In 1989, the silicon baby started growing into a monster. The consumer was gobbling up hardware and software faster than companies could churn them out. Like every company in the industry, developers were desperate to find good people; good talented people. If you had any art experience, digital experience or even if you’ve ever been in the same room with a computer, you were as good as hired. Conversely, employers began to bend over backwards to keep good people; stock options, training, bonuses, raises…

Everyone in the digital Bay Area knew that at the slightest hint of dissatisfaction, your experienced staff would walk across the street to one of your competitors.

Ah-those were the days.

Not to sound too Biblical but…

In the beginning of the digital boom there was, from the artist’s perspective, a snake in the garden. Its name was programmer. To be fair, the industry was founded by engineers and programmers. They had the knowledge and, as we all know, knowledge is power and power corrupts. The techno-gang believed they could and should do it all. They were the designers, the writers, the directors, the producer, and even created what we artists loving and sarcastically called programmer art. Little by little, step by step, the industry started professional artists and put them in the dark dungeons of the art room.

There was no such thing as project “teams.” Artists would be working on multiple game-art projects and very rarely did we see or hear the design, the purpose, and the big-picture of the game.

Art meetings were often conducted by non-artists.

It was very frustrating during this stage of transition. A new war begins. Programmers and artists collaborating was a long bridge to cross.

Art was created pixel by pixel. It was similar to cross-stitching. You know like Grandma’s “Home Sweet Home” sampler. We used a program called D-paint. Ask any old person about D-paint. You may be surprised to hear how cool it really was. It had most of the functions of the future PhotoShop except in big ‘ol pixels We animated with Ani-pro, a program similar to D-paint.

There began great leaps and bounds in technology in a relatively short time. The advancement of colors from 16 to 256 to unlimited colors had our heads spinning with the freedom to create art. Still, the industry was dependent on traditional artists. We didn’t know about scanners or maybe they weren’t invented yet. Software didn’t yet provide anatomically correct people with buttons to push for effects. It just makes me angry (just kidding again) but our early days - of - digital - art was like an old model T. You had to crank ‘er up, but now you use a key and turn on the radio. More egalitarian to be sure but if you spent all those years drawing and drinking, it’s just not fair, that’s all.

Back then knowing how to compose and how to draw was actually favored over the ability to use the software. The thought then was one could easily learn the software but talent is another thing. I want to point out to you, dear reader, that the digital art in these early days was really pretty good given the level of technology available. The system was crude not the art.

Eventually, developers realized that maybe programmers should program and possibly, creatives should create. The phrase of the day was “We should use the Hollywood model” This, of course, meant more cocaine. I kid, of course (insert goofy smile icon…wait! don’t.) Production of video games was not that exacting.

“Ship it” was the phrase of the day- whether art was finished, whether bugs were rampant, it was time to ship. One of the reasons for this half-baked release happened was that shelf space was pre-paid and it had a deadline to get them to the distributors or you missed the window. Another reason was that nobody expected version one to work. The cult of consumers knew version one didn’t work. They waited for version two.

In the mid 1990’s, the idea of project teams surfaced. Artists were segregated from their dungeon buddies. It was an end to a wonderful era for artists. We were like a tribe in our dark caves. Strangers beware. You could get hit by a deluge of wit and sarcasm, but the value of this change allowed creatives to have a larger role in the product.

Programmers were now being programmers; Producers were now brought aboard to handle the cross-disciplines and refereeing of conflicts. We did get bonuses for jobs well done but in the earlier days, one would get royalties. That was stopped once it became an over-staffed team. A growth of middle-micro management started. Software expanded. It was 18 years ago that Adobe shipped version 1.0 of Photoshop . It was the 90’s after all.

And we had to learn every new technology that popped up at the oddest times like in the middle of a project. It took a confident look into the future because the product had to work on the newest system by the time the project was finished.

Suddenly with a kick in the eye, 3D Studio reared its big ol’ head in the mid - 90’s and changed the artist back to a mathematician of sorts. You could, however, see what you’re creating from all angles. Being an artist was still important, of course, it’s just that the computer took over where artists should be. It was much more art based than the Bosch. Now the qualities of the artist changes yet once again leaving thousands in the woods. We had to learn 3D Studio then. We had to adapt to 3D Max or we were out of luck…

Siggraph in the early 90’s, presented inspiring 3D art with one shinier than the next. There were tea pots every where you turned.

Pixar or ILM then blew the doors off of expectations. They submitted a short 3D example where there was a story, a character, and a purpose. We were on their feet applauding as loud as we could. Art became art again on that day with a huge dose of technological skill. Artists without the requisite technological knowledge were abandoned by the wayside.

I was fortunate enough to grab one of the new positions: a Creative Director.

It allowed me to design. It gave me an opportunity to do concept work, style guides, design documentation and more. I was given the increased opportunity to write the back story and the character’s bio and dialog. The bar was rapidly being raised. We did have an opportunity in the early days of making up stuff because there was limited marketing of existing products. We could stylize the art any way we felt to be appropriate. That soon changed. Little by little, marketing began to dictate the design based on what last year’s best seller was. Reports started surfacing about how the video game industry is making more money that the film industry. Previously, teams consisted of Artist(s), Art Director, Programmer(s), and Team Lead and, of course, Administration and Creative Services. The market was open. Creativity was not only allowed but was encouraged.

We were designing for PC, Nintendo and a now defunct 3DO.

Marketing determined that since there were no sales with Macintosh, we didn’t design for it. Nobody had the insight to notice that there weren’t any sales because we didn’t design anything for Macintosh.

The online world slowly appeared. It was pretty crude and most pages were like badly designed brochures from a decade past. Not enough bandwidth to really do anything. Most of us avoided it, Around then, office managers (secretaries) with no art training could produce newsletters, ads and in house publications. Who needs artists? Art was slowly being phased out. It was more important to know the software than to understand art.

The average team in the early 90’s was small and tight. It consisted of the following:
1 technological director, average of 5 programmers, 1 Art Director, average of 5 artists, 1 team lead.

In 2000; depending upon which platform, the teams are now specialized to a point of silliness. The skill of writing now has Narrative, Back Story, Story Line, and a host of other niches for a writer.

Art is equally divided to model building, texture mapping, concept artist, storyboard artists and oodles more.

Design now entails level design, game design, design documents, missions, theme, game play, hint books and on and on.

Technology and Q and A and I think maybe a quick Google would tell you more about the roles artists now play. Are they all really necessary? I am reminded of an old joke having to do with production. If it takes 9 months for a woman to give birth, if we got 9 women it would only take a month.

After a 30 year career, I find myself aged out and no longer on top of the latest technology explosion. I was too busy on projects at the time to learn yet one more platform, one more software program.

New artists beware: learn everything you can before you have no time to learn. The catch is you don’t know what the future holds. Will the art world need you to use holographic tools? Learn everything you can. I hate to admit it but it appears true, your foray into the field is relatively short lived If you don’t change with the future and in many cases before it even happens.

Tell me, oh wise, cynical old man how do I get a job in the field of video games?

Good question.

I read somewhere that about 90% of job offers is chemically based. By that, they mean if the interviewer likes you. If he or she could imagine seeing you every day and what can you contribute to the company that they don’t already have.

Some major companies like Microsoft use a personality form known as Myer Briggs (Google it up) to see if you’d fit in.

A good way to prepare for your desired interview is to eek out a major competitor of the company you want to interview with. Have what they call an informational interview so you can figure out what roles are out there that have yet to be filled or are temporarily vacant. The true tested way to a good opportunity and I hate to repeat what everyone has said since, well, since the 50’s, is to network.

Many a’ job was found in your local pub or a grocery store or G*d forgive…school!

Never the less, have a fool proof portfolio. About 12 pieces is recommended but you’ve got to make sure that the 12 pieces are your best work. Never show a piece and offer some excuse why it isn’t any good. ”Oh, I did this for a class and the assignment was…” “I didn’t have enough time to do this.” Avoid drawing some made-up buffed super hero if you do not know anatomy.

Oh, also by the way, luck has a lot to do with it.

I’m starting to pontificate. I’m starting to exceed my allotted space. I’m starting to ramble on and on. I’m starting to repeat myself. I thank you for your time.

Hang in there. It’s worth it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 6:57 pm and is filed under Art, INSPIRATION. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.