Opinions on Outsourcing

thesauce · Feb 2010

Been lurking for a while and decided to post!

Working a new game with a couple of co-workers and a friends, but we need art assets. 8 basic character models (think TF2 style).

What do you guys recommend? US based companies? Out of country companies? Individual freelancers? I'm looking to get opinions from people who have experience with outsourced art.

Thanks!

adam · Feb 2010

Welcome to Polycount - hopefully some of the people 'round these parts will have some thoughts for you on outsourcing.

aesir · Feb 2010

I think you should e-mail around and post some job listings and get quotes and look at portfolios. Some people in china speak fluent english and are fucking awesome artists and are dirt cheap. Many are terrrrrrible. Just look around and take your time and you'll find something that works for you.

If you're in a rush... well, that sucks

Thegodzero · Feb 2010

Make sure you know who you are going to get art from. Not the company but the person or people in particular. If you can't get that then you will end up getting lots of different people with different skill levels each needing more and more of your time to get them to make what you want. Where as having one or two people assigned to your project, it might take longer but it wont be your time being eaten.

crazyfingers · Feb 2010

The paid job postings sub forum here would be a good shot, there are plenty of artists here who are into the art style you specified, so this is a great place to try to find some help. Be clear with what you're willing to pay, no one worth their salt is going to do art without worthwhile compensation, this goes for any outsourcing. Don't forget to check the prospective artists' portfolios to make sure it's up to snuff.

Asmuel · Feb 2010

I've worked for a lot of outsourcing companies. I would say approach some outsourcing companies and ask for a quote. If your budget is limited, individuals will cut out the middlemen and overheads, but it will increase the amount of management you guys need to supply as far as keeping consistency through the assets somewhat.

Rick Stirling · Feb 2010

Make sure you submit a detailed brief along with your request for a quote.

When you do choose a person make sure that they understand every aspect of the brief. You will need to negotiate costs for any changes or decide that you make amendments in house.

nfrrtycmplx · Feb 2010

You could also get an outsourcing manager to do all your work for you.

for more helpful information on outsourcing and the like you can also visit www.thejonjones.com

good stuff here, and if you have questions he will be happy to answer them (i'm sure).

Gav · Feb 2010

I'd second going for individual vs. a company if you've got a limited budget. There's nothing wrong with bigger companies, I loved working with SiD and LD, but you'd probably get more bang for your buck if you just worked with a few solo guys. Also, I'm not sure on this, but I wonder if the larger companies would even deal with smaller scale projects?

As an indie developer, I would assume that you would want an artist or two within easy communication. It can be difficult to get this, I think, dealing with bigger companies (especially those over seas, unless you're from 'over there') as there will be a lot of management that you need to filter through. Any experience I've had working with indie companies, such as Garage Games, they really seemed to value to direct contact / one on one sort of deal.

Good luck, if you have any other questions I'd be happy to help out!
Gav

Opinions on Outsourcing

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