that made them go "let's hire that dude!".
Forget about that Flash folio, that blog, that twitter stream, that RSS feed, that WIP thread - yes, this can help you build connections, but if your art sucks it will not help a lot. You don't post WIP threads for vanity to get noticed - you post them for feedback! Spreading mediocre art everywhere on the net doesn't help you - it just takes away time from the essential: making art!
Visibility comes by itself. Post stuff on Polycount, get feedback. People will eventually notice you if your art ROCKS! and sometimes it even takes just 1 single thread, or 1 single piece of outstanding work to get noticed! Wait with the whole visibility stuff until your art is up to standards and only then worry about "getting noticed".
Just think of how many artists get "discovered" in our industry? Sure there's a a few, but it's the same as in Hollywood. The majority of us goes to auditions. Maybe super-star places like Blizz, Naughty, Id are different from the rest and 50%+ of their workforce got "discovered", but somehow I doubt it as they still run a careers page on their site. So if you got discovered, call yourself lucky - really, it's great when that happens - but it's just not working for every single artist out there.
I certainly wouldn't build my job seeking strategy around this. Especially how many juniors totally overestimate their artistic abilities. So don't lean back. Keep sending out those resumes and work on art!