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Listerine posted: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. It saves your time files locally, and you can have it on as many computers as you use, from what I read. So offline PCs will work fine. Admittedly I haven’t tested on multiple machines yet, but it has worked fine without internet.
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Mar 6, 2018 22:19
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The Gasmask posted:It saves your time files locally, and you can have it on as many computers as you use, from what I read. So offline PCs will work fine. Admittedly I haven’t tested on multiple machines yet, but it has worked fine without internet. So is the "one license per user" more of an honor system, and not a case of having to log in somewhere centrally to make sure the software isn't running simultaneously on separate machines?
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Mar 6, 2018 22:48
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Has anyone got some legal advice on selling figurines modelled on an existing IP? I've been working on this DBZ figurine recently, which i posted in here not long back, and i'm wondering what the legalities would be concerning printing/selling it. Or even are there companies out there that buy printable sculpts off artists ? I imagine if i can't do anything with it i'll upload it on the internet for free
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Mar 9, 2018 03:08
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Pretty sure it's illegal, but there is a questionable site called gambody.com that does exactly that. Hmm, apparently gambody takes literally half of the profits for themselves, maybe don't
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Mar 9, 2018 03:44
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You could get away with it at conventions but prob not online.
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Mar 9, 2018 04:59
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ah bugger, thanks for the advice.
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Mar 9, 2018 13:32
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 got inspired by star wars so i tried to mock up a heavy blaster rifle, im gonna be modelling it out in a bit
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Mar 10, 2018 00:20
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oh also quote:Game Developers Need a Union https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/03/game-developers-need-a-union.html
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Mar 10, 2018 00:25
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Animators in Vancouver are apparently trying to unionize, organized by something called the Art Babbit Society. Already they've faced a lot of pushback from long time workers who fear the work all fleeing if rates rise. But honestly it's not just about rates. It's about expecting managers to plan reasonable schedules and force overtime pay if they don't do their job correctly. But I also understand the concern. Everyone who has been around the block in Canada understands that we're not hired for skill. We're hired for cheap labor and time zone compatibility. Yeah, you can pay artists in India $200 a week, but they get the body language on the characters wrong and you can only video-chat with them at night. Anyway it's a big conflict. Newer employees are floored that they're expected to work 12 hour days in Van while hardly making enough to pay rent. Whereas more experienced employees are going "Well, what did you expect when you went into this industry? It's better than being unemployed."
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Mar 10, 2018 04:26
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Well, Montreal is a valid option now and rent is about 1/2 of what is here.
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Mar 10, 2018 04:50
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Yeah I'm gonna apply to studios in Montreal soon. My girlfriend is already there working on animated features.
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Mar 10, 2018 05:53
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Ccs posted:Animators in Vancouver are apparently trying to unionize, organized by something called the Art Babbit Society. Already they've faced a lot of pushback from long time workers who fear the work all fleeing if rates rise. What rates are you speaking about specifically? Ccs posted:Whereas more experienced employees are going "Well, what did you expect when you went into this industry? It's better than being unemployed." There are experienced people and then there are shitheads. Blaming students for not knowing the ins and outs of the industry is unfair and the blame lays elsewhere (the schools, usually).
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Mar 11, 2018 13:07
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tuna posted:There are experienced people and then there are shitheads. Blaming students for not knowing the ins and outs of the industry is unfair and the blame lays elsewhere (the schools, usually). I'd love to be a fly on the wall as a professor bluntly explains the depth of the miscalculation all of the students have made by pursuing a career in cgi
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Mar 12, 2018 15:13
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Ideally, it would be done by advisers. Many schools have mandatory sessions with an adviser when registering, some even have mandatory sessions per-semester. These are things kids need to be informed of before they (or their parents) dump $30-150k on a degree in X field.
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Mar 12, 2018 21:03
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tuna posted:What rates are you speaking about specifically? Well for example a senior TV animator in Van is paid around $1000 a week (before taxes.) With the tax credits and CAD dollar, that means a US production company is spending around $350 USD per week to hire them. Whereas if they went to India they could pay $200 per animator. The reason the work stays in Van as opposed to going to India is because the ease of communication makes the Vancouver animators worth it. But if rates rise or tax credits are reduced suddenly the math doesn't work out. And older workers who are very committed to the career are worried that a union means wage hikes that means all the work disappears. A lot of these older workers have savings from back when rates were much higher in the 90s and own property in Van that is worth a lot now. It's also the reason work has been moving east, where senior animators are paid $850 a week and the tax credits are even higher. In that case, it costs a US production company only a little over $200 a week per animator. Handiklap posted:I'd love to be a fly on the wall as a professor bluntly explains the depth of the miscalculation all of the students have made by pursuing a career in cgi It's not a terrible career pay-wise depending on your specialty. I have friends who were studying VFX while I was studying animation who are now making 80k a few years out of school. Houdini is a very in-demand skill and even without learning VEX you can be a hot commodity. And I hear real time VFX is even more in demand. But the changing locations for work and long hours might still be a deterrent. Ccs fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Mar 12, 2018 |
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Mar 12, 2018 23:21
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Ccs posted:Well for example a senior TV animator in Van is paid around $1000 a week (before taxes.) With the tax credits and CAD dollar, that means a US production company is spending around $350 USD per week to hire them. Whereas if they went to India they could pay $200 per animator. These numbers are so baffling to me. A lot of non-entertainment companies are paying 3x those weekly amounts for senior level positions.
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Mar 13, 2018 02:09
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nm
ImplicitAssembler fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Mar 13, 2018 |
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Mar 13, 2018 02:36
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SVU Fan posted:These numbers are so baffling to me. A lot of non-entertainment companies are paying 3x those weekly amounts for senior level positions. By non-entertainment do you mean advertising? I've heard those pay a lot more but are much shorter contracts. Ccs fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Mar 13, 2018 |
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Mar 13, 2018 22:29
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Ccs posted:By non-entertainment do you mean advertising? I've heard those pay a lot more but are much shorter contracts. Meaning non-film non-game. There's a whole other world out thereeeeeee
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Mar 14, 2018 04:25
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Been getting some more work done on my Goku Sculpt, is coming along ok! If anyone wants to drop some critique please feel free its at that stage where i can't see it objectively anymore.   
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Mar 14, 2018 09:58
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Ccs posted:By non-entertainment do you mean advertising? I've heard those pay a lot more but are much shorter contracts. $1000 a week is pretty much the starting salary for any CG studio outside of film / games that I know of. non contract, full time.
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Mar 14, 2018 14:05
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cubicle gangster posted:$1000 a week is pretty much the starting salary for any CG studio outside of film / games that I know of. non contract, full time. I think you really underestimate how underpaid large segments of the industry are. I worked in teams of artists at multiple places and no one made that much, some of whom were extremely talented and experienced artists. Granted, I live in an area with low cost of living, but it was still underpayment.
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Mar 14, 2018 20:41
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The jobs I've been seeing have had starting annual salaries around $42-45k + benefits.  Vilgefartz posted:Been getting some more work done on my Goku Sculpt, is coming along ok! If anyone wants to drop some critique please feel free its at that stage where i can't see it objectively anymore. An excellent  . The teeth seem a bit off to me, as in they look like one solid piece, but that might just be an anime thing.
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Mar 14, 2018 21:33
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Putty posted:The jobs I've been seeing have had starting annual salaries around $42-45k + benefits. 45-50 is what I am aware of, yeah. Probably higher cost of living than you. I was mostly pointing out that making 48 in a senior role & contracting in Vancouver is super rough. cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Mar 14, 2018 |
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Mar 14, 2018 22:04
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cubicle gangster posted:45-50 is what I am aware of, yeah. Probably higher cost of living than you. Anyone making 48 in a senior role in Vancouver is loving up. That's an absurd rate for a senior title. Either that person isn't actually a senior anything or they are in a really bad situation and are desperate. 30-45 is a straight out of school starter salary (entry level). Senior rates should start in the 80-90k range. Supervisor rates should be starting at 140k. That isn't to say bad work environments don't exist but that's what things should be at. Vancouver is one of the hottest markets in the world and so rates there should be higher than almost anywhere else for every position that isn't entry level.
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Mar 14, 2018 22:42
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I was referring to TV. Those salaries sound like they're for VFX and games. I'm working on a show for Netflix and I'm considered a senior and get paid 42k per year. My supervisor makes 48k. These are slightly below but still in the category of standard rates for all TV animation jobs in Canada. Actually it's even lower for 2D/Toon Boom animators. http://www.animationwageshare.com/ Ccs fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Mar 14, 2018 |
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Mar 14, 2018 23:28
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Animation studios in Vancouver seem to be by far the worst in terms of pay and conditions. As far as I know most of them don't pay OT properly or at all either. I'm honestly not sure why anyone would chose to do that over VFX if you are in a discipline that translates well given how busy the VFX side of the industry is here right now.
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Mar 15, 2018 00:32
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Ccs posted:I was referring to TV. Those salaries sound like they're for VFX and games. What are you doing on the show?
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Mar 15, 2018 01:47
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Animator, so one of the higher paid positions according to data on Animation Wage Share.
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Mar 15, 2018 03:14
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Putty posted:An excellent Now you mention it, they do look weird af.
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Mar 15, 2018 05:51
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Here's a question for the movie / tv people - we're working on a pretty big animation project and will need some hand animated people in the backgrounds. Mixamo only goes so far. We'll be doing green screen filming for people in the foreground, but the background will need activity and unfortunately with the spaces they'll need to be doing things that make sense. ranging from simple things like sitting chatting drinking a juice to diving into a pool / climbing out and toweling off. Working out in a gym, eating at a restaurant, buying things in a store etc. Client has deep pockets, we're looking for a proper shop that can take this on and do a great job. Where would we even start looking for something like this? Do big studios take on shorter side gigs like this?
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Mar 15, 2018 16:31
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This is the role my studio often fills for TV VFX, as overflow, and I’m sure lots of other studios do it as well. I don’t really know the best way to find one other than searching for studios that have done work you can check out, and reaching out directly. If I were looking for an overflow studio like that, I’d probably pick a similar quality show to the one I’m working on, find out which studios handled the overflow for crowd work, and start asking for bids. Having a good budget is probably the best thing, tbh. I’ve seen a lot of bids get turned down because the client is somehow expecting the studio to do 2 minutes of vfx with a dozen CG actors mostly in FG, finished in 4K, and they only want to spend $8000 USD total. Oh and that 8k usually includes rendering, multiple passes, and they want it done in a week. Here’s how we handled a large crowd, with our friends over at Barnstorm - sequence was a large hall filled with 150k digital actors for MHC s2. I made 30 civilian models (15 male, 15 female) using Fuse, Substance Painter, and Blender, over the course of a couple of days. It went to our rigging guy who set them up for mocap and added blend shapes with sliders so you could get a ton of additional variations out of the actors, then we gave the actors to Barnstorm. They went and rendered out cards of individual actors doing whatever, and placed them across the entire Volkshalle in Nuke - I think using a script to randomly pick between different looks, and shifting the timing. As we had the lighting set, they were able to have the base look of the civilians match the set, and then added additional lighting over them in Nuke, to make them blend properly. Probably also using the actual set geometry for masking and large shadows, not sure. Turned out pretty good, especially considering the timetable was short and we weren’t even sure how we would work it until the very end. E: still haven’t reconciled being proud of my work with the fact that sharing it seems to be implicitly endorsing the imagery within - so just to make this extra clear, I don’t support or condone Nazis. Have lots of thoughts about working on this show, and hope viewers are able to approach it from a cautious and reasoned viewpoint, but I also know some godawful communities have idolized these sequences in the worst way. 
The Gasmask fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Mar 15, 2018 |
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Mar 15, 2018 22:32
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cubicle gangster posted:Here's a question for the movie / tv people - we're working on a pretty big animation project and will need some hand animated people in the backgrounds. Mixamo only goes so far. Do they need to be CG? You are shooting on green so I'm guessing you're renting space and that's why it's not economically feasible to do every single asset that way? We have a 4,000 sq ft sound stage with a 40ft green cyc. And we're in Mississippi so we're probably cheaper than most people. Could you theoretically hire a smaller studio like us to do those background assets? edit: or I'm guessing they need to be CG for flexibility
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Mar 15, 2018 23:04
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BonoMan posted:Do they need to be CG? You are shooting on green so I'm guessing you're renting space and that's why it's not economically feasible to do every single asset that way? We have a 4,000 sq ft sound stage with a 40ft green cyc. And we're in Mississippi so we're probably cheaper than most people. The crowd work will involve a couple shots with distances of like 100 - 200ft, with the camera 40ft above them. Most will be closer - and we will have some cameras at human scale when we have the foreground people in, but I know that mixing and matching methods of all the background actors will be a nightmare for consistency. I feel like it is best to go with CG for everyone thats not our main actors/people who interact directly with them. Having some shots where the guy by the pool is filmed but then we cut to a camera way further out and he has to be CG anyway seems like a headache. The rest of it is just down to flexibility like you say - we'll have people interacting with a pool, weights, picking objects up, opening doors etc. Having low sun & shadows from moving trees cast on them etc. Plus it's tough to match greenscreen and lighting when you're placing them into a complex space with tons of ambient light variations. A relentless amount of precision would be needed for it to all lock together, managing and producing it would be a nightmare. Even if CG is more expensive - the client is paying, it needs to get done, and we have the power to say it's the only method we are comfortable with. Something I just thought about - is it common for work like this to be delivered as alembic files so we could handle rendering ourselves? If they wanted to handle render/comp I guess they'd have to finish the animation and then hold for a couple months until we can get all our shots signed off and locked. Gasmask - Thank you for the detailed writeup! Appreciate hearing how it is approached. Our problem is that we typically do everything in house - we don't know any overflow studios, and the only VFX studios I know by name are the famous ones. Which for something like this might not be the best option. When someone reaches out to you with a scope, do they typically mention what their budget is? I figured we'd be asking them to tell us how much it will cost and to provide a sample of what that $ amount gets us quality wise and we'd just pick the most reasonable offer. I'm going to start putting a document together with a list of potential studios, and all my notes and thoughts on how we should do this. Any suggestions more than welcome (where do you both work?)  For reference - we just got the design of the experience space approved - it's in a 10,000 sq ft warehouse we are completely taking over. The projectors alone are going to run $1.1m. It's a pretty bold move they are doing. cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Mar 15, 2018 |
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Mar 15, 2018 23:46
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cubicle gangster posted:The crowd work will involve a couple shots with distances of like 100 - 200ft, with the camera 40ft above them. Most will be closer - and we will have some cameras at human scale when we have the foreground people in, but I know that mixing and matching methods of all the background actors will be a nightmare for consistency. I feel like it is best to go with CG for everyone thats not our main actors/people who interact directly with them. Having some shots where the guy by the pool is filmed but then we cut to a camera way further out and he has to be CG anyway seems like a headache. Yeah I guess I'd have to see a full storyboard, but for arch-viz I'd imagine, as you said, it's just easier to have the CG elements so you can do what you want after the fact. I'm used to film/TV where I know exactly what I'm shooting and (usually) exactly how i'm using it. quote:Something I just thought about - is it common for work like this to be delivered as alembic files so we could handle rendering ourselves? If they wanted to handle render/comp I guess they'd have to finish the animation and then hold for a couple months until we can get all our shots signed off and locked. This is up to you. You're the client so whatever works best for you is how you should ask for it to be delivered. Personally I'd ask for Alembic or scene files and do the rest yourself. Y'all do a lot of rendering/comping anyway so I wouldn't want the 3rd party to try to match the style of everything you're doing for your piece. Keep that control in your hands. quote:Gasmask - Thank you for the detailed writeup! Appreciate hearing how it is approached. Well it never hurts to reach out! Big studios (maybe not the ILMs and such) will take work if the pay is fair I'd imagine. Look at smaller firms in Georgia and Louisiana in the up and coming markets. quote:When someone reaches out to you with a scope, do they typically mention what their budget is? I figured we'd be asking them to tell us how much it will cost and to provide a sample of what that $ amount gets us quality wise and we'd just pick the most reasonable offer. I work in the Ad world (mostly TV with a few films a year) and it can go both ways. I think the smartest move is to just give a scope of work and ask for the cost. You work for DBox right? They'll know it's legit and give you a fair price. If it's under what you're thinking then great! If not then almost everyone will find a way to work within your budget. If you give a budget and it ends up being over cost, then a lot of places will fit to fill and you could potentially end up overpaying. quote:I'm going to start putting a document together with a list of potential studios, and all my notes and thoughts on how we should do this. Any suggestions more than welcome (where do you both work?) I work ad at a 35-40 person ad agency in Mississippi. It's a fun place to work that sees me doing all kinds of disciplines. I get to creative direct, actually direct, do motion graphics and 3D work... the lot. We also deal with most movies that come through the area and get to do smaller VFX and CG work from time to time. ($3-5M movies and below). I'm running some fire simulations right now in Phoenix FD! I have to run at the moment, but I'll try to chime back in tomorrow some with some more well thought ideas (not that they'll necessarily be worth a drat!).
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Mar 16, 2018 00:13
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Might be completely off topic (and I apologize if it is), but I'm looking to get some quotes for some modeling work to be done (for some 3d printing), and wasn't sure if I needed to post here or if I needed to make a new thread in SAMart. It's a bunch of random stuff, to be honest. I've got reference ranging from screen captures to artwork to mesh files from games to just pics of pieces of neat stuff I'd like to own. Pieces are going to range from prop replica stuff to artifacts to 1/6 scale figure pieces Up front, I'm cheap (well, poor), I'm patient, and I will have stupid questions. Feel free to message me and we can hammer out some details, I don't want to clog up the thread with my random stuff. If you need my email, just let me know.
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Mar 16, 2018 07:15
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A little while ago I told GBS that I would animate whatever idea they came up with. This is the result: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRIgrD-_U0c
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Mar 16, 2018 11:15
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The Gasmask posted:
Final result is fantastic. Loved the show and didn't even realize it was CG at the time. I think it goes without saying that in this industry, we (artists) don't necessarily endorse the message that's on the screen, especially when it comes to recreating scenes with Nazis. I know it's uncomfortable -- I've worked on a torture scene in a video game, and that was pretty rough -- but it's important for us to show the ugly sides of history as a reminder to our future generations to not make the same mistakes again. That said, I'd still be uncomfortable putting it in my portfolio, but anyone looking at it for the purpose of critique wouldn't reasonably assume that you were endorsing their message.
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Mar 16, 2018 12:42
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cubicle gangster posted:Something I just thought about - is it common for work like this to be delivered as alembic files so we could handle rendering ourselves? If they wanted to handle render/comp I guess they'd have to finish the animation and then hold for a couple months until we can get all our shots signed off and locked. Bonoman covered everything pretty well, but I’ll toss my 2c in as well. Delivery can be in whatever format you work with best. If that’s alembic, ask and if they’re any decent, you shall receive. It’s generally understood that the client (in this case you) will have a workflow they like, so it should be fine if you’re just using them for asset generation and handling the layout/rendering in-house. Make sure they know this! I would suggest being pretty clear on your internal workflow though, at least where it will intersect with their work. If you use specific names for textures or parent meshes in certain ways or whatever, let them know. Even if it’s common knowledge (ie “no spaces in file names”). They’ll want to deliver what you need, and getting notes on procedural stuff can clog up the process pretty fast. Any halfway decent house will be able to bid at a couple of price points, and depending on how they work, they may even itemize the bid (though don’t expect a super granular breakdown unless asked for). I’d recommend going to them with a pitch and whatever info they’ll need, and asking for a quote. You don’t want to overpay or underpay too much so it’s good to have an ideal number in mind, then a minimum and maximum. In most cases, they’ll want to work with you, and will be willing to do less or more depending on your budget. Some places have fixed rates for everything, but ime I’ve seen a ton of flexibility. Don’t be afraid to just reach out to studios, either. They’re used to getting proposals out of the blue, and will have a process for giving a quote. And if they can’t do the work, they may recommend someone who can. Vile Pilot posted:A little while ago I told GBS that I would animate whatever idea they came up with. This is the result: Haha oh my... the Hulk Hogan meat shoes are a very nice touch. Gearman posted:Final result is fantastic. Loved the show and didn't even realize it was CG at the time. Thanks! I definitely feel like the cultural changes have altered how stuff like this is viewed. A few years ago, I could reasonably assume people would view the show as a comment on the dangers of complacency and the ease at which nearly anyone would “just go along”. But now, I see posts praising the scenes on Stormfront, white supremacy subreddits, etc, and it makes me sad, to put it simply. Our teams poured a lot of effort and energy into making something that was both beautiful and the embodiment of the collective evil, and we knew there would be some that would fetishize the world. But then nov 2016 happened, people started realizing this was already in their communities and homes, and what should’ve been frightening escapism became a blunt reminder of the real world. The Gasmask fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Mar 16, 2018 |
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Mar 16, 2018 15:52
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In other news (thank you again for the responses!) Our london team did this - https://vimeo.com/259776588 This project is somewhat similar, but at a larger scale with more elevated cameras.
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Mar 16, 2018 20:59
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