Learning In Progress #2: The Character Tree
The project I’m on is a small-scale MMORPG. As is typical in this type of game, your character is always on the hunt for newer, better pieces of armor. That requires a significant investment in creating new art assets for these armor pieces. There has to be a lot of them, they have to be [...]
Learning In Progress #1: Sorting asset submissions
Here’s a peek into what I do day to day and the things I’m learning, from broad concepts to specific ideas. I don’t know how informative it’ll be, but I’d like to document it anyway. I currently lead a team of 11 remote contractors, down from a peak of 14. Sorting out the data they [...]
Portfolio Tip #2: Name and watermark your images.
This is a really important one that I only touched on briefly in my Your Portfolio Repels Jobs article. If you’re emailing your portfolio around, or even if it’s just on your website, name and watermark your images. Put your name, site URL and email address in the corner of every image so it’s noticeable [...]
Portfolio Tip #1: Don’t include art tests in your portfolio
This one should be pretty obvious, but most people don’t think about it. I see this a LOT. I’ve even done this one before. :) Think about it: If you’re applying for a job and include an art test in your portfolio, that means you failed it! The result is that YOU look like a [...]
Productivity Tip #6: Windows shortcuts to commonly-accessed folders.
During the course of my day, I access many, many different directories at the same time. I hate having to navigate to them manually through Windows Explorer (My Computer, C:\, project directory, art directory, avatars directory, male character directory, texture directory…) I also hate having to type in the entire thing by hand. So I [...]
Productivity Tip #5: Fill small pockets of downtime.
If you ever find yourself waiting on something consistently and have nothing to do, try to find productive ways to fill those small amounts of time instead of wasting them. You may think “I can’t do anything in only five minutes” but you’d be surprised. Also, at the end of the day, all that time [...]