Being a good lead
polycounter lvl 18
I have a second interview tomorrow for a lead position. Although I am a lead now, the team is small, and I was working with them before being put in the position of responsibility. So I have some aprehensions.
How have people's experience with their lead artist been? What do they do well? What do they do wrong? What about those of you who are lead? What has your experience been like?
My opinion is that as lead, it's my responsibility that the art production is well scheduled, that everyone is working within the style required, that everyone is working to their strengths and have the tools and resources necessary to do the job well. A lead should also set the example, producing work themselves, otherwise, how will you know if there are any problems with the pipeline?
How have people's experience with their lead artist been? What do they do well? What do they do wrong? What about those of you who are lead? What has your experience been like?
My opinion is that as lead, it's my responsibility that the art production is well scheduled, that everyone is working within the style required, that everyone is working to their strengths and have the tools and resources necessary to do the job well. A lead should also set the example, producing work themselves, otherwise, how will you know if there are any problems with the pipeline?
Replies
Make sure the artists working for you only have to listen to you for as far as you are responsible for the output. I've had other bosses and leads bust in to comment my work only to have the one with the final word make me change it again. The people you'll be working for have given you a certain amount of responsibilty the artist in their turn will have to acknowledge, which means your bosses will have to deal with you if they have comments, not the artists.
Different people saying different shit about the same work is the most and only frustrating thing I've come across so far.
Yeah, and try and defend your team against sniping like Skull is talking about. Although that's not a tactic that's going to get you points with your boss or potential employer in an interview since they're usually the ones sniping.
. . . There's probably much more to say but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~polycount/ubb/Forum1/HTML/011778.html
Although, I think "Art Direction" might be a different subject from what Jon's "Lead" position is.
The important things definately feel to be a focus on the big picture and clear communication.
Doc - that is true, but in this industry, role definitions seem to be quite fluid anyway. I'll hope I can pin down more of what they would expect from me in the role tomorrow.
I'd say communicate to them the importance of those main essentials... keeping things on-budget, keeping communication open, and fostering team morale.
The former lets them know you're fiscally aware, which is very desirable in a Lead role. But the latter two also say you're aware of the team dynamics and keeping things moving smoothly, you're not just a timesheet ahole.
And of course there's the art side, but you've probably got that covered.
Yeah, I'd like to hear how Poop's seasoning has worked out. You listening man?
Being a mentor to junior artists. Being a good teacher.
Trying to make the team feel like a democracy, as opposed to 'I am the all knowing orb, I am your leader.' I'm not a fan of leads that are on a power trip. Leads that start sentences to their team with 'I want'. I always made a point of starting a sentence with something more like 'How about *we* try...'
As said, being the buffer for your team. Having the balls to say no to a producer that a new character can't be done in 2 days. That kind of stuff.
Trying to make sure your team feel of equal worth, even when they are perhaps not. But at the same time being aware of individuals shortcomings, and helping them to improve.
Setting the quality bar.
Knowing your shit.
Personally where I feel I went wrong ( but perhaps SouL can dig up other stuff
Good luck!
The Art Lead should be a mentor to his team. They're basically the figure head everyone looks up to for guidance, direction, feedback and critique. But at the same time, I wouldn't suggest you act like you're "above" the other artists. Be open to their critique's, too. Give and take.
If you're dealing with a small group, I would suggest trying to get them invovled in other things than art. Give them a better sense of being a part of the ENTIRE dev team and not just the character/art team. Get their opinions on decisions being made. It'll boost their morale and have you earn more of their respect. Everyone wants to be included in things.
You know... I'm just repeating what DaZ is saying here. So yeah.
One thing I'll say, though, is share the "good" work amongst the others. For a few months I worked with a lead that understood the importance of ehtusiasm for the project. He knew that if he kept all the good work to himself that the other artists would eventually burn out and just grind through the rest of their days. If you give the other artists a big responsibility like creating a main character/boss/creature/etc it gets them psyched. Honestly, who wants to do the shit work during their entire stay on the dev team? NO ONE. Evenly hand out the good work and the shit work. I think it says a lot when the lead themself is willing to do simple tasks like weapons while the other guys get to spooge out on awesome heros.
My lead on Tomb raider not only gave me some of the most fun work; he also made sure everyone knew who did those assets and gave me as much exposure in the videos released to the screenshots, press demos, X'05, E3, cinematic shots, showcase pieces...the guy is a fuckin' gem of a lead. He motivated me like no one else has before.
It worked too. I gave this project everything I had.
A good lead also keeps his comments about others and authority to himself. gripes go up. A good lead aunderstands this. He's an example not just for professional standards of art, but professional standards for conduct aswell.
-R
You got to implement the main selling point?
There will always be things that need done that don't fit on your schedule, on any schedule and only those that are working on those assets tend to see this.
It's important to understand that, and to reward those that care enough to put in the extra work rather than view their efforts as a challenge to the almighty YOU or SCHEDULE UBER ALLES!
It's always a choice between forcing people to do it wrongly, your way, or correctly their way. Well, to a certain extent this is true, what I mean is that you hae to always be open to reassessing how things are done because the longer you are a lead, the more out of touch you become with the pipeline the other artists are working with.
Most of the other stuff is covered. Just make sure that before you do anything new, you sit down with everyone involved and make it clear what the aims are and get feedback and take onboard other ideas and essentially make sure everyone is on the same page and you should do great in most situations as lack of direction and clarity of efforts is the biggest problem we face as teams grow in size and assets grow in complexity.
best of luck Jon.
r.
http://www.drewmedina.com/
Someone just asked if I still have that old thread, here it is.
http://ericchadwick.com/examples/files/2004.08_art_direction_versus_productivity.htm
Also found another one from the old forums...
http://ericchadwick.com/examples/files/2006 Art_Leads_and_Management_issues.htm