Sunday, 27 April 2014
Saturday, 26 April 2014
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Networking
Gaining contacts in any industry you wish to work in is important, but even more so if you plan on working within the games industry because of how close it seems to be. I've spoken to a few animators and if you mention someone's work they always seem to know who you're on about, by either having worked with them or they know someone who has. It's therefore important to keep in good standing with the people you make contacts with, as further down the line they might vouch for you when you're applying for a job. I don't mean putting on a fake friendly face or anything, I just mean when you work or talk with somewhat in the industry make sure you work hard and show off your capabilities, as then you might be remembered when there is a job going and work could be sent your way.
I have only a limited number of animation contacts at the moment, Sam Malone, Roshin Hunt and Kyle Moody. Contacting them from time-to-time to get some friendly feedback could be a good way of staying in contact with them. In order to gain new contacts though I have to market myself after university.
Animation is somewhat lacking in terms of forums, though there are places such as the 11secondclub.com where I can take part in competitions to win a personal tutoring session from an industry professional. Not only would the tutoring be great, but the possibility to network with them as well as those on the website forums is even better.
I am also hoping to interact and gain contacts with others in the game industry through the release of the Xbox One game I will be working on in Deco Digital after university. Alongside this I hope to increase my connections through LinkedIn, and gain written recommendations on there from industry professionals, as I think being able to say that an industry professional vouches for your work is an excellent position to be in if an employer is weary of hiring somewhat not yet known in the industry.
This industry seems very close-knit and a lot of hiring happens because of recommendations. It's one of the reasons I chose to acquire (once ArtStation offers the paid option) the domain name 'aniknight.com', because although it may sound silly I think AniKnight is memorable, if for nothing else than replacing ani-mate with knight, and so if in passing conversation I tell someone my site address the chances are they are going to remember it.
I have only a limited number of animation contacts at the moment, Sam Malone, Roshin Hunt and Kyle Moody. Contacting them from time-to-time to get some friendly feedback could be a good way of staying in contact with them. In order to gain new contacts though I have to market myself after university.
Animation is somewhat lacking in terms of forums, though there are places such as the 11secondclub.com where I can take part in competitions to win a personal tutoring session from an industry professional. Not only would the tutoring be great, but the possibility to network with them as well as those on the website forums is even better.
I am also hoping to interact and gain contacts with others in the game industry through the release of the Xbox One game I will be working on in Deco Digital after university. Alongside this I hope to increase my connections through LinkedIn, and gain written recommendations on there from industry professionals, as I think being able to say that an industry professional vouches for your work is an excellent position to be in if an employer is weary of hiring somewhat not yet known in the industry.
This industry seems very close-knit and a lot of hiring happens because of recommendations. It's one of the reasons I chose to acquire (once ArtStation offers the paid option) the domain name 'aniknight.com', because although it may sound silly I think AniKnight is memorable, if for nothing else than replacing ani-mate with knight, and so if in passing conversation I tell someone my site address the chances are they are going to remember it.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
ArtStation
There has recently been a new website created that tailors for professional artists and promoting their work called ArtStation. It is currently in beta and thankfully I have managed to secure a beta position, with it releasing fully sometime this summer.
I've decided to build and host my website with them, and here's why:
The site has been built for and by creative professionals, of whom have had previous great success with creating websites for such companies such as Autodesk and Nvidia, and communities such as CGSociety. I understand and accept that the site could fall flat on its face, but considering the creators' earlier successes, and that large amount of attention it is gaining now, I think that it is a good place to set up my work.
When you sign up to ArtStation your are given your own website (here's mine: nathanknight.artstation.com) as well as a community page (www.artstation.com/artist/NathanKnight). Both are customisable, though the community page follows a common theme. The community page is where other artists can find you, it similar to a social network news feed, only you see just the artwork. The personal website you are given starts with the address containing '{name}.artstation.com' however they are currently working on producing a paid feature so what you can gain your own domain name and host your website with them, so eventually your website will have the address you want, and in my case 'aniknight.com' (if that name hasn't been taken by then).
If we look back to my first PPD module I wrote about wanting to start a blog or video blog for animation. ArtStation allows my blog to be tethered to my ArtStation website and community profile which means it will be easier to find and link in with one another for a chance at gaining a greater audience / more attention for possible head hunters to find me.
Most importantly about this new medium is that it doesn't just cater to concept artists and digital stills. They have built it to make sure that video is just as easily accessible with embedding for YouTube and Vimeo, and that when a person visits my site and community page the first thing they see if I wish it is my video showreel.
This video is 13 minutes long, but it explains ArtStation and the features it has for why I think it is the best place for me to have my website, instead of having a website that may be independent of a blog that is hosted somewhere else like blogger, which is independent to the other industry specific forums where I'd post my work to again attention:
ArtStation Beta 1 from Ballistiq on Vimeo.
I've decided to build and host my website with them, and here's why:
The site has been built for and by creative professionals, of whom have had previous great success with creating websites for such companies such as Autodesk and Nvidia, and communities such as CGSociety. I understand and accept that the site could fall flat on its face, but considering the creators' earlier successes, and that large amount of attention it is gaining now, I think that it is a good place to set up my work.
When you sign up to ArtStation your are given your own website (here's mine: nathanknight.artstation.com) as well as a community page (www.artstation.com/artist/NathanKnight). Both are customisable, though the community page follows a common theme. The community page is where other artists can find you, it similar to a social network news feed, only you see just the artwork. The personal website you are given starts with the address containing '{name}.artstation.com' however they are currently working on producing a paid feature so what you can gain your own domain name and host your website with them, so eventually your website will have the address you want, and in my case 'aniknight.com' (if that name hasn't been taken by then).
If we look back to my first PPD module I wrote about wanting to start a blog or video blog for animation. ArtStation allows my blog to be tethered to my ArtStation website and community profile which means it will be easier to find and link in with one another for a chance at gaining a greater audience / more attention for possible head hunters to find me.
Most importantly about this new medium is that it doesn't just cater to concept artists and digital stills. They have built it to make sure that video is just as easily accessible with embedding for YouTube and Vimeo, and that when a person visits my site and community page the first thing they see if I wish it is my video showreel.
This video is 13 minutes long, but it explains ArtStation and the features it has for why I think it is the best place for me to have my website, instead of having a website that may be independent of a blog that is hosted somewhere else like blogger, which is independent to the other industry specific forums where I'd post my work to again attention:
ArtStation Beta 1 from Ballistiq on Vimeo.
Monday, 21 April 2014
Deco Digital and Future Plans
I have now accepted work at Deco Digital (DD) and signed a contract for approximately 6 months work. I'll be animating for the game and helping out where I can with modelling. This changes my future plans a little as now instead of immediately looking for work after university and contacting studios to discover if there are any job openings, I will be working on the game DD is developing.
The purpose of the first game release is to allow the producer to gain more funding in order to make DD into a fully fledged studio. I've been offered a chance to stay with them after my contract is up when I can hopefully be offered a monthly wage. I think this is a great opportunity to get some real first hand experience in developing a game and shipping it, and to understand what it is like working closely with other artists and programmers in an office. It's something that will look good on for my portfolio/resume and I'll learn just what goes into the process of releasing a game. The game being released will be under the Microsoft Xbox One indie market, and they have already sent us Xbox One developer kits to work with.
Whilst working there I will still be doing animations after work and on the weekends to further my skills as well as to build up more material that I can update my showreel with.
The purpose of the first game release is to allow the producer to gain more funding in order to make DD into a fully fledged studio. I've been offered a chance to stay with them after my contract is up when I can hopefully be offered a monthly wage. I think this is a great opportunity to get some real first hand experience in developing a game and shipping it, and to understand what it is like working closely with other artists and programmers in an office. It's something that will look good on for my portfolio/resume and I'll learn just what goes into the process of releasing a game. The game being released will be under the Microsoft Xbox One indie market, and they have already sent us Xbox One developer kits to work with.
Whilst working there I will still be doing animations after work and on the weekends to further my skills as well as to build up more material that I can update my showreel with.
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Video Hosting
Video hosting is an important part for showreels. It is important because you want to know that regardless of how many people are viewing your video at once, it needs to play every time without buffering or taking too long to begin it's initial playing.
The two most obvious choices are of course YouTube and Vimeo. YouTube has the best infrastructure nowadays with Google always updating it and increasing hardware dedication. This means that of the two YouTube will be least likely to buffer or take too long for it to initially play. Possible employers will only wait a few seconds at best before they count you out because their time is valuable, and it isn't their problem if your video isn't working on their device, which is why YouTube is good as it is supported on all platforms. It's also free, including HD uploads, and can be embedded into your own site if you want to make sure no ads are getting in the way of what you're wanting to show.
Vimeo is also very good, it is supported on most platforms and rarely has issues with buffering and initial playback. However, if you want to upload in 1080p high definition then you have to pay $199 a year for VimeoPro. It then also promises to support all devices and offers support within an hour which is great if you're about to release an important video, but for just hosting your showreel it doesn't seem worth the cost as all you need is a single upload to be available and possibly be in high definition, which you can't do unless you pay. This is why I will be using YouTube to host my showreel.
I did also take a look at a site called Fillim (http://fillim.com/). This site seems tailored for independent films, or short films and animations. This type of thing could be very useful in the future if I were to release a short animated film, as it looks as if it would get more attention from the type of people who are interested in that type of thing, as well as being able to charge viewers for it if you wanted income from that, but for now I have no reason to use it as I am unfamiliar with it and unsure of how reliable it is for what I need. As far as I can tell you can't embed the videos either for sharing.
Fillim 'about':
http://fillim.com/film/welcome-to-fillim-by-dan-solo1
VimeoPro:
The two most obvious choices are of course YouTube and Vimeo. YouTube has the best infrastructure nowadays with Google always updating it and increasing hardware dedication. This means that of the two YouTube will be least likely to buffer or take too long for it to initially play. Possible employers will only wait a few seconds at best before they count you out because their time is valuable, and it isn't their problem if your video isn't working on their device, which is why YouTube is good as it is supported on all platforms. It's also free, including HD uploads, and can be embedded into your own site if you want to make sure no ads are getting in the way of what you're wanting to show.
Vimeo is also very good, it is supported on most platforms and rarely has issues with buffering and initial playback. However, if you want to upload in 1080p high definition then you have to pay $199 a year for VimeoPro. It then also promises to support all devices and offers support within an hour which is great if you're about to release an important video, but for just hosting your showreel it doesn't seem worth the cost as all you need is a single upload to be available and possibly be in high definition, which you can't do unless you pay. This is why I will be using YouTube to host my showreel.
I did also take a look at a site called Fillim (http://fillim.com/). This site seems tailored for independent films, or short films and animations. This type of thing could be very useful in the future if I were to release a short animated film, as it looks as if it would get more attention from the type of people who are interested in that type of thing, as well as being able to charge viewers for it if you wanted income from that, but for now I have no reason to use it as I am unfamiliar with it and unsure of how reliable it is for what I need. As far as I can tell you can't embed the videos either for sharing.
Fillim 'about':
http://fillim.com/film/welcome-to-fillim-by-dan-solo1
VimeoPro:
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Indie Developer Offer
A few weeks ago now I was approached by and offered a 6 month animation position at an indie developer called Deco Digital (http://www.decodigital.co.uk/AboutUs). If I take the job I'll be the sole animator. It's an exciting prospect and so I'll think carefully on it, as it won't pay me for the work until the game they are making is released. The company's artists consist of people on my course, and so I know them well enough to know I'll fit in.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Professional's Feedback
I gained some valuable feedback from Roshin Hunt on my Ladder Course animation; Roshin said that it was quite impressive, but had a few critiques on parts of the animation. The part of the character jumping to the lower level should have his back in more of a concave as to have the silhouette/shape of him at that point be more of an appealing pose. I took this into consideration and re-rendered the animation after making adjustments to it.
Roshin also noted that it might be worth me giving the character more time to turn and look back whilst he is on the ladder part. She said what I have at the moment is fine and doesn't take away from the animation, but if I wanted to go a step further then giving the character more time to carry out that part of the animation would be an improvement. I've decided, through lack of time, that I am going to keep the animation on the ladder as it is for the moment, as render times are somewhat long for this particular animation and rendering again for something that isn't breaking the animation isn't worth it right now. Having said that I will remember that advice for when I have time to edit the animation and re-render it, and for future animations too.
Roshin also noted that it might be worth me giving the character more time to turn and look back whilst he is on the ladder part. She said what I have at the moment is fine and doesn't take away from the animation, but if I wanted to go a step further then giving the character more time to carry out that part of the animation would be an improvement. I've decided, through lack of time, that I am going to keep the animation on the ladder as it is for the moment, as render times are somewhat long for this particular animation and rendering again for something that isn't breaking the animation isn't worth it right now. Having said that I will remember that advice for when I have time to edit the animation and re-render it, and for future animations too.
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Old Mage Animations
I have rendered out the animations for the Old Mage animations that I did, which help to show my ability to create looping animations ready for games. Though the ARK game shows this too, I think the renders of the Old Mage animations help to show the principles of animation a little more that what I did with the ARK character.
Though I have more animations for the Old Mage I am only including the idle and attack animation, as I think these are probably the best of them, and of course you only want to show your best work in your showreel. I have however also rendered out a 3rd animation for the Old Mage, the 'Struck' animation. I'm not sure whether to include this or not, and again will probably be decided whilst I am compositing in After Effects. The quality is near the same of that of the other 2 animations, but I didn't want the showreel to go over 2 minutes, so if this fits in without pushing the time limit then I may just keep it in.
Here are a few still examples of the renders, again done with alpha'd backgrounds and done so we can see the front and two side perspectives of the animation:
Though I have more animations for the Old Mage I am only including the idle and attack animation, as I think these are probably the best of them, and of course you only want to show your best work in your showreel. I have however also rendered out a 3rd animation for the Old Mage, the 'Struck' animation. I'm not sure whether to include this or not, and again will probably be decided whilst I am compositing in After Effects. The quality is near the same of that of the other 2 animations, but I didn't want the showreel to go over 2 minutes, so if this fits in without pushing the time limit then I may just keep it in.
Here are a few still examples of the renders, again done with alpha'd backgrounds and done so we can see the front and two side perspectives of the animation:
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