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Vilgefartz posted:My goku sculpt is coming along! He's a bit too ripped though, gonna cartoon the muscles up a bit later on. Definitely more popular than cloud. Nice. I feel like that leg pushed back is too much like a tree trunk though, would be nice to see some separation between the upper and lower leg.
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Feb 25, 2018 20:40
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Ccs posted:Nice. I feel like that leg pushed back is too much like a tree trunk though, would be nice to see some separation between the upper and lower leg. poo poo you're right. Cloth is hard man 
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Feb 26, 2018 02:12
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Is it common for companies to ask for spec work/art assessment tests for 3D Art positions? I've been having an rear end of a time in the job search, and having prospective companies tell me to do hours of work for a chance at a formal interview isn't helping.
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Feb 27, 2018 00:52
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Its a mix. A lot of them do, but the place I landed my current job at I didnt have to do an art test, I just gave them a pdf portfolio and brought in a more extensive printed one for my interview.
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Feb 27, 2018 01:03
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Mostly yeah, usually a 48 hour test in my experience. If you have previous experience they might waive it.
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Feb 27, 2018 01:08
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Tests are definitely more of a game studio thing than film, in my experience. With film after some experience you'll never have to do a test. In games, I'm pretty sure GabeN would still have to do a test if he decided to change jobs.
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Feb 27, 2018 02:29
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I didn't even have to show my showreel for the last 3 job interviews. (film)...but then I've also been around the block a few times. No tests for film, but experience is required. Lovely catch 22 for those trying to break into the industry. Had a very experienced FX TD friend looking to move into games. They asked him to do a test in a real-time package he never used before and they didn't like the result. He immediately got a job at Weta afterwards. Seemed silly..even major VFX studios will take the time to transition artist into new software packages.
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Feb 27, 2018 02:38
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Wow, no wonder game studios are hard up for real time effects artists if that's the case. VFX Soldier reposted a twitter thread a couple months back about how game studio VFX positions will sit unfilled for months and months because there are so few real-time VFX candidates.
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Feb 27, 2018 04:29
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There are plenty of legit reasons to ask for a test, but I just don't have time for that poo poo for most companies. I've started pushing back hard unless they can give me a good reason.
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Feb 27, 2018 05:52
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I just finished a really nice piece for an art test and got the automated rejection email a few hours after I sent it. That's really bullshit. These people don't even look at portfolios anymore.
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Feb 27, 2018 07:40
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We do tests for fresh-outta college artists that may not have reels/portfolios, but if you have experience, it’s most likely gonna be waived. Personally, I had to take one, but I had no industry experience, so I wasn’t going to complain. For us, the biggest reason is to avoid bad hires. We got burned by one too many kids with seemingly impressive portfolios, only to discover their work was either not their own, or they only had good looking stuff because they had forever to work on it. So we try to do a short, simple test, give them a couple days to finish (it should only take ~2-4 hours tops though), and see what they did. I can see this being a real pain in the rear end if you’re applying to a bunch of places at once though - hopefully you’re able to sort through the chaff a little bit and focus on the studios that tickle your fancy. E: man, I hope they just sent an automated email but someone actually looked at it - I definitely wouldn’t be happy to spend time only to find out it wasn’t even reviewed The Gasmask fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Feb 27, 2018 |
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Feb 27, 2018 07:58
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I've been in the situation where I've had to do multiple tests for multiple studios at the same time, while also holding a current job. It's hellish. I do very much like working in games now in comparison to film/ads/etc. But the test situation is often very removed from reality, and often almost insulting in scope. I very much doubt there are any metrics at all on whether the test process yields better hires (ironic considering how much testing and metrics game studios employ on their playtests). If I were to guess, I'd say it has an extremely small effect on filtering out bad candidates while also alienating a lot of worthwhile candidates.
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Feb 27, 2018 08:34
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tuna posted:I've been in the situation where I've had to do multiple tests for multiple studios at the same time, while also holding a current job. It's hellish. I do very much like working in games now in comparison to film/ads/etc. But the test situation is often very removed from reality, and often almost insulting in scope. I very much doubt there are any metrics at all on whether the test process yields better hires (ironic considering how much testing and metrics game studios employ on their playtests). If I were to guess, I'd say it has an extremely small effect on filtering out bad candidates while also alienating a lot of worthwhile candidates. I agree with all of this.
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Feb 27, 2018 09:04
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hey so ive been doing some freelance asset work lately and the way im charging is (depending on the amount of difficulty in making the asset) $20-$30 an hour. so like i recently made a weapon model that took about 6 hours of work a day, over 3 days and I had good reference to work off of and it was relatively simple to make. I charged $25/hr so it came out to $450. Do you think this is reasonable? I have no idea if I'm overselling or underselling myself here. edit: is it also a normal thing for a contracted artist to be paid royalties? Kanine fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Feb 27, 2018 |
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Feb 27, 2018 13:53
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Kanine posted:hey so ive been doing some freelance asset work lately and the way im charging is (depending on the amount of difficulty in making the asset) $20-$30 an hour. so like i recently made a weapon model that took about 6 hours of work a day, over 3 days and I had good reference to work off of and it was relatively simple to make. I charged $25/hr so it came out to $450. Do you think this is reasonable? I have no idea if I'm overselling or underselling myself here. Underselling for sure. You could easily tack on another $20/hr if your work is decent quality. And yes, it's pretty rare for contractors to get royalties.
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Feb 27, 2018 15:12
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Agree with gearman. Your current rate is comparable to what (ime) a US art house pays their artists, and the art house is asking 2-3x that from the clients. Another way to look at it is a 40 hour/week job is roughly 2000 hours a year. Multiply your rate by that, and there's your 'salary'. As a freelancer you are responsible for your own overhead - software, equipment, health insurance, etc, etc. So your total should be higher than someone who works a similar job at a company that provides all of that. ... I realize this industry often pays unfairly (been there), as a freelancer you might work far fewer hours a year (been there), and at a studio far more (been there). Just food for thought. E: oh, and another thing -- if you are good and fast at what you do, an hourly rate can actually hurt you, so adjust accordingly. cocoavalley fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Feb 27, 2018 |
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Feb 27, 2018 16:32
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tuna posted:I've been in the situation where I've had to do multiple tests for multiple studios at the same time, while also holding a current job. It's hellish. I do very much like working in games now in comparison to film/ads/etc. But the test situation is often very removed from reality, and often almost insulting in scope. I very much doubt there are any metrics at all on whether the test process yields better hires (ironic considering how much testing and metrics game studios employ on their playtests). If I were to guess, I'd say it has an extremely small effect on filtering out bad candidates while also alienating a lot of worthwhile candidates. Note that our test is for the VFX side of our company, and is likely very different than game studio tests - I missed that distinction at first, but I feel like that may make a difference. We’re also fully virtual, so new artists are trusted with more responsibility than normal. I don’t know what game art tests are like, but if they’re anything more complex than “make a low-poly water tower” or “unwrap and shade this yacht” and they’re given to everyone, that’s kinda absurd. Do you think it’s a bad idea to do for younger, probably green artists? Or does this apply across the board, in your opinion? The last thing we want is to keep more talented artists away (well, I think the fact we can’t always afford them is worse, lol), which is why we haven’t given a test to anyone that has any sort of confirmable experience, but I’ve seen firsthand kids (18-21) who’ve had portfolios that seem to show an understanding of foundational skills, only to hire them and discover they lack what their portfolio shows and worse, crack under the slightest pressure. So far it’s seemed that having a way to assess their skills, even if it’s small-scale, has weeded out the worst of the worst, and then it’s just a matter of picking the artist that shows the best fit. But if just the idea of a test is scaring away artists, that’s not good.
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Feb 27, 2018 16:43
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Kanine posted:hey so ive been doing some freelance asset work lately and the way im charging is (depending on the amount of difficulty in making the asset) $20-$30 an hour. so like i recently made a weapon model that took about 6 hours of work a day, over 3 days and I had good reference to work off of and it was relatively simple to make. I charged $25/hr so it came out to $450. Do you think this is reasonable? I have no idea if I'm overselling or underselling myself here. Agreeing with everyone else, you’re underselling yourself. Think of it this way - as a freelancer, you run your own business. So instead of just paying an employee (yourself), you’re responsible for hardware, software, taxes, insurance, having a work space, etc. All of that is overhead, and you should factor that into your rates. Studios charge clients double to triple (at least) of what they’re paying their artists, so your $25 an hour would be $50 to $75 an hour billed to the client. And if they pay their artists $40/hr, charging the client $100/hr, and you only bill them $25/hr, they’re in effect making a hefty profit from your work. Hourly rates are also a tough call - if you’re fast, you end up making less, so there’s a balancing act there. Charging per-asset is probably a better bet in most scenarios, and setting a minimum rate (ie $1000 is the lowest an asset will be, ever) can help you budget better. There are always going to be artists who charge $10/hr or crap like $10 for a completed asset, and sure, competition can be fierce and it’s scary to charge what you’re worth - you don’t want to lose out on work because you’re charging too much. But by accounting for the realities of being a freelancer, you’re cutting out clients who’d just take advantage of you, showing you care about your work, and allowing yourself a buffer for lean times.
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Feb 27, 2018 17:00
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The Gasmask posted:For us, the biggest reason is to avoid bad hires. We got burned by one too many kids with seemingly impressive portfolios, only to discover their work was either not their own, or they only had good looking stuff because they had forever to work on it. So we try to do a short, simple test, give them a couple days to finish (it should only take ~2-4 hours tops though), and see what they did. This is probably what got me. Since I had 72 hours I decided to take more time refining smaller aspects and learning new things. My listed hours were probably 4x what they should have been. Will keep that in mind for the future. My task for that one was to model, texture, and render a photoreal end table btw. I once had a two person startup company ask me to create an entire photoreal basketball stadium, suffice to say they did not get it.
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Feb 27, 2018 18:29
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Time is a big issue when hiring. Unless they 100% force you to use certain software or work flows. Work with what you're comfortable with, it shows that once you're used to a pipeline you can work at X pace. I assume they gave you 3 days, not that you actually logged 72 hours right?
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Feb 27, 2018 20:28
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From this artist's perspective, I've always bristled at art tests but as a way to make up for my light resume when I was younger/a student I was cool with it. Now that I have 7+ years and a bunch of shipped titles I only really see a point to them if there's a vast style mismatch between my portfolio and the company/project I'm applying to. Generally, though, I will be more willing to take your art test if: -We've done at least 1 initial phone interview and I've been able to ask questions. -You have a company culture and a project that I'm pretty interested in (aka I'm specifically interested in working for you as opposed to in "I just need a job to eat and live" mode) -You can explain what the test is specifically meant to show or communicate about me. -You respect my time via either designing a compact, laser focused test or you pay me an hourly to do it. -I'm not already working full time. If some of these don't connect, then I'll likely push back and if that's a deal breaker for you then I'll likely happily thank you and move on.
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Feb 27, 2018 20:39
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Keket posted:I assume they gave you 3 days, not that you actually logged 72 hours right? Yeah I had to do it within the 3 day timespan. Being a recent graduate without that industry experience isn't that helpful for my speed though.
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Feb 27, 2018 21:45
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The Gasmask posted:Do you think it’s a bad idea to do for younger, probably green artists? Or does this apply across the board, in your opinion? I think this is fine for greener artists especially if you can't meet them in person. As long as you've at least spoken to them first and done a temperature test, then as long as the test isn't some week+ long ordeal for them I don't think they'll have a huge problem doing it. My problem is that if you're hiring a "senior" position and give them a special "senior" test that's harder than normal (and takes more time), you'll start to lose candidates quick.
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Feb 27, 2018 22:16
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This has given me some stuff to mull on, thanks all. I didn’t realize tests could be so contentious, but I also wasn’t aware that studios would be testing people with years of experience. Putty, keep on chipping away at this. Rejection is discouraging, especially when you don’t get an answer why, but each attempt can teach you something. Sometimes all you learn is “gently caress studios that won’t even review my test”, but stuff like that is telling; these industries are tough, and you want to work at a place that respects you as a person. If you can, I’d also recommend networking. Do local user groups/meetups, join game jams, post on forums, etc. It can be a circuitous path, but meeting people seems to be the best way to get your foot in the door, and if you do it in a creative context like game jams or meetup projects, you get skills that will help you in your career. E: man I’m bad with forum names - tuna is not putty
The Gasmask fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Feb 28, 2018 |
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Feb 28, 2018 02:03
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Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it! The Gasmask posted:If you can, I’d also recommend networking. Do local user groups/meetups, join game jams, post on forums, etc. It can be a circuitous path, but meeting people seems to be the best way to get your foot in the door, and if you do it in a creative context like game jams or meetup projects, you get skills that will help you in your career. Right now my networking consists of local NYC SIGGRAPH meetings and a few varied contacts. I'll look into branching out and maybe enter the next SA Game Jam. On the subject of keeping track of work, does anyone recommend a desktop app or method to properly track hours spent on projects? Putty fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Feb 28, 2018 |
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Feb 28, 2018 04:06
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What's the market like in NYC these days? When I left the US it was kind of a ghost town since there weren't tax incentives for post-production or animation/games. A few friends have since moved to Georgia since they've got massive tax credits. Georgia peaches on the end of all the movies.
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Feb 28, 2018 04:39
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It's competitive as hell. Combine that with the high rent and you're in for an awful time. At least that's my perspective right now.
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Feb 28, 2018 05:02
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Putty posted:On the subject of keeping track of work, does anyone recommend a desktop app or method to properly track hours spent on projects? Manic Time. There is a free version that is more than one person not managing payroll will ever need. It keeps track of what programs you're using, what files, etc. It has history search, as well as other useful tools. I'm usually on at least 3 projects at a time that I have to bill separately/per asset for and it's a huge help.
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Feb 28, 2018 05:41
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Ccs posted:Wow, no wonder game studios are hard up for real time effects artists if that's the case. VFX Soldier reposted a twitter thread a couple months back about how game studio VFX positions will sit unfilled for months and months because there are so few real-time VFX candidates. This really isn't the reason. Pre-render vfx artists are very different (for the most part) from real-time vfx artists. The considerations are vastly different and the methods for achieving results are vastly different. A senior fx artist from Weta is by no means going to be a successful real-time game artist. There are a few reasons for this I could dive into. That being said as SOME games strive for greater realism (think CoD) there have been increasing opportunities for pre-render Weta style fx artists in special fields such as fluid dynamics. As for the art tests, I agree they are painful. I would feel better about them from an industry perspective if companies gave detailed feedback on tests and only asked for tests from a very small pool of final candidates. As it is many places just blanket ask any applicant for them. Naughty Dog is infamous for asking everyone for art tests even very senior artists. It's absurd to contact a senior artist because you love their work and want them on your project and then ask them for an art test. Just really absurd. I did two art tests when I was first looking for work, one I got an interview from the company and the other I got a robo-response. I ended up getting hired without a test at all at one of the biggest/best game companies in the world. v0v
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Feb 28, 2018 20:00
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cocoavalley posted:Manic Time. There is a free version that is more than one person not managing payroll will ever need. It keeps track of what programs you're using, what files, etc. It has history search, as well as other useful tools. I'm usually on at least 3 projects at a time that I have to bill separately/per asset for and it's a huge help. Man, thank you for this. We have an internal tracking tool but I’ve had some issues with it, so I’d been using toggl. Not bad, but I’d forget to start it, and it wasn’t quite granular enough. Manic Time seems to cover everything I could need. Ended up buying it to get all the autotagging etc features, but even the free one is awesome.
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Mar 1, 2018 06:50
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The Gasmask posted:Man, thank you for this. We have an internal tracking tool but I’ve had some issues with it, so I’d been using toggl. Not bad, but I’d forget to start it, and it wasn’t quite granular enough. Glad to help! It seems toggl is more well known, but it required too much interaction when I was jumping around projects, meetings, emails, etc. When I first started my current job, one of the other tech artists recognized Manic Time on my screen in passing and we had a   moment.
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Mar 1, 2018 09:56
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cocoavalley posted:Glad to help! I can’t wait to try this thing I never knew I needed. Thanks!
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Mar 1, 2018 10:36
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I know this is a super long shot, but does anyone know if there’s a way to set the scale of an Alembic file? Basically I’m trying to export from Houdini into Unreal but the simulation imports at 1/100 the appropriate scale due to differences in Houdini / Unreal’s unit size. I’ve done a ton of Googling but the only suggestion I can find is just to scale the object by 100x which isn’t workable for me as the simulation becomes really jittery due to the accuracy loss. I know with FBX files you can set the scale (at least you can in Maya) but I just cannot find a single reference to doing the same thing with an Alembic. Anyone have any ideas? Pathos fucked around with this message at 13:00 on Mar 3, 2018 |
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Mar 3, 2018 11:01
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Pathos posted:I know this is a super long shot, but does anyone know if there’s a way to set the scale of an Alembic file? Hmm - dunno if this would work, but what about exporting the .abc, importing it into Blender/Maya/other DCC, scaling 100x, then re-exporting as alembic? While the format is useful, I’ve run into similar issues with caches being scaled a little off, and I’ve always had to go back to the source - which in your case, doesn’t exactly help. But there might be another option... You could get the trial of Newtek’s Chronosculpt, and scale it in there? That’s a time-based sculpting program, designed to modify sim caches. It’s legit incredible, your modifications are non destructive and can be moved to any point in the sim after the fact, and I thiiink it can do scaling across the board. The trial is 30 days, so hopefully that should be enough? https://www.lightwave3d.com/try_chronosculpt/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voO-bYGpVBg E: man, just watching videos of this reminds me how much fun I had trying it out, and how we’re literally going through a massive sim issue at work. We do an animation, send it to the client, who sends it to their sim guy, who sends us back a cache - and having the client pixelfuck the Animation because they want it to move a certain way, then the sim looking bad because the clients animation notes cause the sim to gently caress up, and having them blame us because the process takes so long and we should’ve known that the sim would look bad (ie “I’m the VFX supe and I tell you to do it this very specific way, then I don’t like it and change a bunch myself, but now it looks bad so why didn’t you stop me!?”). Being able to quickly modify the abc then work directly with the sim guy over Skype or whatever could probably solve the issue. The Gasmask fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Mar 3, 2018 |
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Mar 3, 2018 16:16
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Pathos posted:I know this is a super long shot, but does anyone know if there’s a way to set the scale of an Alembic file? If you scale it up prior to exporting, do you see the same jitter? If so, then you need to re-run the sim at a larger scale or run a filter on it, which may or may not work.
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Mar 3, 2018 20:01
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Just to follow up in case anyone encounters the same problem: Basically what I did was mapped some larger proxy geometry onto the scaled-up versions and used that, while utilizing the lower-scale (original size) normals/diffuse and that seems to work pretty okay. It's not perfect but it's a lot better, so I think it's PROBABLY good enough for now. Thanks for the advice, guys - it got me thinking along a different track. Additionally that Chronosculpt thing is something I've never even heard of and it looks pretty awesome. I'm definitely going to check that out.
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Mar 4, 2018 11:52
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Putty posted:I just finished a really nice piece for an art test and got the automated rejection email a few hours after I sent it. That's really bullshit. These people don't even look at portfolios anymore. Haha turns out this was a mistake on their end. They got back to me and now I gotta schedule a google hangouts interview. Might post the art test pics here for a bit of critique later since there was no talk about it being nondisclosure or whatever.
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Mar 5, 2018 16:54
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Sounds like they want to play hardball. Refuse the google call and propose Skype instead.
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Mar 5, 2018 17:04
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I would be careful posting the test. When I was asked to do them there was some NDA thing in the assignment email/description if I recall. Those were fx tests though where they were giving me very specific examples they wanted me to hit, if you got some very generic thing and no talk of an NDA might be ok.
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Mar 6, 2018 19:19
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The Gasmask posted:Man, thank you for this. We have an internal tracking tool but I’ve had some issues with it, so I’d been using toggl. Not bad, but I’d forget to start it, and it wasn’t quite granular enough. With the paid version, how does it work as far as using it on multiple computers- do they all have to be on the same network, or connected to the internet? I have a couple computers that aren't dependably online.
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Mar 6, 2018 19:33
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