Meeting wrap-up May 6, 2002

Compiled by Karl Fasick and Brian Robbins

About 35 people attended the May meeting which took place on the 4th floor of the Art Institute. The meeting opened with introductions. Among those in attendance were programmers, artists, art students and recent grads, web developers, security/network experts and teachers. Companies represented included CleverMedia, Hypernova, VR-1, Worlds Apart, IBM, Intel Wireless and others we didn't get the names of.

We had a very good discussion about Demo Reels. Mike Boyle and Keith Ho from VR-1 lead most of the session, showing a couple reels each, and then sharing what they did right and what they thought they should do better. This was followed by several others displaying their reels, and/or examples of work they have done which were also critiqued.

A lot of very good tips and tricks for composing a reel were shared with everyone, and these have been consolidated into one place here.

Our next meeting will be on Monday June 3rd at 7:00PM. We should be back in our regular room which is the penthouse on the 10th floor of the Art Institute. We'll be having a panel discussion about Web-Based games. Gary Rosenzweig and Brian Robbins from CleverMedia will be on the panel, as will Wyeth Ridgway of Leviathan Games.

Presentations: Demo Reels

Mike Boyle from VR-1 showed two reels, one he did in school which landed him a job at Random Games, and a second which caught the eye of VR-1. He stressed staying focused on what you want to do in your new position in your reel. He showed the first reel as an example of the common trap of trying to tell an entire story when applying for an animator position. He spent so much time developing story, environments, even characters that he ran out of time to showcase his animation talents as well as he could have if he'd left the story out. One friend intentionally used extremely simple models as he wanted to get a job as an animator only and not model. This worked for him but was not necessarily recommended. The first reel tells the story of a commuter who watches the clock at work until quitting time then becomes a monster during the drive home.

Mike's second reel was simply a series of shorts with minimal backgrounds and no story. Simple characters showcased his animation talents. He showcased lip sync, emotion, comedy, and walk cycles. The last bit had several very simple, non textured figures all walking across the screen at the same time to show different walks all at once.

He suggested not using any canned content like textures and animations from programs like Max as they will be recognized. For example, Cedar fence texture or .bip files. Resist the urge to use glowing orbs as well. Mike used Character Studio for the physique modifier but did all his own skeletons and animations.

Choose non offensive music if you choose to include music.

Mike reads www.cg-char.com daily, a resource for animators and artists. He also recommended attending SIGGRAPH www.siggraph.org/. He posted his resume there and that's where VR-1 found him.

Keith Ho from VR-1 also showed two reels and had us guess which one got him the job at VR-1 and which was his first attempt. He also stressed the importance of concentrating on your strengths, or on what you want to do in your new job, and leaving other elements out. One reel was what he called a "trailer" style, the other told more of a story. He commented that the trailer was much more effective as he only used the best of his clips, left out the story, and stepped up the pace of the reel.

Keith found it difficult to find his first job with only school experience so he changed tactics and worked at SIGGRAPH with a company demonstrating a digitizer. While there he posted his resume and reels but no reels were picked up. Three weeks later VR-1 sent an email asking for a reel and it turned out they'd taken his resume at the show. His interview with the Art Director lasted 2 hours and went almost frame by frame through his reel. His trailer reel was much better for this scrutiny as he left out many parts in the story that had little mistakes and only kept in the best. Keith used Maya for his reel but he stresses that it's the result, not the program you use that counts.

Sound is nice at times but many will view reels with the sound turned off to force the animation to speak for itself.

VHS is the best for your reels. CD's are okay but need to worry about compatible codec and file systems. DVD nice and getting cheaper but VHS is standard. Some only accept VHS. Some initial contact may be made via a link to your content on the Web, then send a VHS in later.

Gil Hinkley of Gil Hinkley Graphics is a freelance artist who gets all his work via networking and contacts. He has to crank out quality work quickly and as efficiently as possible, spending one to two days per clip. He often uses Character Studio type animations and content as it speeds up his work and makes him more efficient. He does lots of logo work and technical illustration. He doesn't build a reel but will show files to prospective clients as they apply to various projects. He uses a variety of codecs in his final animations.

Deb Viders came to the group a year ago without knowing much about computers. She's an Art teacher and is attending film school, learning how to edit. She showed two live action short films which she has worked on over the past couple months.

Low Poly Modeling

Mike: For games you need low-poly modeling, boning and animation skills. Artists always work within the limitations of the target hardware and game engines. Cinematics are often-times outsourced, but not always.

Keith defines low-poly: Quake III is 1,000 polygons per character. Nightcaster main character is 3000 polys. Creatures 500-1,200 based on how many on screen at a time and how they work. Final boss was modeled up to 5,000 polys. 1,000 seems like a good target to shoot for. Mike says these limitations can be fun and make you a more disciplined animator.

Resources for low-poly modeling, especially joints: How you make a joint depends on the motion required of that joint. Mike has never found any one good source for creating good low-poly modeling. Pick apart models that you can find. Most of it is through experimentation to create your own techniques.

Paul Steed has a new book possibly called Low-poly modeling in 3DS Max. It may be a good resource based on the author but nobody had actually read it.

LooneyGames.com had a good tip on how to do the elbow.

Company called Viewpoint. Keith said he looks through their catalog to see how they built their mesh.

Discussion about proposed bill

There was some discussion about a new bill deemed "The Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act of 2002" An article about this bill can be found at www.gamers.com/news/1144156.