Far be it from me to burn bridges but at 32 years of age, I get a little sick and tired of the same old cliches when it comes to employment with some of the game development companies we have here in Oz.
Statements like - 'minimum 3 years experience in game dev industry' or 'must have worked on previously published games'. I mean really. Do these employers really think that there is a 3D artist on every corner with 3 years exp? What about giving people a chance to prove themselves?
It is the same old circle isn't it? You cannot get experience without a job, and you cannot get a job without experience
When I finally do break that vicious cycle and get my first job in the industry I intend to keep it as long as possible and woe to anyone who tries to take it away (lol).
Am I coming across as a little bit peeved? Perhaps it is the lack of food in my stomach or the bills that constantly roll in, but man, being a tertiary student and suffering for your art isn?t all it?s cracked up to be. As I read in somebody else?s post in the forums ? it?s lucky I enjoy doing this stuff as a hobby.
I agree with bootface, it IS that mentality that drove some of my working ethos home. We dont ask for years of experience OR titles under your belt. If you have the talent, and can do what we require, theres a job waiting for you regardless of experience [:)]
Noone would hire me as an artist, because i didnt have any "experience", so i founded a now highly successful and expanding business and 'made' a job for myself and 6 other people that have no 'titles' under there belts, but i believe they DO have the passion, dedication, talent and drive to suceed.
Good show ? HELL YES, best thing I ever did.
Now we are all working on various projects doing exactly what we have been striving to do, and are generating worldwide interest. Not to mention being paid for what we are worth.
Not bad for a bunch of "inexperienced" industry wannabees.
Burnt bridges ? nope, a few are charred and teetering on the brink of destruction but definately still capable of supporting commerce.
/end fuming rant. [:(!][:(!]
i can understand what you are saying.. the best thing you should do is ignore comments like three years of experience etc.. and make sure you apply for these jobs.. As for me, I didnt wait around for a job to be advertised, I got out there and practically made the position for myself (before I had even finished 1st year uni). Like most work, work is still work, and its isnt all roses and running through green grass. It can be a prick of a thing meeting deadlines [:p] That being said thou, you sound like you have passion, and to be honest thats a huge part of it. Stick at it dude, the industry is rapidly expanding and there should be oppotunity for all! [;)]
Thanks for the vote of confidence and advice you guys [:)]. I was probably just having a bad day. I am feverishly working on updating my online portfolio and getting my show reel up to scratch. After reviewing my show reel and doing some research, I concluded that there was a lot of unnecessary crud in there. Unfortunately, I have been receiving mixed messages from people on what makes a good show reel. Thankfully, I did not send it out into the world and cause irreversible damage to my reputation as a 3D artist. So, soldier on is what I shall do.
My online portfolio is at the following address.
http://users.chariot.net.au/~bootface
Any honest feedback would be greatly appreciated. Once again thanks.
[:)]
Hi Bootface! thought I'd give ya some contructive critz on ya site to help you out [8)]
Firstly its good to see you have site up and running, nice way to maintain a portfolio...
right... I'd have to say that you still have a way to go before I'd consider you to be industry ready as a 3d modeller.. the most immediate thing I noticed is that not much of your stuff is textured, and if it is youve used materials...
It would be a realllllly good Idea to finish everything as much as possible.. as a 3d modeller I would expect you to be quite proficent as a uv unwrap artist as well.
The industry is still focused around getting the most bang for you poly as well, some of your models could be optimsed a great deal and still have the same appearance, especially if textured...
also I can see small errors in you models, things like 5 sided faces etc.. its important to be as tight as possible in your modelling, this generally demostrates a keen eye for detail.
I'd also have a tendanancy to lose the chrome guy.. it might effect your chances instead of improving them.. some people just don't like seeing shiny things in applications... its a kinda of self imposed stigmatism if you get my meaning, I'd probably retexture him or something.
moving on.. I think you have good variety of 3d stuff cars, bipedals, incidental objects.. continue along those lines, and you should be able to pull together a good all round package..
I hope I havent put a dent in you confidence by posting this, but I think you need to hear that kinda thing.. like some old guy said once... whatever dosent kill ya.. will make you stronger...
cheers[B)]
I agree with Me109, you need to texture the models you have. The ones on your portfolio look unfinished. Besides, I think companies are looking these days for people who are multi-skilled, do more than just model or just texture or just animate. if you are more into the animation side of things than the texturing then put some AVIs of your animations on your portfolio and maybe ask someone else to texture your models for you.(of course giving them credit and be sure to let people know you didn't do the texturing if you didn't)
Also I noticed that in your A-wing type ship model that the sphere in the cockpit looks like its got more polys than the rest of the ship! and I'm no artist. Small things like that are what the people hiring will pick up when they look at your portfolio.
All I can suggest is that you use the Exhibition forum on this site and other similar sites to get feed back from your fellow artists. its the best way to improve your work. I'm sure they're are plenty of people out there who will be willing to give you constructive critisms of your work. Just take the feedback (both good and bad) as it comes and keep improving your portfolio. Even the best artists I know keep going back and updating their portfolios.
-kul
quote:'minimum 3 years experience in game dev industry'
Generally thats to filter out the unskilled and fanboy portion of the reels.
If they just said, "anyone who wants a job" they would get alot of people who just think, "hey thats sounds cool, I might have a go", then they have to sort thru 3000 bad reels to find the 4 good ones.
If someone has amazing skills and no experience, they will get hired.
If its after an interview that you hear those words unfortunately its generally just a nice way of them saying, "Err...no thanks."
You also have to take a look at the level of work out there at the moment and honestly ask yourself, am I capable of that level right now, not trying to be a rude but I don't think your website showed that level of skill at this present time.
My advice, work your butt off, everyday, take negative critism as constructive information and use it to challenge yourself to get better, look at whats out there and really study it, buy reference books (anatomy, lighting, rigging, animation etc) and finally apply to those "3 yrs experience" ads anyway, they can only say no. [:P]
Good luck.
Thanks for all the feedback. Unfortunately whilst being on a 56k connection, I have not had the web space to really show all my work the way I wanted to (hence, the lack of texturing). As you know file size is a big problem when you only have around 3mb allotted space to show your work. I have just paid for my shiny new ADSL connection and I am just waiting for the nice Telstra man to come and hook me up [|)]. I am still working away on the new and improved portfolio site and have taken into consideration all the very helpful feedback that I have received from you people. Mark my words, once I get my ADSL you will see a very good site indeed.
Once again, thanks to all Sumeans who gave me feedback [:)].
It can swing the other way when trying to get work. I've worked on some of the biggest games and got more than 14 year experience. Yet i'm finding it impossible for anyone to consider me. I think that's partly due to me being in the UK but also having been around for so long people presume experience is going to cost a lot.
Bootface: You're better off having 5 really good peices of work rather than 5 good mixed with a few bad/unfinished ones.
hi bootface, u'r right getting in can be hard! I got a break into the games industry through and internship sponsored by Film Victoria. You should check out if the South Australian Film Corporation does anything similar http://www.safilm.com.au
Good luck with it [:)]
I would assume that when they say 'published' they mean any title including a published indie. Which really, isn't all that hard to do, it could be the most stupid FPS in the world, but if it was published (by any publisher) you could most likely get in. They only want to see that you are able to finish what you start ;)