Agh, sorry for my slowness to respond to comments lately… I’ve been crunching on something big ever since GDC. I only have time for a short post relating to a thought I had tonight. I’ll expand a bit on my “Outsourcing Concept Art smArtly” article…

I’ve found an approach working with one of my outsourcing partners that I’ve liked. When putting together the thumbnail color roughs, something I love to see is a layered PSD file with different layer groups showing alternate color schemes that let me mix and match.

For example, if it’s a character, I can toggle between Red, Black, and Blue color schemes for the Helmet, Chest Piece and Boots. All are individually toggleable. With the varied layers that I can toggle on and off at will, I can mix and match them as I like, fiddle with my layer settings, then pick out the colors I like. Let’s say I choose Red Helmet, Black Chest Piece and Black Boots.

Leaving only those layers visible, I can lock down those colors I prefer, save out that PSD as a layered example for them to use. :) They can lift the exact colors and settings I want from the layered PSD instead of second-guessing.

One additional VERY useful tip that I learned from a mistake is to ALSO save out a JPG from that, and deliver BOTH to them. Why? To make sure no one accidentally unhides the wrong layer and delivers the wrong color version to me later. So they have the layered AND flattened reference to ensure everything is solid.

I’m quite happy with this arrangement so far, and will be using it again moving forward. :)

Hope that helps you crazy smArt managers out there! And smArtists that are paying attention…

I start from the core belief that my *life* is the project, and that the type of game I choose to work on can help me develop skills I’m interested in acquiring and gain valuable experience. That way it’s always more than a job for me, and it keeps me more motivated day-to-day because I’ve basically got a constant double XP multiplier on all the time :) I’m also able to give a project SO much more because I’m so deeply invested in it on a personal level.

The goals I set and the intrinsic enjoyment I seek out in each project is more important to me than the actual type of game it is. I’ve been involved with a value brand car racer, a low budget cheap FPS, a government-funded cancer awareness 3rd person shooter for kids, an Xbox yoga fitness game, a sci-fi real time strategy game, a big-budget licensed platformer and a small-scale medieval MMORPG. After all that, I honestly have no preference whatsoever for genre, scale, or target market, just because I structure my goals differently than that.

I always set out with a specific set of goals, skills and experience that I intend to gain from a job or task, write it down, and relentlessly pursue them until I feel I’ve learned all I can, and then I start seeking out what’s next for me. I never make lateral moves if I can help it. Life is too full of potentially rich learning experiences to just futz around wasting time. :)

Even I have something discouraging me work-wise, when I remind myself EVERYTHING that I’m getting out of it, it bolsters my will to keep trying. It’s a shot in the arm of pure motivation and energy, and it keeps me going even if I’m feeling crappy. It just takes the optimist’s view. :)

There is ALWAYS something to learn from every experience if you think creatively enough about it. And in that, you can FIND motivation. I really need to write up a post on how learning about marketing helped me do that. When understood properly, marketing really is the applied science of optimism.

But enough about me — what motivates YOU to work?

One really interesting trend I’ve found in the last couple years is that artists are *far* more motivated to keep working if their contracts are structured so they get paid bi-weekly. The “big fat contract” high wears off after a week or two on average, and productivity goes SHARPLY down after that.

But, if I make sure they get paid every couple weeks by changing how the payment \ invoice schedule works, they stay happier and more productive longer. Having some semblance of a normal schedule and normal-seeming payment schedule has surprising productivity benefits.

One week is too frequent (who wants to split up work that finely and invoice that often, anyway?), three weeks is too long (productivity falls after week two ends), and two weeks really seems to be the sweet spot.

I’ve noticed this trend enough times and in enough artists and studios that I finally paid heed. I try *VERY* hard to make sure the blocks of work I give my artists last roughly two weeks to keep things moving smoothly.

Artists, take note and push for this if you can. You’ll be happier and more motivated.

Art managers, this is something definitely worth considering and experimenting with.

Anyone have any thoughts on that? :)