Yep that was an excellent talk. Thanks for the post. It reaffirmed a-lot of the things I was taught and removed any unnecessary worries.
My takeaways:
“Your only as strong as your weakest piece. Don’t hide your weakness, remove it.”
“You don’t need to worry about the software, I’ll teach you that in 3 months, I don’t care. It’s all about the end product.”
“We’ve hired junior environment artists with only 2 pieces.”
“Make things accessible to us. If the work is great but its hard to access, its hard to invest interest in it.”
“Specialization over generalization. It’s about focusing energy for the best quality. You can branch out later.”
“You need to look outside of your bubble. Look at the overall competition, not just people around you.”
“Don’t think of rejection as slight against you. There’s more to it than you think (they recognize/remember you, but the position may not be open at the time.) Being persistent can lead to the chance of being the best portfolio when they hire. Sometimes its just timing.”
“Noone is capable of judging their own work. We are incapable of judging our own work. You need feedback from others in the community.”
“Cast a wide net. Don’t apply to just one place. You don’t know where they are in development.”
“If we’re on the edge (hiring) and there’s personal stuff out there that tells us about who you are, we’re gonna read it. Whether you’re interested, or a dick, we’re going to be spending 40+ hours a week with you. Be aware of how you present yourself online.”
“The industry is small. Word travels fast. Everyone talks to each-other. Look at yourself as a brand and what you’re putting out there.”
“FX has more demand than available talent (yay). We’re starting to see a shift towards more shader based applications (glowing armor, shield bubbles).”
“Don’t be afraid of an art test that seem way out of your scope (2 weeks full character). It helps us see how well you can cut corners (symmetry modifier, etc.) to get the test done.”
“Do what you really want to do. Don’t send your portfolio to places where you wouldn’t want to work.”