Demo Reel

Spark job fair, Jan Full Indie, Environments and code.

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On Wednesday myself and Mike Pan attended the January Full Indie event where game developers were sharing projects they created during last weeks global Game Jam. It was a fun time where we had a chance to sample games and give critique to there creators. Afterwards we had time to discuss planing for the future of the Blender User Group in Vancouver.

Saturday was the Spark job fair where a number of people came to speak with local and not so local studios. It was enjoyable to be there and some of them even had branded trinkets to give away, thanks to Zoic and Double Negative I don’t have to search for the house key every morning. One of the representatives there was even reviewing demo reel’s, thank you very much sir. To top it off I even met one of my friends who was a volunteer for the event, Shane who recently got a job as a Rotomation artist at Gener8. Shane is my self declared rival and arch nemesis 🙂

There were a lot of great prospects there for environment artists and surprisingly Python scripting. Surprising in that it almost seemed as though they were more interested in Python than actual art. Suppose its good since I like Python but a bit concerning. Art is what I aim for. Environments  done right are amazing to behold. Even in stillness environments tell an animated story. Code on the other hand leaves crowds of people confused or otherwise puzzled. That’s my experience sharing code projects with other people anyway.

With that being said I need to expand a little bit more on the demo than originally thought. I was going to just do environments and keep some other related side projects to myself but the demand for code has prompted me to share some Python I’m working on. Last week a node editor was mentioned and details of it are still closed but I am going to share the Git repo URL here as its being worked on anyway so that studios can sample it. The last few days a fair bit of time was put into it. I will be working on art stuff and finding a job most of this week but there will be some more commits in the next five days.

Speaking of expanding the demo the next scene concept will be mainly architecture and machines. At Spark just about every studio was working on projects involving Urban environments plus I have a thing for architecture, love the stuff. It will be great contrast with the nature scene currently in the reel. Likely some of the weaker shots will be pulled out  to be replaced with the hard edge stuff once there is content ready for it.

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We don’t graduate school, we graduate a state of mind.

The Environment Guy Blog

Wow. Thats what I’m starting 2015 off on The Environment Guy blog. I said there would be a demo reel in January and here it is! But that’s not the end of it, there will be more. Making a reel was huge. No it isn’t the greatest reel of all time but it opened my mind to new ways of thinking which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. It required doing things that have never been done before and it was difficult. Getting up early and staying up late for weeks on end to meet a deadline is difficult. Doing one more texture when you haven’t eaten in the last twelve hours is difficult. Being creative when you have been looking at the same thing for months is difficult. But wanting to do more when its done… that’s surprisingly easy.

On Wednesday myself and three other 3D graduates had a public showcase for our reels and printed portfolio. I was tired and standing on a marble floor for a number of hours made our feet really sore. But it was worth it. I got up in the morning to find a piece of paper in my portfolio. Somone had left a critique of my work. It was harsh and that’s great. Later on I met people from various studios, some said nice things, others critique. I for one always take the critique before the nice.

The next day an EA games HR rep contacted me. Pretty cool, wasn’t sure what to think about it. The very first thing I experienced after completing the reel is doubt that its “good enough”. In fact it caused me to hesitate putting the video on line and contacting people immediately. That was a mistake. I may have been  with family and had been exhausted from work but I have let one full day slip without contacting the HR rep back because in my mind it wasn’t good enough. That was wrong. If you were that HR you better check your email because I’m following up right now. I apologize for making you wait while I got my crap together. If in some way I really am not good enough I will make it so I am, that is my decree.

For all the people who read this blog, official Monday posts start immediately! Also I’m very thankful to CGCookie for providing me with three month membership to their tutorial sites. I’m going to be doing some concept as well as some 3D work with environments which I will be putting on this website. On the note of thankfulness I would also like to thank my portfolio teacher Russel Heyman. Thank you for putting up with me, I feel as though I was a little difficult at times being so time strapped but you held confidence in my ability to pull through.

CG meetups, Demo Reel, the future

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Finally we are 3 weeks away from the demo reel being done! Yes, after literally years of work there is a demo reel and to top it off I am graduating Arts school and will immediately be in the market for work at a studio. Since a month ago I have already started the networking process and have been attending various events and keeping ongoing contact with various people.

Now some people may be wondering about the posting schedule here and I’m here to say don’t worry. With demo reel stuff going on its been a huge push to get everything done and its required me to put everything else aside. By no means are demo reels a small task. So for the next couple of weeks don’t expect too much, but after the first or second week of 2015 regular Monday morning posts will be back. But this time even more exciting than before. New projects will be in the making and very much looking forward for more industry stuff.

Its been a while and a lot of exciting things are happening over at The Environment Guy. So to get things rolling again on the website we have a couple cool video presentations. Last week I attended the Vancouver indie game developer meetup Full Indie, a monthly event where indie game developers come to share their work, get critique and network. Besides all the cool games every event is started with standup stage presentations and industry news which is usually recorded and made available online but there hasn’t been recordings for the last few months posted so this month I recorded it myself so all you guys here can watch it.

Looking a couple weeks back I also attended the Vancouver VFX meetup. This event has numerous industry professionals, students and the likes. Chaos group was there to do a live presentation on new features in Vray. Watching it reminded me a lot about Cycles render engine which currently comes as the default renderer in Blender although we should see ports of Cycles to Cinema 4D and other 3D suits in the coming few years. I could really see the refinement of Vray over Cycles and at some point in time I will have to learn this software. As of now I have been using Mentalray in Maya and I must say it can be a little bit time consuming to get it set up, until Cycles gets in Maya Vray would be an excellent asset.

While at the VFX meetup I also met some people doing an open movie project which you can find out more about here. Its some sort of mash up of various popular space/sci-fi shows like Starwars. In all honesty I am somewhat disappointed with the project because of a lack of original design. I may be proven wrong depending on where they go with it but to me it lacks professional taste to be doing fan boy work. In my eyes the Blender Foundation leads the way for open movie productions, with their current project Gooseberry.

I have updated the drawing section on TheEnvironmentGuy.com to include some new life drawing, each week I have been going to a tutor to draw and I am fairly pleased with the new work. There is still a lot about it that could be better but its much improved from last years work. The new pieces are done using a wacom instead of conte and charcoal like previous works.

Until 2015, have a good Christmas! This show is just about to start 🙂

Working through the hard parts

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For any artists reading this I am looking to interview your experiences as you were learning your trade and achieving the goal of becoming professional artist for the first time. I value your stories and so do the readers of this blog. It means a lot to me when someone shares their story and I would like to bring your story to people with a genuine interest. The time right before someone goes pro is a challenge, your words are inspiring to me and others. If you would like to have your story here contact me here.

Speed drawing is in part a way of coping with the issues currently faced. In high school the art teacher there said art is a form of meditation. I didn’t understand it at the time as I had not yet reached the fundamental of meditation. It is focus and it is calm. Today there are serious decisions, making a demo reel has me down at times. What I know as life now will not exist in the months to come. This is a good thing as it means the future is open to possibility’s but also a difficult thing. It has lead me to plan and place faith in the future outcomes.

To get past this bump on the road last week included a lot of planing and reorganizing for the next step of life. Starting two weeks ago meet up groups have been a priority. They are great resources for artists and other creatives to further their ability’s with group drawing and photography to name a few benefits other than creating interpersonal connections. So far there is a monthly Blender meet up, weekly life drawing and speed drawings as well as urban sketching and industry game developer get together. Since they usually happen at night it keeps me working on the demo longer during the day as well.

In addition I have been running the entrepreneurial machine writing up documents and ideas. Tutoring art is a great experience, to be a tutor you have to live the life of an artist. It places you in the spotlight demanding persistence and attention. It is a great motivator to succeed in endeavors.

The demo reel; The complexity and resolution of sculptures was overshot and so I wasn’t able to complete content fast enough to meet the deadline, as a result I bought another semester which I now feel is a wast of money. The school counts the demo reel class as two courses because they require you to take two classes a week in order to pass. However for me the class consists only of independent work. Very little value is being returned on the investment. There are issues with the administration of the school but I feel personally responsible for the outcomes so I wont complain about it. I do however feel that a serious conversation with my grading teacher will be necessary. In accordance with my value of Integrity there is no choice but to come forward to find a solution. That is my commitment.

Next week I am aiming to put up a collection of drawings. Including life drawing, speed drawing and block studies. I am also going to populate the demo reel with plants and finish up some of the main compositional pieces. Got my angry eyes on the prize 🙂

Looking forward to the next few weeks. Its hard to stay up but I’m in the game and staying strong.

-The Environment Guy