For the week 10 PPD lecture, we were given a large run-down
on the possibilities of freelance work and the reality behind this. Originally
this was going to be my plan. I wanted to find a part time job just to bring in
enough money to live on whilst working freelance on the side. I fully
understand that the pay would be fairly low straight off the bat and finding
clients wouldn’t very easy but there were still many areas I hadn’t even considered.
Let’s start with the reasons some people may consider going
freelance;
-Politics in a studio
Working in a studio is never going to be a fun experience straight
off the bat and there will always be a conflict of opinions. This turns a lot
of people off.
-Tired of moving from studio to studio (Closures)
As mentioned by Danny Banister alongside almost every
lecturer on the course, we will lose at least one job and it’s an incredibly
stressful situation for anyone, especially people with families relying on
them. Not only this, you’ll be forced to deal with new rental accommodation and
will your contract/ lease be up at the prior property?
-A recent graduate gaining experience
This is the point I was going for although it doesn’t seem
too financially viable, especially without being an established artist. It
could be absolutely fantastic experience though.
Working from home sounds nice but bear in mind it’ll make it
impossible to separate work life from home life. When working in a physical company,
the second you leave the building, you can relax until the next day. At home
you would also be lacking a lot in the form of social interaction that may turn
an individual stir crazy.
As you would be a one man business, a lot of extra hard work,
preparation and determination just from tracking down clients and dealing with
financials such as tracking down money that you are owed and organising work
delivery dates/ making changes. Even an established artist may have long period
with no income and could spend months finding a client so above all else,
ensure a safety net is established e.g. a part time/ full time job or even a
stockpile of 4-5 months of living funds for the worst case scenario.
Just
remember that if you miss a deadline, a large game company would have no issues
taking you to court and attempting to sue you. A junior self-employed game
artist would not fare very well financially in this situation.
Being the boss, you would be accountable for every action
and would need to schedule. I believe that 8 hours a day bar week-ends would
set a good base-line with two dedicated daily to advertise and outsource
clients. My current sleeping pattern, waking up in the early afternoon before
sleeping in the early morning is nothing out of the normal for a student but
this doesn’t fit in very well with the 9-5 work hours of clients. In this
situation, I would force myself in to 6am – 10pm sleep schedule. Is it possible
for me? I feel much more wide awake and happier when sticking to this schedule
and would very much like the get back to it.
The largest issue for any freelance artist would be tracking
down payments. At times, you may need to be tough and persistent in order to
get the money you’re owed. Ensure a contract was signed and thoroughly read by
both parties in case legal advice is required.
Now for distractions. Once you enter any job environment,
your mind is almost entirely taken off distractions such as internet browsing
or texting, at least mine is. When being paid, I feel like I need to prove that
I deserve that pay, have much heightened concentration and push myself much
harder than when at home. The more casual the environment, the easier it is to
take myself out of this mind-set. When within my work hours, I should be treating
it like a full-time job. The easiest way to do this or at least to get myself
in to this mind set would to have a room set-up as my office, only entering it
during work hours and treating it like a corporate desk.
Networking
This has been covered extensively over past posts but is
essential when covering freelance working possibilities. Starting with
Linked-in, Ive managed to amount 34 connections so far and it’s still building
by the day.
On top of this, I have begun using Twitter to showcase work
as many people on the course have. This should help solidify myself as an
artist as time goes on but more than anything, gets my work out there. I will
be attending Euro-gamer to attempt to make contacts with as many game
developers as I can and would like this to become an annual event. I can use it
as an ability benchmark, turn the entire event in to an enjoyable progress
point to look back on.
Forums such as PolyCount are essential for feedback but
beyond anything, level and asset design contests are beyond the best form of advertisement
as they not only showcase your ability, many also require a progress blog which
will publicly present your time management skills. A few I have looked in to in
the past are;
^Still going on but they have done multiple of these over
the years.
^Moddb done tons of these contests, even with substantial
awards.
^As a recently released game, it provides a huge amount of
assets to help the design process and also being Unreal Engine, there is a huge
possibility that winners will be displayed on the engine launch screen.
^Allegorithmic are starting to do a tonne of contests and
openly showcase the winners across Twitter, their website and Youtube channel.
With multiple winners each time, if you succeed, they will get your name out
there. As im currently learning their software suites, it’s a fantastic thing
to aim for.
Freelance or Contract staff?
I would personally not want to work freelance in a company,
if I was going to work in-house, I would greatly prefer to be a contract staff
member although this is much easier said than done. There would always be the
change of becoming a permanent staff member through this although it’s a lot
more financially feasible for a studio to take on contractors during busy
periods as they are expendable.
What would be best for me?
In regards to long term goals, I would probably at this
stage like to start as a junior artist, get some experience and a title under
my belt before stepping towards other companies if possible. I wouldn’t very
much enjoy moving to a large company as it seems like a much colder experience
from what I have heard from multiple ex-university students and industry personnel.
If I could, I would prefer to work in a mid-sized company such as Sumo Digital.
This would provide a nice balance between job security and work appreciation if
their phenomenal presentation was any indication.
In short terms, I’m starting to shy away from contract work
as the stress created due to the lack of job security greatly outweighs the pay
increase in my opinion. Ability wise, I have a few areas of texturing that I wish
to further develop and need to take a short course in Z-brush. This would be
easiest done via 3D tutors as I Haven’t spent long enough in the software to
create a nice foundation for experimentation and could benefit greatly by
having it displayed on my CV.
In all honestly, I will need to find a part time or
hopefully full-time job after graduation for a minimum of 6 months if I cannot
find game industry employment within the first few months. With some money then
stocked up, I would like to enquire about work experience at Sumo Digital for
at least a three month period. If there is a possibility of a paid position
from this, I will follow it. Otherwise I will simply use it as a reference for
my CV. I would like to repeat this process at a second company if possible if I
have the finances available but with two large names on my CV, I can see it
helping greatly when it comes to permanent employment.
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