GAME INDUSTRY NETWORKING, FREELANCING $$ AND PORTFOLIO ADVICE - Gamedev Q&A Episode 02

Q&A on Environment Art: • Video Game Environment...
This week we go deep on how to network at events like GDC and E3, dealing with moving to work abroad in the video game industry, portfolio tips for art students and thoughts on freelancing.
Game Industry Advice playlist: • HOW I GOT MY FIRST GAM...
resources mentioned:
www.glassdoor.com
www.gamedevmap.com
Free UE4 lighting presets + Tutorial : • UNREAL ENGINE 4 LIGHTI...
The Best video card for Gamedev: amzn.to/45Ev6Cu
The Best Budget Video Card for Gamedev: amzn.to/45Lxck0
Backup your work! SSD I use: amzn.to/45s0y7m
The Mouse I use every day: amzn.to/3qRN4Td
The Laptop I use for remote Gamedev work: amzn.to/3Ed07li
The Camera I use to film my videos: amzn.to/3Pf0bHL
Follow Me on Artstation for more: www.artstation.com/pixelmasher
About me: I am an environment/level artist who has been working in the game industry for 10+ years at studios such as Ubisoft, EA, Relic, Capcom and United Front. I have worked on games like FarCry 4, Watch Dogs 2, Splinter Cell, Sleeping Dogs and Spacemarine.

[@cyberafterlife]

The whole remote work prediction aged like wine

[@TehPascu]

I scrolled down to the comment section just to find this comment, haha!

[@kallymihova6232]

Really awesome advice! GDC can definitely be tricky for students. I went to my first GDC this year as a student and unfortunately keeping the "student" label quiet helps when networking. A lot of people get off put when you lead with the eager student "I want an internship" mindset. Just remember you're talking to real people and creating a real connection goes a long way :) just be yourself and have fun!!

[@PolygonAcademy]

Kally Mihova yea for sure. I would just say “ i make environments or i make characters” dont even bring up the student thing at first. Also...students who go in with business cards that say “creative director” or “art director”....cringe. Those jobs take years of experience to get competent at. Like you said, just go as shoot the shit with fellow passionate human beings!

[@pancake_pancake_pancake]

I was totally that annoying kid shoving my artstation in people's faces during those social events haha. I never realized it until I was on the other end of this and students started asking me to show their work to my leads and get referrals. I understand them but it doesn't work like that. Almost everyone that I showed my portfolio during a social event didn't go very far at all (like in a bar lmao). In fact, almost every job leads that I had were from people that I approached for feedback and advice. When you show a genuine passion to get better at what you love, people will naturally want to help you achieve whatever it takes! Also to add on that, don't disregard artists that aren't doing what you want to do. I got my first job through the help of a random freelancer stranger that was impressed by my work and everything started to snowball from there! These are super useful tips Tim! Cheers!

[@PolygonAcademy]

yea I think we all go through that phase haha. thanks for the great indepth info bud :D

[@markwebb1975]

Thanks Tim! Really appreciate the advice! And the insight into the industry!

[@PolygonAcademy]

cheers mark :)

[@forestpump3]

Thanks Tim, another great video!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks for the support Patrick :)

[@brunoleon7689]

Great video as always! Thank you so much for answering my question

[@PolygonAcademy]

you're welcome dude :)

[@omri1324]

You're the man Tim!

[@PolygonAcademy]

omri1324 thanks!

[@PizzaOMC]

Thanks for the good info again!

[@PolygonAcademy]

Pizza no problem :)

[@VertexPolyFort]

amazing video as always! finally taking the time to rearrange my portfolio!

[@PolygonAcademy]

VertexPolyFort awesome, investing that time should help in the long run!

[@AnnieAnnieAnnie]

Recently found your channel!! Wanted to get into game dev this year. Your videos are extremely helpful! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@PolygonAcademy]

you're very welcome :)

[@Niko_3D]

Curious, did you get in?

[@doruku-mx]

Thanks so much, Tim! Fantastic content, as usual. Time to work on that portfolio 💪

[@PolygonAcademy]

you're welcome :)

[@philippst.8543]

On topic of the family discussions, I am lucky enough to have parents that are ok with a career in games. But talking to older relatives I always say I’m learning 3D graphics to make advertisement or something in that ballpark, because it’s easier for them to understand

[@PolygonAcademy]

yea finding ways to make it relate-able is a good work around, I usually tell people that I "make the levels people run around in in video games, like the backgrounds and stuff" haha.

[@hemingway8671]

Awesome video as always! It's nice to watch your videos in the morning with a good coffee :) Perfect way to start the day. Thank you!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thats awesome to hear, and super flattering! I start my day in a similar way with other youtubers content too, crazy to think people do that with mine :D thanks for watching

[@Ascherrit]

As always, thank you so much Tim for your videos ! ;)

[@PolygonAcademy]

my pleasure, glad you guys enjoy the content so much :D

[@shukarparkin]

really good video as always. honestly cant believe i watched the whole thing but anyway thanks for doing these videos. I've been using your feudal japan videos as a sort of general blueprint for this new artstation challenge. Have a good day man.

[@PolygonAcademy]

Shukar Parkin thanks! Good luck on the new challenge!

[@AXLplosion]

Goddamn, what an awesome video. All of this is pretty new information for me, as I'm still a student/indie developer, so this was really interesting. Can't wait for the next video!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thats what I like to hear! glad it gave you some new insights :D

[@KUBE.archvis]

Thank you for your insight.

[@PolygonAcademy]

my pleasure, thanks for watching :D

[@valentinepavliuchenko7309]

Great content as always, Tim, thanks for doing this! As someone who focused mainly on props and is now trying out environment work in Unreal, it's helpful for me to see your breakdowns and pipeline explanations. Keep up the good work!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks valentine! appreciate the love, and glad you are enjoying the content!

[@ogarga666]

thanks so much, Tim!

[@PolygonAcademy]

you're welcome :) thanks for watching

[@claire182mon]

I loved these last two videos, they have been really insightful. One of the questions was mine, so it's nice to hear it answered. Going to my first gaming event this year (EGX) as a second year student, I definitely feel better about it now. Thank you :)

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks for that question claire, it was one of the ones i think is gonna help so many people out. Have the best damn time at EGX you can :D

[@martaniemczynska6370]

Amazing as usual Tim, you answered so many of my questions and it's an awesome idea for the series as there are so many misconsepctions and such mixed information about the industry. I think your explanation what a junior is - that their level of art needs to match quality of a senior but it just takes them much longer to reach this bar is spot on. Keep it going and thanks for sharing your knowledge with everyone!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks so much Marta, glad it was a heavy hitting episode for you :D

[@MatArtefx]

Real cool Advice !!!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks! glad it helped you out :)

[@pencilking2002]

Amazing video! Thank you Tim!

[@PolygonAcademy]

my pleasure Roman, thanks for the feedback :D

[@pencilking2002]

@@PolygonAcademy Yeah! I'll be rewatching this while taking notes :D

[@furlerer]

Great advice as always Tim! I went to a pretty large industry event earlier in the year and had heard not to be too forward, or ask too much too early etc, so I just went along to learn, meet people and have fun! I had an amazing time! However... There was a few people that I was having a great time chatting to who eventually asked if I had any of my work on me to show them, and I had to sheepishly answer no, because I was completely unprepared! I potentially missed some great opportunities. So don't go in with any expectations, but be ready in case of some happy luck occurring!!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks for the great story and lesson learned! we have all been under prepared at one point or another, but at least you can learn from that mistake and rock it at future events :) that point on not having expectations is great, then everything is 100% upside when it happens

[@HavokSage]

Fantastic advice. interesting to hear your background and journey

[@PolygonAcademy]

glad it resonated with you, thanks for watching joe!

[@namesurname624]

I love your videos Tim, thanks! I am a 3D hardsurface artists, trying to find a job, hopefully I'll be able to apply lessons learned here and excell! Thank you again! Do more!

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks so much :D

[@doctorarielchaos2694]

O M Y GOSH, NEW VIDEO

[@PolygonAcademy]

you got it :) and now some new ones are up too!

[@NiteshKumar-qf2nt]

Awesome Man :)

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks for watching!

[@thonthegame]

Lived through this same timeframe myself. 2011 I was at Activision/HighMoon. We were looking at the industry crumble and numbers in the red across the board. THQ was one of the first big companies to take it on the chin. ATVI funded high moon 2 more years to finish Deadpool then also had a huge layoff. I went Indy and freelance for the next 6 years and was never happier.

[@PolygonAcademy]

there ya go! usually those layoffs are actually a good chance to re-evaluate stuff and pivot to make your life better, it just seems overwhelming and scary when it happens. glad things worked out for you :D

[@mohsendehnavi2252]

thanks a lot tim ;)

[@PolygonAcademy]

no problemo :) thanks for watching

[@vickakuzu]

Thank you for this video!

[@PolygonAcademy]

you're welcome, what was the point in there that stood out to you the most?

[@vickakuzu]

@@PolygonAcademy I liked the part that you talk about move to another city/country and about the props quality for environment artist.

[@PolygonAcademy]

@@vickakuzu cool! yea the moving to another country part was super important I think :)

[@vickakuzu]

​@@PolygonAcademyYeah, it's something I really want to do. So, the more people talk about I feel even more convinced to do it.

[@MZONE3D]

Hey tim, great stuff so far on your channel. You know what is killing me? Collision in Unreal. Ive gotta make a bunch of cylindrical buildings, tunnel and so on. Do you have any idea on this? I know about the convex and concave rules, but damn, how do you make interiors for cylindrical objects? roof hatches seems be a pain too. Maybe some kind of tutorial on this would be beneficial for your audience. Coz if its killing me, its gotta be killing others.

[@PolygonAcademy]

MZONE3D for stuff like that you would probably want to make your custom collision in max/maya that fits the mesh rather than relying in autogenerated collision. Lots of info o that with a quick google search but ill add it to the list for future vids :)

[@CinematicGames94]

the part about choosing styles is really important I tend to like all of them and I still have not figured out my style yet but like you said sample a little bit of everything then go from there which is exactly what I am doing. I usually droll over sci fi and stylized a lot but do enjoy the realism as well. I have always have that weird thing in my head to do everything like a generalist but I think I misunderstood the concept of what it means. Thank you for the tips. I now understand what to truly focus on In every art I do but first I am going to see what I can achieve a style between all those mediums kind of hard when you love different game styles so much to actually choose a style that is something I have to sit down and experiment all of them to see what works

[@PolygonAcademy]

Amadu Shaw yea picking a style usually takes time, sometimes even a couple years, which is fine! You got all the time in the world. Patience and practice will get you where you need to go :)

[@CinematicGames94]

@@PolygonAcademyThank you patience will help me indeed it might take time but I will get there

[@joaovitors.s9643]

Thanks : )

[@Bloodbow]

I took your advice from a earlier video and joined the recent artstation challenge. I didn't take your advice though about limiting myself due to burnout but I've been swapping between software's to combat it.

[@PolygonAcademy]

the king arthur challenge? sorry for the late reply, I missed this comment. how did it go? did you learn a lot?

[@BossBabyBestAnime]

Again, well said and explained! I wonder if you ever thought of having an podcast. I really like listening to you! Edit: Also, could you perhaps add time marks for the different topics/questions, it would help a lot!

[@PolygonAcademy]

good call on the time marks, I will try and add them when I have a spare minute :) and as for a podcast, yea I have thought about it before, again probably once I have a bit more spare time I will maybe do a season style format of 10 episodes at a time or something, the goal is to become consistent with the content drip haha.

[@greeengin]

Tim, thank you very much for your sharing. I have been watching your videos since the beginning. You are cool!!! If you decided to do some portfolio review for the subscribers it would be great)))

[@xxnario7286]

About English being used in studios around the world - I feel like a lot of studios may use English because some of the languages may not have appropriate equivalent words in their language. I cannot imagine trying to work in a game studio and speak about all the technical stuff in Polish, even though I am a native speaker (but maybe it's possible; I have no industry experience whatsoever, it's just that when I try to talk about certain 3D-related things to my friends I cannot translate them in any way into Polish). So that also may be a reason. On the other hand, languages like Spanish or French may have equivalents (at least some) because they are closer to English than, say, Russian or other Slavic languages. But Korean, for example, would probably have majority of the words borrowed from English.

[@PolygonAcademy]

Oliwia W yea even here in montreal its pretty common to hear half english half french sentences, like “oh wow c’est badass le!” Haha

[@NENErdene]

Hey Tim! when's your next tutorial? and what topic it would be? Would love to learn more about vertex painting Thanks!

[@PolygonAcademy]

got some new tutorials dropping this week, and will cover vertex blending in future too :)

[@Arxontas10]

woohoo!!

[@PolygonAcademy]

yea bud! get on it :D enjoy the video

[@Arxontas10]

@@PolygonAcademy Thanks man, i appreciate everything you do. Quality content over 9000. Cheers!

[@PolygonAcademy]

@@Arxontas10 over 9000?! daaaaaaamn now thats a compliment :D

[@Arxontas10]

@@PolygonAcademy haha, you're welcome! Have a nice day mate

[@notte5527]

i have just finished with a game gymnasium here in sweden and i really wanna get in to the industry as a environmental artist but i dont know where to start. in school we only got to learn basics in maya and i dont know where to start studying on my own. do you have any tips on where you would start out or maybe if you have some tips on some techniques i should read up on? i know basics in maya and blender and i have started using substance designer :) thank you for your time to read this if you do! your videos are amazing please keep it up!

[@PolygonAcademy]

my biggest tip would be to keep your projects small and manageable at first, literally just focus on doing small environments with maya and substance, dont worry about zbrush or any other crazy software, master those 2 and then expand outwards in terms of scope. helps avoid feeling overwhelmed :)

[@baza6127]

Thanks for all the videos, really enjoy your insights. I am largely self thought and really trying to land a job or even internship. I live in Ireland, which isnt the most crowded place for game companies, and the ones here want you to have experience under your belt. I would love to work abroad. Would you recommend just sending applications to companies abroad, like in Canada, then worrying about visas and getting there? Or get the visas and move there first?

[@nikolaymarinov7806]

The topic with moving abroad to work in game studio is one heavily debated. For the past half of the year I was thinking about that and particulary thinking about Canada. A lot of people mentioned that Montreal is the best place for that because of the quantity of game studios. But because I don't know French I've started looking at Ontario(Toronto or Otawa) or British Columbia(Vancouver). My question to you is did you know french beforehand or did you have to learn it when you moved to Montreal? The other question that I have is wouldn't it better to start off with an indie or independant studios to start off before going to a bigger studio? That said searching for studios online only shows the bigger ones.

[@PolygonAcademy]

Nikolay Marinov keep watching ;) i answer this exact question in the video haha. But short answer, no, montreal is very bi-lingual, i speak english only and understand a tiny bit of french. You will be fine!

[@PolygonAcademy]

Nikolay Marinov look on gamedevmap.com it has a great list of indie and aaa studios. There is no reason you couldnt get into a big studio as your first job if your work is good, depends what you like :) i preffer aaa big studios to indie but i know others are the opposite haha

[@nikolaymarinov7806]

Yes I've been checking game dev map. I got my first job as an 3D artist a year ago which featured making apartments in UE4 in VR which is kinda different than making games. I was fortunate enough to be able to pick my work team. So we're students from different courses for example one of my colleagues studies game design while I study computer engineering but we're passionate about game design. And as you mentioned in the video a lot of studios are closing and our will too so our plan was to start searching for a game dev job in Canada but a lot of people just told us to not bother at all in Montreal that's why I asked about french. And about indie studios I've been thinking that it will be better to polish my skills to slowly be able to work in a AAA studio.

[@PolygonAcademy]

@@nikolaymarinov7806 I would say montreal is one of THE gamedev hubs in the world, so much international talent here that french isnt an issue, I think I have worked with more people from around the globe than actual people from quebec haha.

[@SuperDeano1000]

Hey, man. Thanks again for all this amazing and valuable content. It's so inspiring. Could you please explain to me exactly what "bake" means?

[@PolygonAcademy]

like when you bake a normal map or AO map, or bake your lighitng, basically writing a bunch of information to a texture file for use in realtime games. so baking a highpoly mesh down to a lowpoly mesh and using the normal map information to give the illusion there is more detail than there really is.

[@SuperDeano1000]

@@PolygonAcademy Right, got you! I've always heard the term but never quite knew what it meant. Thanks for clearing it up, dude.

[@crimsonBen]

Thanks alot for the content! 24:45 this may sound like a stupid and bad question :-).... but may i ask how high that starting salary was, and on what level you where? (I know that "level"-thing is kinda hard to answer too)

[@PolygonAcademy]

yea I started at 35k CAD and got a bump to 40k after my initial probation 3 month period. this was in vancouver, an relatively expensive city, but also like 12 years ago so there is some adjustment for inflation if you want todays numbers. but I would say that's a reasonable junior artist salary.

[@lumina4729]

Thank you! ive watched a few of your Q&A videos and they really helped with my confidence .. i do have a question though about looking for jobs in different countries so its only helpful to have a degree in say game design to help getting a visa ? because i studied game design (when i didnt know anything about how much work actually goes into creating a game) and i found it ultimately useless they didnt really teach me much and the teachers didnt seem to care so ive been on my own and self teaching basically and working on my portoflio and was wondeirng if thats still enough to get into the industry in a different country

[@PolygonAcademy]

a degree will help you with the government/work visa side of things, studios in general don't care about them aside from that, they care about what you can show you can do with your portfolio. I find a lot of game design programs are super basic and its on the student to go further on their own, so you are already in the right mindset :) but long story short, you will probably need a degree to satisfy most countries work visa requirements. Personally I would get a degree in something like business or marketing etc and build my game art skills on my own, as the degree in business would be way more useful in the long run if the game stuff doesnt pan out.

[@lumina4729]

@@PolygonAcademy Thank you for the response :)

[@zarkeven]

on that art style question, would it be a good idea if you have a mod of a game that isn't publicly moddable (WoW, CoD, etc) to show it in an interview with that company? (sorry if It doesn't really make sense, I tried to word it the best I could)

[@PolygonAcademy]

yea I understand. I don't think it would hurt you, it's not like you are going to get into trouble haha. any work with game engines or modding usually helps.

[@maximevigneron560]

I think the fanart concern comes from concept artists. Its doesnt show your ability to create, and with fanart your are just showing your technic. Since beginners often do some concepts and drawing, its a bit confusing.

[@PolygonAcademy]

yea i get this, I see that problem with a lot of anime fan art where people are just drawing the same characters exactly in different poses or whatever. But I think if you are smart and do a fan art with new content as a concept artist while matching the style and brand you can really shine, like for example this james bond fanart, it looks like concepts for the next movie but is just done by a fan. www.artstation.com/artwork/e0J1b3 there are also tons of really good concept art pieces inspired by games like the last of us etc, that imagine new areas but in the exact style and look of existing work. so for concept art yea you need to show new ideas but it can have the same look and feel as existing work for sure.

[@rickysargulesh1053]

But how do I get freelance work before having worked on a title? Same goes for a job in a studio. Companies always look for 5 years experience plus but as a beginner you can't deliver that. Can I overcome that with a great portfolio? It seems difficult to get your foot in the door

[@PolygonAcademy]

if your portfolio is AMAZING and shows mastery of what you can do (hard surface, characters etc) you can probbaly find some work, but I would recommend getting a job at a studio and some actual production experience first, it will make getting freelance work easier, as you will learn a LOT about gamedev in your first couple years that isnt taught in school. You have to look at it from the persons point of view who is hiring, they want to hire someone with a proven track record, which experience in a studio gives you. A studio job will be easier to get than well paying freelance work when you have no experience. A good portfolio should be able to get you a Junior artist position at a studio a lot faster than freelance work that pays well when you are starting out. hope this helps!

[@twoplus2isfive]

Game industry networking? Go to Bar Waverly.

[@PolygonAcademy]

twoplus2isfive hahaha absolutely :) spent waaaay too much time in that place when i was at ubi haha

[@issamaf80]

thank you Tim for your Pro Tips i Need contact you to Ask you about A Horror environment i made ? Would really appreciate it

[@tomwarrenofficial5442]

Hello there; I live in the UK and I'm interested in environmental art department ( gaming ), what can i do to join and is there Job growth in this filed( future wise ) within does it pay well (starting, mid-high end ) Thank you, God bless.

[@isena4441]

So what if I do have a fiancé and am not able to travel lol

[@PolygonAcademy]

You could make asset packs to sell on the marketplaces, or remote jobs are becoming more and more common, i might make a video on that soon :) there are a bunch of freelancers making a fulltime income from home or through online sales, if you have the skillset chances are someone will pay you for it. Relocating makes it easier but it’s not the only way to make a living with cg skills

[@yousifabd830]

Hello I need some help I can not find add to extract the game to XBOXONE and PS4 Please anyone Answer me😫😫

[@PolygonAcademy]

Yousif Abd .....uh what??