Creative Development Week28: UbiArt Framework

I was reading articles on the Game Informer website and came across an article in which the creators of Rayman Origins which is a 2D platform based game of which we used in our team projects for our final major project, want the UbiArt Framework engine which the games uses to be available for free for everyone and are finalising the licensing for that to happen. For this to happen would be great as this would in a way prepare potential employees of Ubisoft to have experience in their engine but also help to produce work in 2D which is an area of games which aren't as popular as once was and for me i can't wait as i loved the game and also the art style so it will be great to produce something at that level.

Article at: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/07/14/rayman-creator-wants-ubiart-framework-to-be-open-source.aspx

Website: http://ubi-art.uk.ubi.com/

Creative Development Week28: Marketing Myself

In a previous blogpost i talked about the need for social makreting and recently i have been updating my social network accounts to where i now have a much more professional logo. I used the logo on the left for the start of my accounts but eventualy Chris Rhodes said he could do a logo for me and after different design variations the final logo design that i will be using is the one you see on the right as the first ink splay with Iffy Ink in will be used as small logos for my work and the text is the initial font style of levibrush found on dafont.com to which i will be using as a white piece of text on a dark blue shade to make the logo stand out.

Front

Back

Once i had the final logo design figured out i was able to begin updating my accounts but Chris had helped me once again by producing my business cards as you can see on the left and right. I decided to not just narrow my speacilty area to just concept art as this final major project has really made me more confident towards carrying on with 3D modelling so i added tht to the business card, along with my website, email and Twitter links as most of the information will be on the website there wasn't much of a need for overflowing the business card with many of my links.

Twitter Page

Facebook Page

Youtube Page

Official Website

Then i started to update my social accounts such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter by applying the colour that covers all of my work and not accounts to be made aware that these are my accounts as well as adding the logo. Then i purchased a website which was around £8 for two years for the domain of iffyink.co.uk and once that was online i used my blog to become the layout of the website for now and so this also enabled me to have a blog similar to how professional concept artists have along with an official website but this way i wouldn't have to upgrade two sites until i make my website separate. Through my website i was able to link my Twitter, Youtube and Facebook so that i have all work to be visible through different social networks which are linked to one area.

Along with all of that Chris was talking to me about doing a showreel to which i said that i had nothing to show as a video for a showreel but Chris then showed me examples of concept art showreels and this was something i never thought was needed but agreed to do. So once again Chris helped to produce my showreel by producing the title sequences and setting the overall video settings and animations up for my work to be displayed in video form:

Creative Development Week28: Portfolio Proposal

As my speciality area is concept art my portfolio is evidently going to be a physical portfolio one which will cover my best work as well as relevant to the job I am preparing for. A physical portfolio is something in which I will be using but as found in my research a physical portfolio isn't always fully seen and that the interview process is more about getting to know the individual to see their communication skills which is seen as essential, rather than looking through a 200 page portfolio.

There is also the fact of which I have 3D work also which I would like to show and in a physical portfolio there isn't a really great means of demonstrating that without having screen shots but due to most of the portfolios that I have looked at online and the information that I found was that having a digital portfolio through a means of a website is much more successful as it is accessible by anyone and anywhere. Also having a website I can integrate social media to my website such as Youtube which is perhaps the best way to show 3D models, levels which can be seen through walkthroughs and turnarounds. Another way in showing 3D products is through Unity by creating a interactive turnaround in which can then be exported for an IOS and Android device making my work portable.

It is pretty clear though that with the current times everything is going digital and this is why I believe that having an online portfolio makes the work much easier to be organized and safe as well as accessible at any time and by many. With this indulgence in digital devices the fact that my work will be in an online portfolio enables anyone to view my work and this is the same with the 3D work being shown in video form but also with the use of Youtube I can have a thread in which whatever I upload on Youtube can be posted on my Twitter, Facebook and other social sites to which will enable more exposure and online presence to which will give more people a visual presentation of my work to which they can share.

Having an online presence is essential, which is the feedback I was given as it not only gives you an online presence to put your work out there for everyone to see but also for people to give me feedback. My online presence will consist so far of Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, a Website and a blogger site the reason for this is because I found that most professional concept artists carry on with blogging along with regular updates to their website and this is something I wanted to also do which enable me to integrate social features to my blogger along with my website, thus threading all resources into one location to then outsource to other areas that best show my work.

One new additional piece of portfolio that was made clear to me was a concept art showreel in which I could show my images in video something I never really thought was done for a portfolio however after being shown examples I was aided in producing a showreel which has fitting presentation and something that I will be now carrying on in the future. With my work being shown in an online presence I will be able to bring an Ipad to show my work 3D or concept art which creates a better sense of viewing as you can see 3D objects in app and even the images can be watched through a video being played in the interview or individual images being viewed.

My portfolio will mainly consist of recent and best work as this will show upto date work and that is why at this time for my portfolio I will show work produced in my final year as this year I really focused on concept art for my independent practice and produced team work along with a more 3D specialised project. The portfolio will consist of both concept art along with3D work, with my independent practice work being heavily focused on concept art much of the work produced in that project will be shown such as the space pirate ship concept art, ship turnarounds, colour schemes, character designs and the work on the main control room and in addition I will show the work I produced for Chris in terms of the best character concept work. From my Final Major Project I will show concept art as well as character designs produced in the children’s games of Elemental and Food Landmarks as these demonstrate my range in specific design needs and also my individual project from Fairy Tale Princess I will have the overview and interior of the room concept art pieces, the floor plan and a walk through of the room which will demonstrate my use of 3D software’s as well as my use of the Unity engine. As I develop more work I will add more of the best work to my portfolio in a professional presentation to be viewed by anyone and also add more of my 3D skills through asset modelling rather than full blown levels and also produce speed paintings.

Creative Development Week27: EA's Advice for Artists

I came across some information which i feel is useful for showing work to a games company and that information has come from EA a big company within the games industry with game such as Mass Effect series, Crysis Series and the line ups of sports franchises so having some advice being given to you from a company with the reputation that EA has is information needed to be taken and here is EA's advice for artist:

Reel Format:
Please submit your reel on a DVD or include a link to your website if applying online. The contents should be easily accessible (e.g., Adobe Photoshop or JPEG files for textures and other images; Microsoft Word documents for resumes, etc.). If you're including video, please be sure to encode it in a self-executable file or include a shareware/freeware copy of any programs required to open your files. Whether sending video or a portfolio, be sure to focus on a specific discipline while demonstrating a cross-section of your artistic skills and abilities.
Materials will not be returned. Please do not include original artwork.
Here are some suggestions for your reel:

• It's important to have an understanding of 3D packages and digital paint programs (e.g., Maya, Zbrush, Photoshop, etc.).
• If possible, include shots of still renders (wire frame / shaded / then textured).
• Indicate poly counts.
• Include time estimates of how long it took to make something.
• For group projects, indicate your specific role/contributions to the project.

Creative Development Week27: Companies Close to Me

I started to break away from looking at U.K based companies and narrow it down to companies around me and looked at a game developer map which has searches for companies around the area which you list and in this case i listed Leeds to which six companies were brough one which was Games Republic which are more of an organization than a games company. Another company was The Code Monkeys which i did list as a possible company in a previous blogpost but now i just found out recently that they went defunct last year so that narrows it down to where another company Weaseltron Entertainment is more of a technical side of games but have in house artists also so i sent an email in which i asked them to look at my work and give me feedback if they can and i am yet to hear from them.

Rockstar Leeds is another company and rather the most know company in Leeds so it was only inevitable that i would want to work for them and as i was going through their site i came across this:

"Environment Artist

Rockstar Leeds want to hire the best artists in the industry to help create the industry's best games.

Responsibilities

You will be responsible and pro-active; creating / implementing game assets to the highest standards.

Qualifications

Advanced skills in 3DS Max, Photoshop and other art techniques relevant to games are required."

This is where i looked at the qualifications to see what skill set i would need and found 3DS Max which my use in Maya can be transfareable skills to 3DS Max but i would be needing to go into 3DS Max to actually be confident once in 3DS Max for a job, also Photoshop skills for me need to improved and also i need to branch out into more art softwares, however whilst knowing that and working towards their qualifications i emailed Rockstar Leeds about looking at my showreel to then give me feedback so i know areas that i don't know about which need improving, i am yet to her from them.

Just Add Water is another Leeds based company of which i have started to take a liking to with their portfolios and what work they produce and is another company which i emailed to to look at my showreel for feedback and also to have contact with a company and maybe have them look towards me in the near future. Gamerholix is a company i have looked at before but quite recently i haven't heard much upto date stuff from them and was cautious about whether they are still in business but nontheless i got in contact with them to have look at my showreel and am yet to hear from them. So once i looked at the companies around me i started to look at companies near enough to me that were areas close to my family so i searched the place into the game developer map and one that stood out was Four Door Lemon in Bradford which they cover all aspects of development but also they mention that they do outsourcing so i could work for them whilst residing still in Leeds or even move to Bradford or even travel between the two which is not bad, so i decided to email them my showreel to ask for feedback and i am waiting for their feedback

All in all i have a few companies which are around me and which i am confident to work for but i want to be ready and produce high levels of work so i will develop and branch into more softwares to have a range of skills but also a much progressive portfolio to show which has high level work hence why i only emailed these companies and not applied as i want my skills to be at a level which they will be wanting. Also the companies job pages had roles for artists and whilst looking at that i really saw what essential skills i would be needing an area of which i feel taking time to rectify will help to strengthen my portfolio and skills.

Link to website:http://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php?query=Leeds&Submit=Search