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Question about Twitch video game streaming side-hobby

kevingamerartist
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kevingamerartist polycounter lvl 6
Hi all,
So I have a question about a side-hobby that I'm almost thinking about pursuing. So in the near future I'm thinking about starting to stream video game gameplays through Twitch as a side-hobby.

My question about this is since my goal is to start off as a Junior Environment Artist/Prop Artist, and then eventually move on to Environment Artist, etc. Once I start streaming on Twitch for a little while and if somehow I end up becoming recognized and a little popular, is this going to hinder my goal of becoming a Junior Environment Artist?

I'm not trying to analyze this too much, however I just want to ensure that I'm thinking about this in a smart way, and I'm not sure if companies I apply to in the future would question me about this once I started streaming. My other concern is if at events that I go to later on if people start to recognize me, and what if companies don't want me to reveal of where I work or what I do at their company? Again not trying to think too much about this, I just want to make sure that I'm being smart about this.

Would I be able to do both streaming on Twitch as a side-hobby, but still pursue of becoming a Junior Environment Artist, if I end up getting a little recognized?

Any feedback on this is greatly appreciated. Thank you :)

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  • shaderfx
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    shaderfx polycounter lvl 9
    I doubt it would have a negative impact.
    At least not if you behave yourself on twitch.

    I see several people who work at game studios who stream on twitch.
    I certainly would not think of it as a bad thing.

    As for "getting recognized", I would worry about that if/when the time comes.
    It takes a lot of commitment to build up a large enough follower/subscriber base on twitch.

    If a job comes along that has a problem with your streaming on twitch then you can make a decision at that time if you want to go for the job or keep on streaming.

    Personally, I would think twice before joining a company that wants to limit what you do in your spare time (depending on exactly what they want to limit), but I guess when you are a junior it is harder to stand up for that.
  • Add3r
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    Add3r polycounter lvl 11
    I know many big name artists at different big name companies that stream in their off time. I personally stream from time to time as well. If people ask where I work, I tell them what I am allowed to tell anyone. I work for Activision Blizzard and worked on CoD AW. If they want more details, I have a link to my portfolio where they can see my resume and body of recent work. Just dont reveal secrets about your job and go on talking about how much you hate a coworker or that you hate the product or anything like that. Just be yourself, have fun making or playing games, etc. Its a hobby, and if the company has a problem with what you do outside of work if it does not affect them in any way, then you probably do not want to be working for them anyway. Just do not make yourself a self proclaimed representative for the company.

    It helps build internet presence and the chance for people like me who do not have a degree but enjoy teaching tutoring to connect with those who want to learn and ask questions and stuff. I do not claim to be a master what so ever, but I like to talk and share my work and if someone is curious about anything that I am doing while working in Maya or texturing in Substance Painter, they can feel free to ask and I will answer with the best of my knowledge :)

    Be smart about it, just like you would talking to any one person outside of streaming. Essentially just a skype call with a lot of people. Just dont break NDA. If anything, I think streaming is beneficial if you are streaming work. As for streaming games, should not concern the company whatsoever.
  • blankslatejoe
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    blankslatejoe polycounter lvl 18
    The key thing here is not to be an asshat on stream.

    Consider anything you do on stream to be a reflection of who you would be at a workplace...because that's how any hiring companies will view it, should they find it. And they might, if they google you while trying to decide if they should hire you or not.

    If "being yourself" on stream involves a lot of angry hate-speech or offensive trash-talking..I'd think twice about streaming publicly. But if you're reasonable in demeanor, streaming might even be a GOOD thing, as it would show your commitment to all-things-game-related. That sort of super-enthusiasm is one of the best things about hiring juniors! :-)

    Goodluck!
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Would I be able to do both streaming on Twitch as a side-hobby, but still pursue of becoming a Junior Environment Artist, if I end up getting a little recognized?

    You're going to lose time that could have been spent pursuing your goal as a env artist.

    I wouldn't recommend it.
  • Sukotto
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    Sukotto polycounter lvl 8
    Seconding beefaroni. If you haven't gotten into the industry yet, your game playing should be kept to a minimum in order to maximize your time to work on your art. You have to buckle down to get that elusive first industry job. Sure, you don't want to burn out so you could stream/play for a bit, but only in moderation. Thats my two cents at least.
  • Add3r
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    Add3r polycounter lvl 11
    beefaroni wrote: »
    You're going to lose time that could have been spent pursuing your goal as a env artist.

    I agree with this point.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    I suppose you could work towards both goals at the same time by streaming your art creation. I've never been much into streams but I always make time to watch some artists and programmers stream since I can learn a lot from watching others work. The only downside would be that you would build up a different type of viewer base since artists would probably only want to watch you make art, whereas gamers would probably only want to watch gameplay.
  • slipsius
    If you get big enough, streaming can actually be a good way to network. Having devs on your stream to answer questions and stuff. Ive seen it done before with a few streamers. But they wont waste their time if you have 5 viewers.

    But ya. Just keep it professional, and I strongly suggest you don't ever mention where you work when do you do that industry job. Then people will just hound you for information constantly, and you might let something slip you arent suppose to.
  • DanglinBob
    I'd say overall this will be a positive thing - so long as you follow the one important rule of the social media age: Expect that everything you say, everything you post, will live forever.

    So long as you don't go crazy on air or slip up and really offend someone you should be a-ok!
  • ghaztehschmexeh
    beefaroni wrote: »
    You're going to lose time that could have been spent pursuing your goal as a env artist.

    I wouldn't recommend it.

    Right

    Because it's healthy to spend 16+ hours a day everyday doing one thing.
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Right

    Because it's healthy to spend 16+ hours a day everyday doing one thing.

    Hmm, maybe I should expand a bit on my post.

    If the OP is working a full time job (I really don't know), then there is maybe like 4-6 hours after work that can be spend doing whatever. When shower/eating/etc is factored in, those hours are reduced a bit more. While I am not very knowledgeable about streaming, it seems like one of those things where a large time commitment is required to gain popularity.

    If OP's dream job is to become an jr. env artist, then yes, I do think that a good amount of time needs to be spent working on projects.
  • Clark Coots
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    Clark Coots polycounter lvl 12
    There's an entire section on Twitch for Game Dev:http://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Game%20Development

    I don't think streaming would hurt your goals in an employers eyes if you aren't a jerk on stream. In fact I think it could help motivation to have a set stream time to do art work, that is if you want to stream art as well as games. Also if you get viewers it could help with any public presence and speaking which again could help you any nerves in future job interviews. Sometimes other artists stop by and its a great opportunity to meet people and network and get live feedback in some cases.

    If you just want to stream games I think as a side hobby its fine, have fun, that's what games are for!
  • Tobbo
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    Tobbo polycounter lvl 11
    You could stream yourself making art for your portfolio! :)

    Beefaroni is right though. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to even break into the industry. You should be striving for Senior level quality artwork in your portfolio. You should not be shooting for junior level even though you may be applying for those positions.

    I can almost guarantee you the person that gets the junior level job will have senior level quality artwork in their portfolio.

    I only bring this up because you seem to try and make a distinction quite a bit between junior environment artist and 'regular?' environment artist in your original post. Maybe you mean senior environment artist?
  • kevingamerartist
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    kevingamerartist polycounter lvl 6
    Thank you everyone for your feedback, I greatly appreciate all of it so far.

    For streaming video games I would only stream for about 1 or 2 hours per evening since I work a contract job. The other time would be spent working on my portfolio, which I'm still doing. So overall I do agree about some of everyone's concerns of what I am planning on doing with my time.

    I didn't even think about streaming while working on my portfolio, that actually sounds like a cool idea, I'll take it into consideration.
  • kevingamerartist
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    kevingamerartist polycounter lvl 6
    @beefaroni: I do agree with your point, since I do need to focus my time on art projects to get the job that I want.

    I probably already stated this in this thread, but after seeing other gamers stream, I just thought that it looked fun, so I figured it might be a cool side-hobby to do. Still I totally agree about the whole part of focusing on my portfolio to get the Junior Artist position.
  • kevingamerartist
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    kevingamerartist polycounter lvl 6
    @Tobbo: For environment artists from what I understand, there is Junior Environment Artist, Environment Artist, and Senior Environment Artist. I only say that because I have looked at game companies websites and I have seen posts for both Environment Artist and Senior Environment Artist. Unless I'm misunderstanding this.

    Maybe this sounds silly for me to say, however why do artists who are aiming for a Junior entry level position need to have Senior quality work? Is it that way the whole environment looks similar when they combine all their work together? Or is it because they want to ensure they hire the person who can show the best quality work? That's what I can think of right now, unless it's something else that I'm missing or don't know about.

    I agree with you though about streaming while creating art for my portfolio, that's not a bad idea at all, thanks for the idea :)
  • easterislandnick
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    easterislandnick polycounter lvl 17

    Maybe this sounds silly for me to say, however why do artists who are aiming for a Junior entry level position need to have Senior quality work? Is it that way the whole environment looks similar when they combine all their work together? That's what I can think of right now, unless it's something else that I'm missing or don't know about.

    If you are making game art it needs to be game quality. So a junior needs to be producing assets that are of a quality that is comparable to work created at a more senior level. More often than not juniors get given tasks that are more invisible to the player, collision meshes, lODs, set dressing, destroyed states, repairing outsourced assets etc. When they actually get to make something they are given more simple props. You don't start on a whole building set but you do get to make 4 bin variants, but those bins need to be of a quality that matches the rest of the game. Being a senior/lead is also not always based on being the best artist, management skills, knowledge of tools and pipelines and an understanding of the best ways to approach problems often come into play. Producing the assets is only half the job.
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Maybe this sounds silly for me to say, however why do artists who are aiming for a Junior entry level position need to have Senior quality work?

    The question was answered below, but yea, I'd always aim for senior level stuff. Basically, find some good environments on here, read through he breakdowns. Your work should target that work. As the poster said below, you still may have to make smaller props that hit that visual quality.

    Here's the CG Student Awards for this year. Most of these students are looking for their first position in the games industry. This is your competition.

    http://www.cgstudentawards.com/student-of-the-year-games?page=9
  • Add3r
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    Add3r polycounter lvl 11

    Maybe this sounds silly for me to say, however why do artists who are aiming for a Junior entry level position need to have Senior quality work?

    No offense but this is the equivalent of asking something like "Why make the best art I can, when I could make "meh" level work and just get a entry level position". Always push to be the best, nothing less :)
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Add3r wrote: »
    No offense but this is the equivalent of asking something like "Why make the best art I can, when I could make "meh" level work and just get a entry level position". Always push to be the best, nothing less :)

    Ah that is a perfect way to answer that question.
  • oXYnary
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    oXYnary polycounter lvl 18
    coots7 wrote: »
    There's an entire section on Twitch for Game Dev:http://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Game%20Development


    Wow, I didn't realize that existed. I mean I know some indie devs that stream their work flow and play testing for the particular game they are working on (GOOD PR if done right). I didn't realize there was Twitch streaming just to stream asset/program creation in general.
  • kevingamerartist
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    kevingamerartist polycounter lvl 6
    @Add3r: Yeah I thought that was a silly/stupid question to ask. I figured to ask anyways to know what the answer was. I know to aim to have my work be the best it can be, so I do agree with you. :)
  • Odow
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    Odow polycounter lvl 8
    @Tobbo:
    Maybe this sounds silly for me to say, however why do artists who are aiming for a Junior entry level position need to have Senior quality work?

    Because there's a junior job for 10 juniors. If you think having a diploma is just enough, you're in for a bad ride. Yes doing the same thing for 13hours straight isn't heathly but who are we kidding if we say it's not necessary, working the minimum isn't enough to get a job in our domain except if you're a genius or really lucky. streaming isn't a good idea imo if you're a student. You're life routine atm should be 1 hours of work 15min pause, 1 hours work , 15min pause, not go to school during 8 hours, play the entire night. nor goes to school, tell yourself you're going to play 2 hours (end up playing way more for sure) then work a bit, then start doing something else. And No one is going to listen a stream that is only up 15min at the time.

    I think you need a reality check into how it is for junior. I live in Canada, qu
  • pangaea
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    pangaea polycounter lvl 5
    Hi OP,

    Streaming is a hard business. Unless you are godly at a popular game or really funny I.e. comedian in your spare time, then your not going to get more than 5 people watching you.

    On twitch the most popular game is Hearthstone and League of Legends. If you made challenger in league of legends, you might get 100 viewers, if you was a really hot girl and showed cleavage you might get 50 viewers. If you play casually for 2 hours a day, you will get 0-2 viewers at most.
  • Dataday
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    Dataday polycounter lvl 8
    Right

    Because it's healthy to spend 16+ hours a day everyday doing one thing.

    I cant help but think that at the very least that would train them for "the industry".

    Lets face it, depending on where you go and what you do... you dont do it for the health benefits. How many people crash due to being unprepared during crunch time (or with say tv, pilot season)? As much as I hate to say it (and wish it weren't so), there are some benefits to training onself to being able to spend a stupid amount of time doing one thing and doing it well...
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