Has anyone started out in QA, before moving on to become a 3D Artist?
polycounter lvl 3
Hey Guys, long time no post!
Anyway, i've got a QA Testers interview coming up on the 12th this month. Since graduating last summer, it's been an extremely frustrating period, so having an opportunity to still get to the games industry is still good. Thankfully, it's Sony i've got my interview at, so the shift patterns are typically fine for me to able to keep doing 3D work in my own time.
Firstly, i was wondering if people could help me with the interview itself. The do's & don'ts and any advice. I have some knowledge of test procedures such as Smoke, Regression and Destruction test methods, but i'm still a little nervous what maybe asked of me. If anyone has any tips, or anything they can give me based of their experiences, then excellent!
My main question is, how many of you have started out in QA, before going into a 3D role, and how long did this take you? I see this is a common route for several individuals, and i was keen to avoid QA, but i suppose a Games Industry job is a games industry job at the end of the day. I'm CONSISTENTLY, everyday making 3D Art, constantly progressing and constantly producing. It's what i live and breathe and i'm extremely passionate about the craft, but it drives me nuts everyday knowing i've yet to achieve this
Anyway, i've got a QA Testers interview coming up on the 12th this month. Since graduating last summer, it's been an extremely frustrating period, so having an opportunity to still get to the games industry is still good. Thankfully, it's Sony i've got my interview at, so the shift patterns are typically fine for me to able to keep doing 3D work in my own time.
Firstly, i was wondering if people could help me with the interview itself. The do's & don'ts and any advice. I have some knowledge of test procedures such as Smoke, Regression and Destruction test methods, but i'm still a little nervous what maybe asked of me. If anyone has any tips, or anything they can give me based of their experiences, then excellent!
My main question is, how many of you have started out in QA, before going into a 3D role, and how long did this take you? I see this is a common route for several individuals, and i was keen to avoid QA, but i suppose a Games Industry job is a games industry job at the end of the day. I'm CONSISTENTLY, everyday making 3D Art, constantly progressing and constantly producing. It's what i live and breathe and i'm extremely passionate about the craft, but it drives me nuts everyday knowing i've yet to achieve this
Replies
that get critiques and comments on your work from the forums and you will at one point soon find something that suits you.
At least, now, you have a revenue while youre at it.
I really worked my ass off to earn that spot, and am extremely grateful I got that opportunity. Crunching at work, and then going home and working/studying. Hell, I still do that today, as do most here I'm sure
Unfortunately, the Sony QA Studio is purely QA. However, i've built up several contacts that are currently within the industry, and often in contact with. I appreciate the answer @kernersvillan! Thank you!
Money isn't too much of an issue with the role in fact. It pays enough for me to live on my own in the area, and would leave me with enough money to spare. I graduated in July and have been unemployed since, so every bit of my time has gone into making 3D work.
It is not common anymore for people to "graduate" out of QA. It was much more common in the 90's and early to mid 00's when teams were still pretty small and everybody, knew everybody and rubbed elbows.
These days QA is not really a road to a Dev position, its a road to more QA. It has to be because it is its own career with it's own paths and needs. It does not exist to facilitate people landing their dream jobs, it exists to make sure that the product that gets out the door is the greatest and most polished product possible.
Im not saying it never happens, there are people who have been able to jump from QA to a full on dev position, but this is NOT the norm. It is rare and often time it depends on the studio setup (embedded QA, publisher QA, dev QA, or god forbid a QA outsource group).
Not trying to burst your bubble or anything but make sure you are in the right frame of mind when you go in and make sure you understand what is expected of you and your role.
One thing you should probably be a bit careful about is talking about becoming QA just to get a foot in and later become an artists, of course it might be the same for many others but as others have said above, QA is a career itself and other people will take it just as serious as you would about a 3d artist job, so some would maybe not feel so great hearing that.
@MrHobo any advice on the interview process, or anything i should keep in mind? I have good knowledge of different testing cases such as Smoke, Regressions, Destruction and Soak, as well as writing in depth reports, but i'm somewhat worried about the kind of questions i could be asked and so forth
EX: I remember spending a few hours in GTA3 parking a firetruck in the subway to see if it would do anything crazy like the train derailing would happen.
As others have said, in the current development structure it's very rare for this QA role transition to happen now. Games are more complex requiring more QA and support during dev and post game release for patches and DLC, so their roles are important and always required.
You're best to have a plan, get your foot in the industry, learn how games are developed via QA whilst working on your portfolio. Later carefully assess whether there's any possibility to move to art, then act accordingly on this outcome. When you and your portfolio are ready apply for art jobs with the comfortable knowledge you have a better understanding how games are made inside out.
Regarding the interview, just talk about your previous testing experience, I think it's ok to tell them you have a keen interest in 3D art so should you get tasked with art stuff you'll have a better eye in seeing bugs or issues etc. Probably best not to mention your aspirations to become a 3D artist as it could shift focus away from the main reason for the interview as a QA. Let them know you have a understanding of the role and the type of responsibilities you will have as QA.
Anyway good luck!
Ahh yes... a mistake i've made previously, asking about other roles in a QA Interview xD I'm lucky i know a few people at the QA studio i'm being interviewed at, and they've advised me to take in a few pieces of work i've made, to show them i have a keen interest. Unfortunately, the studio, which is Liverpool Sony QA, is purely QA Testers and no devs. It's been 8 months since i've graduated, and in that time apart from making 3D Art, i've built up some contacts with professional devs.
Since you know it's off-site QA then you'll know to just focus on your art and let QA be the source of industry experience and more networking.
I appreciate everyone's feedback!
I recently just got out of QA, working for about a year in it. One thing I definitely learned was that many people that were in QA never really got out of it that stuck around, and mostly just moved up to either Senior QA Testers, QA Leads, or even Producers (this could be over 10 years though).
Unfortunately I didn't really see much of any people that were able to get up and move out of QA itself, but that does not mean its a bad start even if you think your end goal is an artist. You just gotta realize that in this day and age, it is very hard to get out of QA; you can still learn a lot about how games are made, development cycles, and also can even get some networking through things like company events and even just in the cafeteria (if you have one). Reaching out to certain people you know in the company is also a good idea as well.
I wouldn't really call it impossible, but its definitely a very difficult and challenging task. Realize that in QA, your going to work LONG hours, especially if your in crunch, which includes weekends too. Crunch is fairly normal anyway, but if your not super dedicated to your art (or other medium, eg. programming), its going to be very tiring, even on regular days to continue working on it. I would also call QA a bit of a place of competition - a lot of people that go into QA have a similar mindset of wanting to move up and out of QA into a dev position but that does not really happen that often even if they are talented. Not trying to discourage you, but giving a fair warning
I agree with what @Ex-Ray said though, I would work on your portfolio as much as possible and then eventually asses your situation in the company and see if there open positions or if there is people you can talk to and show your work to.
Good luck!
Although in OP' case the studio is not situated near development.
@kernersvillan thanks for the kind words. Motivation hasn't ever been an issue, neither is hard work! I understand the long hours that'll be put in front of me, but it's up to me to balance everything out.
Liverpool is started to grow in terms of technology. Games and VR are becoming big, so conferences will be something I'll attend to gain more contacts.
where's your portfolio?
At the end of the day, if your portfolio is good, you will find work. I've seen multiple people hired at AA / AAA studios with less than 1 year professional experience (or none at all). They had a good portfolio, they weren't a dick, they got hired.
Portfolio: dweenietod.wix.com/deenmugalart
Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/artist/dweenietodd
It's by no means amazing, i still believe it's to a poor quality. However, it's a slow process, but i suppose i'm a stubborn learner.
The AKM is the project that will be going. I purchased Tim Bergholzs Substance Painter Tutorials to learn the software, but now there's an abundance of AKM's out there, which is fine but i feel it does me no help. I'm in the process of making a new project atm to replace that particular scene.
The Abyss Tunnels is another project that'll be going too. Otherwise as i said, my work isn't of amazing quality at all, but i feel i'm making improvements and producing work. I'll be keeping at it until i've gained a high standard of work.
Going off my previous post. I still strongly feel that you will be doing yourself a disservice by working in QA. With another 6-8 months of steady improvement (maybe a year at max), you should have a nice folio for employers.
It's been around 8 months since i've graduated. I have a section of old work on my Portfolio, and i believe i've slowly improved. I honestly believe this has been down to not being in a QA job role, especially with the shift patterns the job demands. This is why i've come to Polycount for advice from more experience individuals. Being young, inexperience and especially having had a frustrating period since graduation, it wouldn't be of surprise if i jumped at the chance to work in a job role within the industry, but i still feel i should bide my time, and slowly progress in what i want to do.
I'm speaking from only my job (so by no means take this as industry standard), but they have gone to some lengths to try and keep Quality Assurance people from interacting with developers, due to people in QA clashing with the developers so now most interaction with developers is done through Senior and Lead QA personnel. So that makes it difficult to network. The only place where everyone might fraternize is at company events or in the cafeteria. That being said, QA is not a bad way to see how games are made as far as how development cycles go but nowadays no longer grants you much of an "in" to the developer side of things. At my studio (a AAA game company) the last person that moved up into an art role from QA was in 2011 (and our QA is filled with art majors, though idk how many have decent portfolios, but there are a few hundred testers in the dept). Just food for thought.
This was my issue with QA to begin with, and hence i've not applied to many QA roles, unless i know the company either has reasonable shift pattern demands, or it is an onsite QA role so i can network.
I'm extremely lucky that my parents allowed me to live back at home after graduating (honestly i feel bad for living with my parents again) but they'e cool about it. They understand i've been using all my spare time to advance my skills, and have told me to bide my time, hone my skills and don't rush for anything.
Out of curiosity Samnwck, were do you work at, and what position? I've seen your artstation, and you've got some great art pieces!
"Yeah. It's easy to get rich. Just start a few businesses with your parents' millions of dollars."
Nevertheless, i had my interview last Tuesday and it seemed to go well. I'm lucky i knew employees at the studio, so that helped in itself. Was told that i'd here within 2 weeks, so we'll just wait