Resources for Students
The Game Career Guide does it again! They’ve released all the data for their yearly salary survey for the past three years, all in one place.
Average Salaries for Artists and Animators with Three or Fewer Years Experience
Year Average Salary
2005 $45,675
2006 $42,672
2007 $43,657
Here’s a quick list of some of the various jobs our graduates would qualify for this week:
Senior Modeler at Longtail Studios in Quebec City, QC »
Technical Artist-Sports at Blue Castle Games in Burnaby, BC »
Accounting Assistant at Manpower in Edmonton, AB »
Medical Secretary at Drake International in Toronto, ON »
Medical Office Assistant in Winnipeg, MB »
Secretary, Business & Legal Affairs with Cirque Du Soleil Inc. in Montreal, QC »
Legal Secretary with Adecco in Kingston, ON »
Senior Application Support Analyst in Halifax, NS »
Technician, PC Support with Shoppers Drug Mart in North York, ON »
Junior Graphic Designer with Netcast Technologies, INC. in Mississauga ON »
3D Vector Illustrator/Gaming/Animator with Brainhunter in Toronto, ON »
Web and Graphic Artist with Spherion in Gatinearu, ON »
Accounting with Cavendish Farms in Dieppe, NB »
What do set dressers do at Pixar?
Working with the production designer and director, we choose and place all the props—vegetation, furniture, etc.—in the 3-D movie sets. Everything you see in the foreground and background has been placed by a set dresser. Our goal is to best support the film’s characters and their needs.The art department makes “shader packets” that show what types of textures we have to work with. After we put all the props in place, we apply all the graphics, such as a soda can label, and textures, such as a prop that has different types of wood to choose from. (Wood could have a walnut, ash or maple texture and either long or short grain variants.) We apply shader textures to architecture, foliage and props of all types.
Really great interview with an environment artist at Pixar.
This is information specific to submitting a demo reel to Pixar - but as a student, you couldn’t find a better set of guidelines.
Ubisoft has been in the spotlight lately as makers of such games as Assassin’s Creed, Rayman’s Raving Rabbids 2, Naruto, and Prince of Persia Rival Swords. I thought I’d give you a peek into their Montreal studio’s current hiring wishlist. These are only the artistic jobs, and there were so many I had to rotate the screenshot sideways in order to see them all!
Among other things, they’re currently looking for a character artist, a senior animator, a texturer, and even a web designer. It appears that Quebec has “insane” subsidies for their gaming industry, so if your work is good enough you could land yourself a pretty cushy gaming job. And if Quebec isn’t your style, they’ve got studios in 12 other countries, including France, Bulgaria, China, Russia and Italy. You could work on games AND see the world!
Students, take note! Brush up your portfolios and head on over.
“Over the years, I’ve noticed that successful freelancers, eg, those who make their living entirely from freelancing (writing, editing, copywriting, web design, etc.), have the following seven traits in common.
1. Write/design every day: Many freelancers are drawn to their particular career because they love it. They love to write, design, draw – whatever it is, they would do it for free.”