Haven't had a studio job since Jan 09, out of freelance work, out of money, out of time to find more work before January, my portfolio isn't where I want it to be, and my wife is just about fed up with me burning time trying to get work without actually getting results.


Didn't figure it would end like this.


What the hell do I do now? I'm sure I'm no the only person who's been in this spot... I just can't see how to dig myself out.

well i'm sorting working again after being unemployed for just short of 2 years. Thankfully I have parents place to crash at.

Show me your portfolio god dammit!

I think especially in these times it hard to get a job in the industry and it becomes ever more important to keep updating and advancing your skills but also your portfolio.

Coming to sites like Polycount help a lot to as your able to network with individuals all over the world, i wouldn't have gotten my job if it wasn't for the contacts i made here at Polycount.

Also what i have been seeing over and over again is that this is a young persons market as we are able to move to anywhere in the world without really up-rooting too much as we dont all have wife and kids in our early 20's.

My best advice if you do still want to do this is to post up your portfolio get a crit and work on what needs to get fixed.

Cheers,

Arman

Originally Posted by ae.

Show me your portfolio god dammit!

I think especially in these times it hard to get a job in the industry and it becomes ever more important to keep updating and advancing your skills but also your portfolio.

Coming to sites like Polycount help a lot to as your able to network with individuals all over the world, i wouldn't have gotten my job if it wasn't for the contacts i made here at Polycount.

Also what i have been seeing over and over again is that this is a young persons market as we are able to move to anywhere in the world without really up-rooting too much as we dont all have wife and kids in our early 20's.

My best advice if you do still want to do this is to post up your portfolio get a crit and work on what needs to get fixed.

Cheers,

Arman

Eh, that's part of the problem.

I'm married and we a kid young (I'm 25, my son's 6... you do the math. ). We're not really mobile because of extended family circumstances and finances. I'm in Seattle, which helps, but if it's not within driving distance of Seattle, I'm pretty much limited to offsite, which is a huge crimp in things.

Portfolio, for what it's worth, is at www.garagebay9.com. Basically all airplanes and flight-related stuff as far as my studio work (I was at MS Flight Sim). I'm trying as fast as I can to build stuff that doesn't have anything to do with planes for my portfolio...

When I checked out your site and hit "work samples", the page went blank... I eventually found the menu change at the top of the screen and found your work... but damn. Nine out of ten art directors/leads would have instantly closed your site when the page went blank. Your website is probably why you're not getting jobs, your work aint bad. Redesign that beast to be super simple, and take out your 2d section, your chances will go up ten fold. Best of luck to ya.

edit: and take out the "Who 'That Guy' is" section of your resume... it's really weird and unnecessary. Basically you want your portfolio to be images that are easy to find and see, and a list of your skills and jobs. Employers find out about your personality when they interview you.

edit2: You should also simplify your job descriptions to short, bullet-point phrases, if not just a simple list. Think of it like a stats sheet from a really awesome RPG where you get paid to win.

I'll get started on that... always wondered if that would be a problem. Thanks for the pointer.

Two more pieces that aren't posted there, are these even worth posting?

why don't you have examples of your professional work on the front page?

Originally Posted by GarageBay9

Basically all airplanes and flight-related stuff as far as my studio work (I was at MS Flight Sim). I'm trying as fast as I can to build stuff that doesn't have anything to do with planes for my portfolio...

Have you thought about applying at places that do simulation work for the military or Air Force? Lockheed Martin, Meggit, etc...just a thought. The pay and stability is waaaay better than the gaming industry.

why don't you have examples of your professional work on the front page?

I figured it was 3+ years old, wasn't up to par, and over-specialized to boot. I've been hearing from lots of local artists that there's kind of a stigma attached to Flight Sim in this area because it was seen as "not modern" (and in a lot of ways, it really wasn't).

Have you thought about applying at places that do simulation work for the military or Air Force? Lockheed Martin, Meggit, etc...just a thought. The pay and stability is waaaay better than the gaming industry.

Yeah, I actually tried. Applied at a place called AeroTech (subsidiary of Thiokol), looked into Lockheed-Martin and Boeing (my uncle works at Boeing as a software engineer), nobody was interested. Most military applications prioritize function and user experience accuracy waaaay above graphics. And the one place that was vaguely interested wanted me to move to the Texas gulf coast, and I couldn't do that.

edit2: You should also simplify your job descriptions to short, bullet-point phrases, if not just a simple list. Think of it like a stats sheet from a really awesome RPG where you get paid to win.

That is an awesome description. When I have money I owe you a beer.

..sometimes you got to bite the bullet and get a shit job to pay the bills...I've done it..I know more than a few people who have....and don't throw the baby out with the bathwater..keep working on your stuff...keep polishing and applying

I'll chime in and say dude don't give up. A lot of people around here know my situation and what I've been through but I'll share it with you because maybe it will help.

In the past 12-15 months I have been in and out of work. First getting layed off at Raven and then leaving / getting layed off at Budcat in July (before the studio shut down). I have a wife and 2 kids (5 year old son, 17month old daughter). Since Jan of 2007 we have lived in San Diego, Maine, Chicago, Wisconsin, Iowa, and now Maine again. It fucking sucks moving and uprouting my family, BUT we have done what we have had to do to survive. The economy sucks. Right now our industry is kinda wishy washy for lack of better words and you gotta do what you gotta do to survive.

So after losing my gig at Budcat in July my wife and I stuck it out in Iowa for a bit. I did a bit of freelance when I could find some, applied for other jobs, worked on some things and she took a job in the evenings. In the end it wasn't cutting it so we moved back to Maine to be closer to family and have a cheaper cost of living. With no money at all after getting here I took a job working construction with my cousin. I work m-thursday (sometimes on fridays) but it is out of state in Vermont most weeks, or if I am in state working I am up by 4:00am and out the door by 5:00-5:30 to get to work on time. Home around 6:00-6:30 at night. Eat dinner with the family, shower and try to get in some work on my folio or an art test.

It doesn't leave much time to do anything and it sucks. Underpaid like mad and the works rough, but the important part is I am helping my family get through this mess. I don't get as much time to work on my folio as I would like to but when I do get the chance I work as much as I can on it.

I've been doing art test after art test lately as it's winter now and there isn't too much construction work to be done in the snow. At least not with the guys I was working with.

There are much worse things that could happen to ya to make you give up but don't man. I don't know your whole situation but you're a young dude. I understand about the wife not seeing the results of the hard work but that's how it is. Just try and talk with her. My wife has done the same thing when I would do an art test or apply at places just to get the big no thanks or no replies at all. It's part of our industry, take it or leave it.

If this isn't what you really want to do then find something else you love doing but if making game art is what you want to do then my best advice is take any shitty job you can find that will help pay the bills until your folio is up to snuff so you can get that job you really want. Any money coming in is better then no money right?

I know that is a lot to read but I hope it helps a bit. Don't give up.

I don't have any qualms about taking a backup job for a while (I was a professional pizza slinger for a span of time in 2008...). How is the gap in industry-related work going to look to employers when I start applying again?

I think our industry is more resume gap friendly than many others, as long as your folio is right and you can deliver. Just to make sure, there may be an art test. But if you manage that then most places just don't care.

With this economy, I don't see gaps being issue. Folks understand that things can get rough.

It's also a difficult time of year. A lot of studios have shipped their titles for the holiday season and will be putting off interviews until after the holidays. Now's a good time to grab a seasonal temp job, make some money and give yourself and family a little break for the holidays, and use what free time you get to work on portfolio pieces unburdened by the stress of having to find a job. Come January or February, the hiring will (hopefully) open up a bit and you can sneak in somewhere in preparation for E3 pushes!

Good luck!

It also depends on how you tackle the gap. If, like Jesse, you keep producing, keep following the news and in general keep up-to-date with the industry, you'll fare a lot better in a few years than if you quit doing 3D completely.

OMG WALL OF TEXT! TL;DR!!!!

Listen to Jesse first of all. He's been through "the shit", and still doing his best to make it happen. He knows where his heart is, has a good set of priorities, and on top of it all has a family to support.

Second, don't give up. Listen to what others are saying and get a paying job. Anything that will bring in dollar signs to appease the misses will help you and your situation tremendously.

What I think will help you most is scraping your current portfolio and stop applying for game jobs for the time being. I know it sounds like a tough nail to bite, but it is advice someone gave me a good time ago and it helped ten fold.

• Work on side projects, build some good solid enviro stuff. This would be an easy transition for you as your current work is geared more towards that.
• Stay current with the latest tech and show that work in your folio.
• If you wanna stay local, know the studios in your area, the work they do, and build your portfolio around that. A couple pieces to appeal to each top choice studio would go a long way.
• Rebuild your folio from the ground up in the most simple viewing method possible. Design a professional layout, but keep the art first. No one wants to hunt for your work. I had to dig into a few links on your site before finding stuff to really look at.

Once you've done all that, start applying again. Maybe look for some solid off-site freelance/mod work to get you back in shape and slap on your resumé.

I currently do have a job, but have been trying to break in for about 2-3 years now. In that time though, I've landed a handful of off-site jobs that have helped me improve and one I am working on now that will ship this coming summer. I've had the grief talks with the wife about how this is a pipe dream, and we fought and fought and fought and fought. She finally realized that this is my passion no matter what, and she accepted that because she understood my position (after a really long sappy heart felt talk). Eventually, everything will do a 180 and squirrels, birds, and white tail deer will start prancing in a field of butterflies

Get something that will pay the bills and keep pecking at your folio. Become the harshest crit you can and make it top notch.

Seriously man, hang in there. It's tough out there right now, but stick with it.

I got laid off in January of 09, and with all the local studios I figured it wouldn't take long to get a new job at all. Boy was I wrong. About two weeks after I got laid off almost every local studio either had massive layoffs or closed shop. It was ugly. I wracked my brain trying to figure out ways to make money until the local places start hiring again. Eventually I started custom painting RC car shells to help make ends meet. At first it barely made anything, and it was rough. I just barely bought a house and I had a child due in a couple months with no insurance.

But I stuck with that, and continued working on my portfolio. I painted rc stuff from 8am until 2pm, and from 2pm to 2am I worked on my portfolio while taking what little freelance I could(Completely re-did my portfolio 3-4 times within this time period). Then slept for six hours, rinse and repeat. But I focused on things that I feel were keeping me from getting a job. At my previous studio I didn't have to paint textures at all, so I focused purely on that.

It was super hard, and very disappointing to make small change custom painting, and getting turned down from every game studio around. But eventually things started to change. A few people started racing my rc shells in national races, my paint work was being featured in magazines, and manufacturers started using my shells and referring customers my way. Along with that I sped up my process, was able to charge more, and built up a good reputation. Eventually it started doing well enough to pay the bills at least. That took a little bit of stress off, and made me realize that when times get tough I can get resourceful and make enough to take care of my wife and son. I didn't want to custom paint forever, but it was one step to help me get where I was going to get.

Eventually I bit the bullet and gave up on waiting for local studios to hire and decided to apply out of state. I ended up getting an offer 2,000 miles away and packed everything up and moved. I started my new job in May. It's rough having no family around, but I think it was a great decision and I'm pleased with the way things turned out. And during that time yeah I was stressed as hell and it was the roughest time of my life. But I learned a lot about myself, my weaknesses and strengths as an artist, and what I want out of my career.

So hang in there! Things will get better, as long as you keep working your ass off for it. Few people get jobs handed to them. You gotta keep applying, keep optimistic (Which is the hardest part), and keep working on the weak spots in your art.

And as cheesy as it sounds, I listened to this a lot.

You Tube

Best of luck with your searches dude. Keep at it as far as your folio goes. Seems you have a better handle on environment work so I'd skip the character stuff if you can.

There is always a demand for good hard-surface artists. Stay away from characters.

Also redo your website and start a critique thread for it:

-The front page should always be your gallery
-Never have a solid white background, same reasons you don't want one on renders
-Less is more

Your 3D Career is over when you throw in the towel.

From what I can tell, I think your portfolio needs a LOT of work.

That very first piece you have, should highlight the strongest/most current piece you've created. The lighting doesn't match the background, the shaders seem off, and the presentation is a bit lazy.

You have no wire frames or texture flats, so we can only really guess how you've created them. And it doesn't look like you're keeping up to date with current techniques.

I'm not seeing any Ambient Occlusion bakes, or usage of a curvature map, not to mention the texel density seems very uneven throughout.



Keep in Mind Jesse Moody is currently looking for work as an Environment Artist, and he has years of experience on AAA titles, and has a AAA portfolio to show for it.

You're competing with guys of his caliber for those few positions.


I know you mentioned your portfolio hasn't been updated since 2009... which is (unless you're UBER gosu) inexcusable for a professional artist.

Aint nothing wrong with getting a shoddy job to pay the bills! I know you're busy with the family, and that's great too, appreciate it. Eventually you'll have some free time and you'll feel like jumping back into the ole 3d art world and you'll have time to make some kickass work on your own terms. If you're determined to make your life a straight and narrow path, then you'll miss out on some interesting shit. Just do what you gotta do and keep your options open!

(drunkenly advice)

I'd have to echo what was said regarding your site and putting your best work first. I don't think you did that as it seems all over the place. You are in dire need of polish to your work. Pick portfolios you admire or that are succesful. Breakdown why they are successful and how you can apply your it to your own work. Like others have said, what you've got up now, doesn't cut it. Competition is fierce as jobs disappear. For your website, either go custom and tune the shit out of it or use a template like wordpress or something. Professional enough not to distract and put the focus on your work first and foremost. I don't think your current site is doing you any favors. A guy seeking employment should be constantly updating his portfolio if he is serious. Last update since 2009 is inexcusable. Do what you need to do to be happy and get by. If it's meant to be, you're gonna need to work at it to achieve it. I wish you good luck and happiness!

Oh and no whining.. I've got a fulltime job, teach and have a wife and three kids. If I can find the time. So can you. It just means less sleep.

Originally Posted by aesir

Aint nothing wrong with getting a shoddy job to pay the bills!

Speaketh the truth. I worked a hardcore job 12hrs/day while I learned 3D. There's no reason I wouldn't go back to a menial job to sustain myself, should circumstances require it. You do what you have to do, simple as that. Stay strong man, keep making art and reading tutorials. Keep posting your work here and getting critiqued. You'll improve yourself and by doing so, your situation as well.

I lucked out with the job I have now allowing me enough freetime to do my own work (and sometimes on the job as well). I had a very hard time getting such a job and was constantly rejected. I was overqualified for menial jobs and underqualified for most others.

If you do need to find some work. Get something that will allow you the time to work on your stuff. Reading Jesse's experience. My god, I would have had a nervous breakdown.

(and as people say your website is ugh. Maybe just make a wordpress and call it donw)

I think you got all the technical background you need to handle anything, 3D wise. (you know how to model, UV, apply textures, make renders ; the meshing of that shark is very solid, for instance)

I think that the only thing you need to do (besides redoing your folio) is simply to take art classes, read on art theory, and start seing things with a fresh pair of eyes. And no, doing hardsurface modeling does not mean one shouldn't take life drawing classes. Check out some of the Massive Black videos and listen to guys like Whit Brachna.

Good luck!

Edit : after digging further on your website I see that you, indeed, started to take life drawing classes. I can feel you enjoyed them since you post pics from them. I dont think you should post all that (maybe a few good ones you really like) but yeah, keep on learning about art. Even tho you want to focus on executing hardsurface models, its still crucial to develop the skills to *look* at them properly. This is also true for your website - it needs to be more clear, make better use of contrast, and so on. Again, good luck for whats coming next.

As for your website, heres a honest piece of advice, I hope you wont take it badly (its hard to let go of something you most likely spent a lot of time building) : Flat black background. Your info at the top with the necessary links. Thumbnails linking to full size images. Done! All that can be done in about an hour.