Looking For Outsource Coordinator Experienced Developers
high dynamic range
Hey Polycount:
I was wondering if anyone here would have time to answer some questions about their experience and interviewing process for Outsource Coordinator positions for Art.
I want to try to best prepare for an interview I've been given next week, and I want to assume they're going to be looking for technical answers to technical questions.
Thank you!
I was wondering if anyone here would have time to answer some questions about their experience and interviewing process for Outsource Coordinator positions for Art.
I want to try to best prepare for an interview I've been given next week, and I want to assume they're going to be looking for technical answers to technical questions.
Thank you!
Replies
Based on my personal experience at a few places and on a few projects but also based on conversations with other artists, such a job could be something like being the producer/manager guy that handles contracts and scheduling with external contractors, sending out art tests, and so on.
But it could also mean, being the seasoned art guy who not only communicates directly with contractors, but also reviews the assets and takes care of touchups. And if needed, such touchups could also be delegated to other members of the art team.
I wouldn't say that either of these positions are super technical though. One is more about dealing with legal stuff (contracts, and so on) while the other is more art-oriented. But of course it could very well be everything in between ... or something else altogether. That being said : good luck for the interview !
Some outsourcers may be less professional as others, some may need more supervision than others. Some can only handle props, while others are prepared to work with your pipeline, level editors and other advanced tools. Some can communicate with you easily, while with others the barrier may be greater. Some may have no clue of IP protection and you will have to ensure they don't mess up. As outsourcer manager you'd make sure the outsourcing process runs as smoothly and efficient as possible.
Good luck!
Also, are all the legal and budget tracking (including adjusting for a variety of economic variables) experential information? Just something people pick up on as they actually work through the position?
Usually the internal artists don't talk much to the outsourcer. Note that there's often a language barrier which keeps artists from talking directly to each other.
Usually we work in batches of items. At the client, someone makes the deicison that it saves money and/or time to give this to someone else. I assume this decision is usually made with input from various people: producer, art director, maybe tech artist if you outsource stuff like Substances, and someone who watches the budget. It's uncommon that there are ad-hoc requests for assets. Usually it is pre-determined and in the contract what the outsourcer does. i.e. you commission a batch of 20 NPCs/levels/building/concepts/etc. in a specified quality, to be delivered at a specific date or over a period of time in a specified format.
We have then a few people on the client's side with whom we regularly interact. Feedback is very important and with some clients we update progress daily. When your outsourcer is in the opposite time-zone you really have to ensure feedback is tight, understandable and complete, or else you waste time and money. This means on the client's side you want a good and efficient review process so your outsourcer keeps working int he right direction. As your relation with an outsourcer deepens, you may have to give less feedback. We have clients which trust us all the way - we access their P4, do our own QA and our art goes right into their game builds.
Artists on the client side may, or may not, do the following: integration of outsourced assets into something bigger (e.g. a level), reviews (i.e. QA) of assets, giving feedback, integrating received assets into their storage system (e.g. P4), add touch-ups and polish. They may even re-use work from the outsources, such as Substances, tiling textures, props, basemeshes, or concept art. At this point artists may provide feedback as well - which, however should be coordinated with local art directors before giving it to the outsourcer.
http://gamesauce.org/pdf/2009fallgamesauce.pdf
Edit... more of his stuff here
http://www.jonjones.com/jons-most-popular-articles/