What's the day-to-day like for a remote artist?

NeonGold · Mar 2020

Hey Polycount! So I recently got an offer to interview for a Junior 3D Artist (remote, contract) role at a AAA studio and I don't want to walk in there with no idea of what to expect but, to be honest, I really do have no idea what to expect.

I have so many questions, but a good place to start would be:

What does a 'day in the life of' a remote artist look like?
What is the pay like and how is it structured (per model, salary, etc)?
As a junior I feel I'll need a lot of guidance - is that okay?

Any insight would be much appreciated and go a long way in calming my nerves.

Taylor Brown · Mar 2020

What does a 'day in the life of' a remote artist look like?

Wake up, make coffee, maybe put pants on, sit down and work. You need to maintain your own focus and keep on task. Youre at home in front of your personal PC so the temptation to flick over to reddit, discord or youtube is going to be high but you have to resist. Expect to get impatient when you're blocked while waiting for feedback. It's also very lonely at times. It's easy to fall into just working all the time but do make an effort to maintain your personal life. Also be prepared for hardware failures... I recently faced this and it can be very humbling to be employed one second and then out of work the next when a part fries.

What is the pay like and how is it structured (per model, salary, etc)?

That's a question for the person interviewing you. It depends on a million variables.

As a junior I feel I'll need a lot of guidance - is that okay?

Just be honest about that in the interview. If the company wants to invest in you, it won't be an issue. If they want someone who is completely self-reliant and only sends in top grade work on the first try, then it might not be the company for you and their expectations might be out of touch with reality. Remember, an interview goes both ways.. You want to make sure they are the people you want to give your time and expertise to.

DavidCruz · Mar 2020

Just echoing this:

"It's easy to fall into just working all the time but do make an effort to maintain your personal life. Also be prepared for hardware failures. "

Make sure its clear if you want to have a day off at any point, say Sunday, or the weekend as a whole, holidays, emergencies, ect. Ask what happens in the probability of some emergency situation, whether you or someone you love being rushed to emergency room, for instance.

When anyone is not working they should practice, pulling the plug from the net and working on your stuff, its what i do, it prevents you also from lurking about on the net and procrastinating, gives your work 100% of your attention, obviously doubt you can unplug while on the clock if they want to chime in at anytime, however phones do exist so maybe an option.

Good Luck!

sacboi · Mar 2020

Good for you

Not much to add, although I've not heard nor seen someone being considered for a remote role at a top tier company without previous inhouse experience?, in quite a while, much less an interview. I'd say your portfolio was largely instrumental presenting this opportunity to begin with (...pretty solid grasp of the basics btw, liking that snack machine, tho IMO texturing could do with a bit more 'grunge') alongside technical expertise they're also curious about you as a person/artist but also more importantly for them whether you'll fulfill contractually speaking, obligatory aspects throughout it's duration.

Now on that note, if you hadn't already, make sure to nail down your rights as an off site worker/employee specific too your region or if needs be, checkout our wiki for additional info. Don't for gawd's sake walk in there blind, just in case you're hired on the spot and binding *LEGAL* paperwork (...read top-bottom-sideways plus *UNDERSTAND*) appears requiring a signature/s. Nothing worse than signing something that may in hindsight turns out wasn't a 'best fit' either financially or indeed mentally so again I'd urge doing some homework - first?!.

Anyways, aside from a bit of research about them, it is fairly standard to ask questions as well, rehears a list 'what is required, their expectation/s' - 'general workplace practices' - 'payrate/payment schedule' - 'health insurance'...etc.

Otherwise echoing Taylor's sentiment about honesty, be *professional* in that answering all queries according to your current level of knowledge, try not to embellish stuff, coupled with managing nerves and being personable whilst not overdoing it, should go fine.

Good luck.

NikhilR · Mar 2020

I'm really curious to know which company this is, since remote freelance from well established AAA companies really is unheard of if you have no prior experience.
Its a good thing though, I feel like more companies should follow suit.
Did you have to do an art test for them to consider you?

To your question,
I have worked remotely for a number of smaller companies, and time management and having a suitable work set up are critical.
Also be sure to look into saving on taxes through credits on rent and office expenses.
In many ways remote working can be very rewarding, though I can't really say its very stable, in the sense that I do have a part time day job on top of remote freelance work.

tahakitan · Mar 2020

What does a 'day in the life of' a remote artist look like?
My hours are alot more flexible. If I need to do something during the day than I can easily move my hours around. You need more discipline to work though since nobody is behind you and there are alot more distractions at home. I have been doing it for about a year now and have been booked with work the entire time so I never had any issues getting freelance work but I know like everyone that it won't last forever. At some time I will have to start looking for more work since game productions don't last forever. Working from home can be very isolating also, I recommend going for runs and walks when you have free time, spend time with friends and socialize, etc... Not having human interaction for a long period of time can really cripple your social skills for a bit which is not good for your personal life and professional life. I have gone through alot of hardware replacements, cost alot of money but I kept all my receipts and got a nice deduction on my taxes. keep your receipts. Also learn about estimated tax payments if you don't know anything about it and you are in the US. Alot of US citizens don't know they have to pay taxes quarterly if the employer doesn't take out the taxes for them. Those quarterly taxes are called estimated taxes.

What is the pay like and how is it structured (per model, salary, etc)?
pay really depends on alot of things such as company, work, timeframe, workload, experience, etc...

As a junior I feel I'll need a lot of guidance - is that okay?
If they are hiring a Junior artist for a junior position than guidance should be expect or they are doing something wrong.

Mark Dygert · Mar 2020

I've worked contract for a year and enjoyed it, a lot. After working in an office with other creative people you do start to miss the camaraderie and the creative collaboration that happens. But with discord, slack or other forms of communication it isn't so bad. It is easy to fall into the trap of "always working". Right now with the virus going around the pacific northwest, we're working from home and we're managing pretty well. But we're in the production phase where things are planned, R&D for this current set of tasks is done and we're just heads down going through the backlog. So for things like that, remote is ok. If we where planning or doing R&D, its much easier face to face in a shared space.

Remote and Jr level are somewhat incompatible, not impossible, but not really ideal.

As a person that works with outside contractors I really don't want to spend a lot of my time training people how to do the job they are hired to take off of my plate. The less time I spend hand holding the better off everyone is. That time and resource drain to ramp up new people is one of the reasons you'll see experience requirements or only Sr level positions open. Its a bit of a drain to ramp someone up even if they've been doing the job somewhere else and are already familiar with most of the standard tools and workflows. They just need to understand the pipeline and specific tools that are unique to that project and generally they pick them up pretty fast.

Being remote and Jr and as well, there is just a lot of management and hand holding that has to take place. If the talent is there and they just lack some experience and need a little guidance, we'll invest the time but it is a bit of a gamble because we're placing a bet on what that person could become, not what they are right now. If there are easier bets that we can place that involve less risk and sunk time then we will probably take the safer bet with a faster/easier payout.

Your portfolio should always show Sr level work, even if you lack the actual production experience. If it doesn't then it's a pretty hard sell and you'll probably need to hit up some extremely independent developers and start to build up that experience and the body of work will move you into the Sr role. If that isn't working out, then you might want to consider some mod work or personal project that will help you showcase the Sr level talent and skill set.

PixelMasher · Mar 2020

I can give you an exact rundown of my day to day

i started at counterplay about 2 months ago, and a large majority of that studio is remote and we have ppl all around the world.

Usually my day goes something like this:

-wake up, have my coffee, start syncing all the files/updates
-go to the gym and workout
- get back home, start working. I am 3 hours ahead from most of the team, so most are still sleeping so i can hammer out 3-4 hours of uninterrupted work.

- once everyone starts to come online, daily meetings/syncups start for departments, and i hop in on those slack group calls to provide feedback and support where needed.

- inbetween meetings, continue to work in editor doing whatever it is i was doing

thats about it! Pretty similar to but working in a studio to be honest, still have group meetings and feedback sessions, random quick calls to problem solve via screensharing etc. Thats the same as ppl randomly coming up to your desk with questions.

But yea there are some good points in this thread. Most of the people on the team are experienced and senior, and can work with little need for hand holding or constant guidance.

the self discipline part is huge, you have to be able to still do your 8 hours a day and not get distracted by watching movies, playing ps4 or pc games cause no one is watching you. A lot of ppl think they could do that, but its a huge challenge after the novelty of working from home wears off.

Anyone who is not able to consistently do their hours and keep somewhat of a routine is going to become readily visible. Have seen some examples of this in the past and those people are let go pretty quick. Its pretty clear when someone is only working 3-4 hours a day.

The pros of working remote so far for me: having that block of uninterrupted time where i can focus blasted up my productivity. You have a bit more flex in your schedule, for example, im not racing the clock on my lunch hour at the gym anymore. I manage my own time but the caveat of that is the results you deliver have to be consistently on point.

You can also use remote positions to get high level talent from other studios and countries you wouldnt have access to in the local talent pool, it was a major factor in my decision to make the jump to counterplay. No more 2 hours a day of commute and more free time to work on my polygon academy stuff etc.

Downsides: lack of face to face human interaction can lead to cabin fever and some people cant handle it. As an introvert i am fine with it, but others probably wont enjoy it as much as an in studio job.

Problem solving can be a bit tougher and slower as different people in random timezone overlaps have to work together, so there is sometimes some waiting around until you both overlap.

But with tools like slacks group calls with screen sharing, its pretty easy to communicate and work similar to in studio positions. 80% of my time at ubi and WB was spend head down, just working in editor anyways.

But again the downside is with slack you are always reachable unless you totally unplug from it on your phone during your off time. It can feel like a self imposed obligation to get back to people in timezones behind you or on the weekend etc. You have to set your boundaries and stick to them.

when it comes to hiring juniors or people with no actual gamedev experience, it is a huge gamble and risk, but i have seen it if the person demonstrates the high level skills that show they wont need handholding. Like looking at an env artist portfolio, their level art screens better show a high level of composition and layout skills vs randomly smattered props in a “ok” looking scene etc.

If their portfolio work looks like screens from an actual game, then it could be worth it, but thats rare for junior work and people looking to break in.

The remote work of managing a junior is a lot more of a time and cost sink, you are usually having to rope in 2-3 other people for 20-30 minute calls etc. So even if you are paying that jr $20-30/hr, once you realize its going to occupy 2-3 peoples time you are paying expensive salaries to spend hours a week to guide and constantly monitor the progress and problems. Suddenly that cheaper junior salary can quickly become more expensive than just hiring a senior you can quickly check in with every couple days and they just consistently make progress.

There is a lot more to it than just the art skills that people with a couple dev cycles under their belt will be experienced with vs someone in their first job can that get overwhelmed with trying to learn stuff like jira, internal pipelines etc. especially in a more isolated remote position.

So there are pros and cons for the remote life, i think it will become more of an option, it definitely is at the moment with whats going on, and it will either open companies eyes or quickly identify key weaknesses on the team. Id like to see it be a more common option, but again, its more of a privilege than a right in most cases.

Eric Chadwick · Mar 2020

Moved from General Discussion into Career & Education.

What's the day-to-day like for a remote artist?

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