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Fair enough, I guess. More jobs for me!
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Jan 6, 2018 08:22
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Hey I’m a 3d artist that’s starting his career and has some good prospects in getting hired out of school and I’ve even done a fair amount of freelancing/commissions at this point. If I even mention the idea of unions on a public forum like polycount or on my public twitter is it realistic that I’ll be blacklisted from the games industry and never have a chance of working in it for the rest of my life? I’ve just heard some really shady poo poo just from private conversations I’ve had with people who’ve been in the industry at various studios. Stuff like employees being fired without warning etc. for even doing something as simple as discussing wages with other employees. I’m in the United States also where proving poo poo like that is incredibly difficult especially in “right to work” states. Idk I guess it’s just that I hear a lot about employees in then entertainment industry being treated like poo poo but nobody seems willing to speak up and try to organize out of fear.
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Jan 6, 2018 13:41
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You're correct in assuming people get laid off without warnings, it happened to me and other people in this thread multiple times. It's not usually about petty poo poo like discussing unions or your wages, and if you get fired for discussing those then chances are the company is not even worth being at anyways. Layoffs usually happens when the company makes a lovely decision or lovely planning and end up way over budget with no hopes of making back their money. To prevent this some companies will partner with publishers who provide funding... but if you disappoint a publisher with profits they will drop you like a sack of bricks too and then you'll most likely have to layoff even more people. The few times people get fired it's because they A) aren't productive, B) personality conflicts with other coworkers, C) don't produce good work, D) don't produce it quick enough. And yes there are quite a lot of people who are complacent. When you get into the industry and realize how little work there is in X region you want to be in, you'd tolerate a lot of bullshit just to stay near home. I've seen so many people who stay at a company completely miserable for 10+ years because there "isn't another option" for them and they have a house, children, visa, etc. That is pretty common. That's not to say there isn't plenty of work, but you really have to pick and choose your region/tech hub (ugh) carefully unless you plan on being a freelancer indefinitely. ceebee fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Jan 6, 2018 |
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Jan 6, 2018 19:50
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The problem with talking unionizing in my limited experience is a phenomenon that other trades perhaps didn't have back in the day that the games industry has in spades which is there's more candidates than jobs (for most disciplines, anyway). Especially for big, visible places where unionization would carry a lot of influence and weight, for every 1 job posting there is they get 60-100 applications. Even accounting for the automatic throwaways the chances of finding, say, a dozen candidates in there who would all do great is pretty high, and if 1 of them is pro-unionizing then that's an easy reason to vet that dude away and pick from the other 11. I'm not sure how unionizing could get traction in games. It will unfortunately either have to get WAY worse (as in worse than vfx) or it would take some high profile people pushing it hard for a good while (and gambling their careers) in the hopes that companies won't want to lose superstars or in the hopes that they can turn the upcoming talent into pro-union candidates who demand better deals up front. I tend to lean towards the latter being the only thing that could actually move the needle since if olds demand unions companies will happily replace their veteran salaried asses with plucky cheap newbies but if the replacement force demands change then eventually they'd have to budge. All of it is pretty drat unlikely, though. As it is, you're the only one looking out for you and your family. You have to be willing to do uncomfortable poo poo, not because it'll make a difference in the industry or make a C-level rethink their business model but because it's what is long-term best for you and yours. You have to be prepared to say gently caress you, I'm leaving. You have to be proactive in preparing for layoffs. You have to be willing to call it quits and change industries/careers if it gets too toxic. You have to think long and hard about what you actually want professionally and recognize that that can change over the years. You have to take care of yourself as best you can. Employers absolutely will not. HR is not your friend.
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Jan 6, 2018 21:48
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mutata posted:You have to take care of yourself as best you can. Employers absolutely will not. HR is not your friend. HR, oh man...yeah. Do. Not. Trust. HR. They work for your boss, they will tell your boss everything you tell them, it's best to just prepare your resume and portfolio and go to another company if working conditions are bad. Make sure you leave a Glassdoor review, that website can be a very useful resource for weeding out companies with lovely working practices. ceebee fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Jan 7, 2018 |
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Jan 7, 2018 00:24
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I really need to do more research into how other industries became more heavily unionized tbh. The mainstream film industry has a ton of union influence right? Idk I feel like outside my own career in game art this seems like something I want to maybe try to influence change in if I can help it. game devs deserve more dignity. The local IWW has been a huge resource helping with the adjunct professors at my college unionize so maybe I should talk more to them about this kind of situation in other industries. What do you think the effect would be if even one average-sized studio became unionized or even went as far as becoming worker coops? Do you feel like it would make a lot of devs realize there’s hope? Maybe this sort of thing needs to start in the indie sphere first?
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Jan 7, 2018 09:59
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Maybe I should make some anonymous polls and distribute them on a site like polycount with a fake account. I’m really only familiar with game art so are there any other forums where game devs heavily frequent?
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Jan 7, 2018 10:05
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There are not to my knowledge any online game dev haunts. Neogaf was kinda sorta supposed to be one but... Yeah. Polycount is a good one for artists but you'll get a lot of non-career folk and students. Frankly, Twitter probably has the highest concentration of "out" game dev accounts. If an American mid-sized to large-ish studio unionized it would make headlines across the gaming press. It would be a big deal.
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Jan 7, 2018 10:42
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The closest thing we have to a union in games is the IGDA: https://www.igda.org/ I'm sure there are some people in that community that are also interested in unionizing, but to be honest I think it would take more than a few people to make a significant change.
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Jan 7, 2018 18:54
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 oh btw im working on a blood gulch ue4 remake, ill be posting more pics soon
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Jan 7, 2018 22:24
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Maybe wikihow can help https://www.wikihow.com/Unionize-Your-Workplace dont let your boss see this one tho https://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Unions
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Jan 8, 2018 01:11
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Random question but has anybody switched to using the Wacom Mobile Studio or some other form of tablet computing full time? Did it help your workflow a lot? The idea of sculpting in zbrush anywhere I happen to be is very appealing and the new crop of tablets and tablet hybrids can do it.
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Jan 8, 2018 18:58
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I know a few people who use Surface Pros to do some light sculpting but really 90% of the time an artist considers buying something to do mobile art it barely gets used for just that.
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Jan 8, 2018 23:23
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Thanks. That is why I am leaning towards the surface book 2 over the mobile studio.
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Jan 9, 2018 07:12
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cool idea. played with one in shop
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Jan 9, 2018 15:20
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Yeah - Surface Book 2 has better specs overall since it is newer. Some content. Zbrush doodle so I can play around with some new features. Specifically vector displacement brushes. This took no more than 10 min. I feel like things are shifting more and more to kitbashing. 
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Jan 10, 2018 01:31
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sigma 6 posted:Yeah - Surface Book 2 has better specs overall since it is newer. you somehow managed to capture exactly how i look at 3:00am when i go to the fridge for some leftovers as a snack and found out my roommate ate it
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Jan 10, 2018 12:15
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Goons, I need help or advice. I know I've done something wrong - entirely wrong - and I want to know how to do it better next time. Someone contacted me to ask if I'd be able to help them 3D print a sword from final fantasy as part of a commission project. The sword in question is a ludicrously complicated wrought-iron looking thing.     I immediately regretted agreeing to try this because it is/was far over my head in terms of modeling ability. Still, I slogged my way through it as best as I knew how, which mostly involved making low-poly shapes, setting curve weights, and using OpenSubdivision in 3DS Max to smooth curves and sharpen edges. I'm mostly using 3DS Max because it's the only software I know my way around at the moment.     Here's my problem: This model is like sixty separate intersecting components, rather than a single manifold mesh.  I... assumed that maybe I could just do it this way, then use the ProBoolean modifier to union all of the disparate parts into a single mesh, which I could then chop up to fit on the bed of my 3D printer. This was a dumb expectation, mostly because once you get more than like 2 or 3 steps into boolean unions everything starts going to absolute poo poo (computer takes a million years or fails to unify the meshes properly and just throws them away). What would the correct way of doing this be, for future? And is there any software out there that would make unifying all of these parts that I've created a practical, doable thing, or am I SOL?
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Jan 10, 2018 17:17
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Harvey Baldman posted:Goons, I need help or advice. I know I've done something wrong - entirely wrong - and I want to know how to do it better next time. You can bring them into Zbrush, merge all the individual models, use Dynamesh with a high resolution setting to fuse them all together into one model. Then you can clean up the resulting mesh and use Decimation Master to bring it down to a manageable poly level and export. Or you could continue to break it into pieces in Zbrush using Zbrush's own boolean tools.
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Jan 10, 2018 17:51
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+1 to merge all subtools and Dynamesh everything
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Jan 10, 2018 18:42
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Yeah, you ain't hosed, do what the cool guys just said. Model looks fine.
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Jan 10, 2018 21:23
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ceebee posted:I know a few people who use Surface Pros to do some light sculpting but really 90% of the time an artist considers buying something to do mobile art it barely gets used for just that. While there’s nothing wrong with wasting some money on a mobile art device, I have to agree that it’ll probably only get used a handful of times if you’re not careful (ie aren’t forced into situations where you have to use it). I’ve fallen into this trap a few times, got a laptop for mobile work and an iPad for mobile art - ended up only using the laptop sporadically when traveling, and the only time it proved useful, I was teamviewered into my home computer so... could’ve done that on my drat cellphone. Same with the iPad, used it for art a handful of times, screen cracked and it no longer properly read long swipes/touches, so now I use it for forums browsing at home when my phone dies. Off that topic, it seems like Netflix has been “stealing” employees from one of our clients, and one of the projects we were bidding on (and did amazingly well at if I may say so) got shut down ‘cos like half the team left :-(. I think what happened was one higher up left, and a bunch of people followed, but it still sucks a little. Makes me wonder just how much incredible art out there ends up in the memory hole, unable to be used for other projects/reels since it’s using IP from dead projects. Anyone else have a chunk of work they’ll never be able to show?
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Jan 11, 2018 15:17
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I have kind of the equivalent which is work that was never allowed to progress to a point where I can bother showing it. Abandoned, 1/3rd finished, ugly ideas that never got the time they needed to turn into anything worth talking about.
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Jan 11, 2018 15:54
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The Gasmask posted:Makes me wonder just how much incredible art out there ends up in the memory hole, unable to be used for other projects/reels since it’s using IP from dead projects. Anyone else have a chunk of work they’ll never be able to show? The work on my artstation is like the 30% that I can show to the public which loving sucks. I tried posting work from other games I've worked on to my artstation but pretty sure somebody at one of my old companies has a vendetta out against me so they keep getting them taking down. So the only way I can really share most of my work is via dropbox or a passworded site.
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Jan 11, 2018 18:40
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apparently the exec. director of the igda tweeted "unions dont work" but then deleted it so yeah yikes kinda sucks when industry people shoot down possible solutions for making the game industry a better place for workers but then obviously dont care enough to offer any real solutions themselves
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Jan 11, 2018 19:42
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The problem (in VFX at least), is that the people campaigning for unions often appear to have ulterior motives. Some of them clearly had run out of talent as the industry developed and sought to compensate for that. Others, like VFXSoldier really just wanted to keep work in LA and couldn't care less about everyone else.
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Jan 12, 2018 00:39
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https://twitter.com/NotBrunoAgain/status/951516756832587779
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Jan 12, 2018 05:18
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ImplicitAssembler posted:The problem (in VFX at least), is that the people campaigning for unions often appear to have ulterior motives. That's a really common talking point in defense of corporations. That's one of the many ways in which unions are de-legitimized before they can get off the ground, it's not productive and usually wrong.
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Jan 12, 2018 06:14
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Taffer posted:That's a really common talking point in defense of corporations. That's one of the many ways in which unions are de-legitimized before they can get off the ground, it's not productive and usually wrong. Yeah maybe he is a better union man than artist? That would actually help wouldn't it?
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Jan 12, 2018 11:42
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Kanine posted:you somehow managed to capture exactly how i look at 3:00am when i go to the fridge for some leftovers as a snack and found out my roommate ate it Hah. Thanks... I think. Here is another zbrush doodle. I find it kind of relaxing to just play around in zbrush sometimes without a specific goal in mind. It isn't always about nailing realism or even having anything particular direction in mind when learning the tools. Just trying to have fun vs. always pushing to look like a photo or concept art.  Front view is better I think.  uhh... maybe channeling Barry Windsor Smith a little unintentionally.  Thanks for input about tablet computing. The only guy who was really adamant about the wacom mobile studio was a guy who has owned a cintiq companion for a while and draws for Marvel. sigma 6 fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jan 13, 2018 |
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Jan 13, 2018 06:07
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Listerine posted:You can bring them into Zbrush, merge all the individual models, use Dynamesh with a high resolution setting to fuse them all together into one model. Then you can clean up the resulting mesh and use Decimation Master to bring it down to a manageable poly level and export. Or you could continue to break it into pieces in Zbrush using Zbrush's own boolean tools. So, I want to expand on this a bit. I've been trying to do this, but I don't really know ZBrush at all, and the program feels like it was designed by a dyslexic octopus from another planet in terms of user interface. I can import an .obj with a number of the intersecting elements I'm trying to unify into zBrush, and then Dynamesh it, and it seems to work, but it creates weird wavy mesh geometry and seems to cause tearing in some areas, even with the resolution turned all the way up. Before (with the geometry from 3DS Max, fairly regular and straight quads, and intersecting meshes)   After Dynamesh   Is there a smarter way to do this while keeping the smaller details on the sword sharp? I tried doing the ZRemesher to it afterwards and just obliterated the small details no matter what settings I used. Moreover, there's a weird sort of rippling effect on the edges where parts join. It's not major, but I know it'll show on a 3D print. I feel like there's gotta be something that'll let me combine these parts with clean edges.  
Harvey Baldman fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jan 14, 2018 |
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Jan 14, 2018 02:59
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Harvey Baldman posted:So, I want to expand on this a bit. I've been trying to do this, but I don't really know ZBrush at all, and the program feels like it was designed by a dyslexic octopus from another planet in terms of user interface. Have you tried using the Project option with a high Subprojection value and turning Blur down? (Holding ctrl while hovering over a button often brings up a tooltip to help explain what the button or option does.) You could also start learning some of the sculpting brushes if you want to manually reintroduce sharp edges after the Dynamesh.
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Jan 14, 2018 06:40
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The rippling effect is from having Polish turned on in your dynamesh settings. That does a ClayPolish (its an option above the dynamesh settings iirc) operation whenever you do a dynamesh. Personally I'd turn that off and just do it as a separate action if you want to... It can be pretty destructive of any precise or small details. ZRemesher isn't meant for keeping your small details around, you'd want to project them back on after adding on some subdivisions. It makes more sense if you're sculpting and need a quick basemesh with even-ish topology, or hit the resolution cap on dynamesh. I'm surprised you managed to dynamesh a 1.5 mil object together in one go, every time I try to combine a multi-object thing into a mesh with more than 1mil points it turns into a horrible swiss cheese mesh. To get around it I'd have to dynamesh at lower resolutions, then gradually turn it up while reprojecting the detail back. You should duplicate your before-dynamesh subtool, dynamesh one of them, and then project the original back down to the dynamesh version to get your detail back. If you need more resolution, then you can add a subdivision to your dynameshed mesh (and create a horrible topology monster) and then project again. If you zoom into any valley-shaped creases you'll see that the dynamesh process will more-often-than-not create a horrible zigzag instead of a nice line, but decimation master's reduction process usually simplifies them into... not that.
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Jan 14, 2018 07:28
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does anybody have tips for those days where you're trying really hard to make your art look good but it's not going well and you hate yourself despite trying really hard
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Jan 16, 2018 03:36
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Kanine posted:does anybody have tips for those days where you're trying really hard to make your art look good but it's not going well and you hate yourself despite trying really hard Go for a run
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Jan 16, 2018 03:45
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Messing around with that earlier zbrush doodle for an album cover.
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Jan 16, 2018 05:34
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Kanine posted:does anybody have tips for those days where you're trying really hard to make your art look good but it's not going well and you hate yourself despite trying really hard The long-term solution for this is to let yourself have those days. Understand that there is nothing you've done wrong to cause them and that at no point in your future will you ever grow out of them or reach a point in your skill development where they don't happen. I know that it sounds like some kind of zen bullshit, but trust me, the best thing you can do is let yourself off the hook. Short-term, in my experience what EoinCannon said is pretty much right. When you're trying really hard and it's not going well that day, one of the best things you can do is stop trying and do something else for a while. Go for a run, play a game, read a book, consume some media that is good and inspires you, go to bed for the night and try again later, engage in a hobby, go be with your family, etc etc. Come back later. Try again later. Another thing you can try is to move on temporarily to a different part of the project. If texturing is frustrating you, move on to modeling on a different section. That way you're still making progress but you're also walking away from the specific thing that's stalling you. If you're under deadline, then do your best and settle for less. Finished is better than perfect every time.
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Jan 16, 2018 07:54
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i just drink idk if it helps but a 40oz to freedom is the only chance i have to feel good even though i feel bad
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Jan 16, 2018 08:04
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i’m a pharmacist in normal life and sometimes i read tcc threads of morons doing dumb poo poo with drugs i am the artist version of that stupid piece of poo poo person
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Jan 16, 2018 08:06
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I told GBS that I would make a 3d animation of whatever idea they came up with:quote:Ok i want the meat shoes but trump is wearing them while in the piss tape. zoom in so the compartment opens and the meat says "that's a spicy meat-a ball" https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3846497&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1 Going to get started today.
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Jan 16, 2018 13:07
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