6 years of experience with little to show, help!
I've worked for roughly six years at a four-man animation studio as a 3D generalist and now I'm out of a job. Granted, I'm out of said job because I moved to the other side of the country (Seattle) in order to get into the gaming industry. Also, because I felt stuck in a rut.
Unfortunately, I've come to the realization that I don't have much I can use from my old job to create a demo reel (despite the six years). I did a lot of random jack-of-all-trades work at my old job. A lot of it was modifying pre-existing mesh, creating new models from bits and pieces of various other models, scene setups, basic rigging, animation editing, mocap acting, random Flash stuff, etc. I can point to the end product and say "I helped make that" but I can't really claim much as being my own.
So now I'm looking at some of these larger studios that have more niche roles. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do. I think perhaps environmental art or prop art. I feel like I was at my old job for way too long and it made me complacent. Now I feel utterly lost. What do I do? Obviously create a demo reel...but with what? And what will these companies expect from me? I have no idea what the work environment is like for this industry/larger studios. Will my six years mean anything or will I need to focus on a super-amazing demo reel?
I really appreciate any advice that you folks can give me.
Unfortunately, I've come to the realization that I don't have much I can use from my old job to create a demo reel (despite the six years). I did a lot of random jack-of-all-trades work at my old job. A lot of it was modifying pre-existing mesh, creating new models from bits and pieces of various other models, scene setups, basic rigging, animation editing, mocap acting, random Flash stuff, etc. I can point to the end product and say "I helped make that" but I can't really claim much as being my own.
So now I'm looking at some of these larger studios that have more niche roles. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do. I think perhaps environmental art or prop art. I feel like I was at my old job for way too long and it made me complacent. Now I feel utterly lost. What do I do? Obviously create a demo reel...but with what? And what will these companies expect from me? I have no idea what the work environment is like for this industry/larger studios. Will my six years mean anything or will I need to focus on a super-amazing demo reel?
I really appreciate any advice that you folks can give me.
Replies
What sort of stuff were you doing at your old job?
If I were you I'd decide on what I wanted to get a job as, then find people's folios around the net that are already doing that job at a high level in the industry. Then aim for that quality of work in building your own folio.
Like I mentioned in my original post, most of the stuff I did at my old job involved modifying pre-existing assets. Out of our four-man team, I was known primarily as the "character artist" guy. However, I know I don't have what it takes to be a real character artist (and I'm okay with that). I did a lot of everything, from modeling to animation to textures to compositing.
Looking at other people's portfolios does sound like a good place to get ideas on what I should focus on.
What I really want to do is find a junior position at a decently-sized studio where I can learn from my fellow co-workers and grow as an artist. While I learned some new things at my old job I definitely did not have a good environment to grow and develop my skills. Is it possible to find a job like this, or will most studios expect me to already be 100% proficient in my role?
I'd say your best bet at this stage would be to just start producing game ready assets of a type that interests you, or that you might feel comfortable producing. Follow lots of tutorials. Spend an insane amount of time on Polycount. You'll need to construct a viable portfolio.
You and 10,000 other people want the same thing.
Where is your portfolio?
Thanks, blazed, your reply is something I really needed to read. Thanks to everyone for your helpful advice.
I have money saved up but I need to decide if I should get a part time job or if I should focus all of my time on creating a portfolio. Zazerzs, I'm actually signed up to take a FuturePoly class next month. I have high hopes that it will help me update my skills and make me more comfortable with the gaming industry.
The Job I have been doing for an extremely long time is practically pointless for most positions. Why I hope to get a position in a studio or do freelance !
Basically stare at other people's online portfolios and websites who work at the studio you'd like to work at to get some ideas as to their skill level and how they go about handling their portfolios. Usually the trend is to have the artwork up front as quickly as possible (not difficult at all to actually view their work/not link after link)
If you're an environment artist usually there's about three or more different environments in either different types of locations or styles, and the odd prop or two. Character artists usually have their characters posed up front in hi-res renders, weapon artists having a lot of well, weapons with beautiful hard-edge work, vehicle artists etc. Animators = demo reels mostly as well as maybe some animated GIFs.
Then for the even more specialized job positions you'll have people that do very well in one style, IE hand-painted/realism/mobile/hard-edged sci-fi eye candy/a guy that literally is amazing at foliage, character artists that excel at men, women, creatures, etc.
So basically figure out if you'd like to be more of an environment artist, prop artist, character artist, technical artist (mix of programming, shaders, and visuals), animator, etc and go from there. There are also level designers and lighting artists but those are a bit more specific.
Last bit of advice is it is better to have 3-5 amazing pieces of work with time well spent on finishing it, versus 5-10 pieces of work that are of average quality, or filler work that is unfinished (you should have the habit of showing fully finished, game-ready textured work. Having a bunch of high-poly models that while beautiful, are essentially useless and don't communicate your knowledge of texturing and knowing that you can finish something.)
Generalism can work to your advantage however, but usually only when applying to very small studios or mobile studios as they'll need people who can switch between different hats.
Best of luck!
You could use those as work, as long as they are public.
Just put a statement saying what you did in that particular reel.
Did your studio work on any 3rd party animations? do they have trailers?
Quality > quantity
You also really want to try and convey a story if you can. Make the environment feel lived in and alive. Or at the very least, have a sense of history and meaning.
Also, UE4 is free now. Get it and learn the art/level design pipeline for it if you haven't already. It's important to show all of your portfolio pieces in a real time engine.
Best of luck!
Once you are comfortable with some basic stuff, then start pushing yourself more, so that you don't stay in your comfort zone. Keep growing and challenging yourself, and transition over to making things that could be portofolio pieces.
Deathstick: Thanks for the breakdown and advice, super helpful!
Fwap: My old studio has demo reels but it would only make sense to use some of that material if I was going for another Generalist job.
Tobbo: Your advice on dioramas is fantastic. I hadn't thought of that. Not only will it be less intimidating to go that route, but I agree on your "quality > quantity" statement.
Kevin: More useful advice. I've actually been doing that lately (working on skills I missed out on in my education).
slosh & dustin: Yes, moving without a job was boneheaded. I think it was necessary, though. My old job was, indeed, a black hole. When I first started working there, I had such ambition. After a couple years I fell into a comfort zone and a rut where I stopped learning new things and my passion dwindled. Moving was a catalyst for me. Sink or swim.
For my last job I only mentioned projects and few persons whom they could ask about me and they never asked to show something in return.
So now I am not sure if I need to waste my time for doing portfolio. My old one is pathetic and 15 years old.
Few years ago I had to choose new artists and look through their portfolios. They are all super cool and spectacular and at the same time somehow too similar to each other. Truth is that portfolio hardly reveal whether the person would be really useful and productive in actual pipeline.
what do you mean by this?
You got all that from a paragraph about someone you hardly know, who is stuck in a rut and likely confused/anxious about what to do next?
I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion, seems a little callous. Sometimes people are filled with self doubt due to situations or decisions throughout their life, so they're not always going to be 100% clear thinking.
I mean all of them follow the same typical cliches mostly + static dead poses. If environments , cool looking but somehow less challenging scenes. Often too high polycount and too good lighting. As a result all of this looks cool but pretty similar and somehow boring to look through.