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View Full Version : Choosing a senior thesis project - animator wanting to work in games

Dualhammers
11-30-2009, 10:23 PM
So I am coming into the last two quarters of my senior year and I need some advice from industry vets. My goal is to work as an animator in the video game industry, rather than video or film. My senior thesis choices are either to work on an animation short, or to be part of the art team for a video game project.

Now I love games, and I love thinking about them, but I am pretty bad at coming up with fun concepts, so my goal in the video game project would just be art. The way I've heard it described, however, is that the teacher focuses heavily on the programming and design and sort of expects the artists to pull double duty.

All fine and dandy, but the last view projects have been not really all that art savy - they spend 2 quarters designing the code and tech and all the assets get rushed. A lot of the people I've talked to said it was a great learning experience, and having the ability to say they worked on a game project was helpful, but none of the art was worth showing because it was hampered by the limited tech.


The animation project gives me a lot more freedom to animate, but I won't get any real experience designing a video game. I feel like having worked successfully on a video game will assist me in standing head and shoulders above other animators who have good reels. I've thought about taking the senior thesis in game and do my own animation in my free time, but I risk hurting the quality of both projects that way.

So I come to you. Any animators working in the game industry: what would you suggest?
Dualhammers
12-02-2009, 03:02 AM
No suggestions? Maybe I should have posted this in a different section?
JYoung
12-02-2009, 04:52 AM
Do whatever will give you the best portfolio pieces at the end. Working on a game project will certainly be beneficial, but if you end up with nothing to show for it other than a blip on your resume, it's not worth much. Unless you have the time to do a ton of animation outside of the game thesis, but from my own experience in school, that's probably not going to happen.

If you do the animation short, you can still put together some game animations in your spare time and start to learn an engine toolset. It's relatively easy to get animations into unreal.

Not to discount the benefits of working on a game, but most companies are not going to care that you worked on a game project in school if it looks like crap... which, from your description of past projects, there's a very good chance of that. They ultimately want to see that you can animate well, and your animation demo reel is the most important part of getting hired.
Dualhammers
12-02-2009, 05:15 AM
Thanks for the advice. Nice to have some confirmation I am making the right choice. Really the games don't look bad, it is just that they are limited in their scope in regards to animation - mostly 2D games or 3D games with limited animation (mostly 2.5 platformers using inanimate objects).

I will do the animation and work on getting some character animations into Unreal. Maybe I will do my own game later if I have time.
switchblade327
12-03-2009, 11:22 AM
Do whatever will give you the best portfolio pieces at the end.

Agreed. Having a game under your belt means nothing if your portfolio isn't better then everyone else applying. For an entry level position, it's of course good if you have experience working collaboratively or on a game but doing art for a student project isn't necessarily some massive leg up on your competition.

Do the short but make it action heavy. A 30 second monologue is nice but most game animation isn't about good acting (and the acting will be probably be mocapped if there is any).


If you do the animation short, you can still put together some game animations in your spare time and start to learn an engine toolset. It's relatively easy to get animations into unreal.

I think people are really overvaluing the experience of "getting an animation in game". Knowing an export pipeline is nice but it's easy to teach so it's not worth much. Any company with proprietary tech (which is a many of them) is used to teaching this anyway. Real game experience is not about exporting but implementing animation, as in simultaneously addressing the needs of a game's design and its aesthetic. That's much more difficult.

You'd be better off working with a mod team on the side to get "game experience" then just exporting animations in a vacuum.
MCHammond
12-03-2009, 11:55 AM
You have gotten across, in a logical way a problem with one of thesis questions. Can you not discusses this with the tutor? explain as you did here that, past projects have lacked visual appeal due to the amount of time spent on the technical side of things and that you think it would be advantages for someone to focus on game Art! in a similar way to on a real project?

To me that seems like a logical move as it benefits everyone. The only problem I can foresee is the marking, How would your work be marked if everyone on your team was working on different parts of the project. Also if there are pre set achievements that have to be met can you specialize or are you restricted by the program specification.

anyway good luck, either way it sounds like a cool opportunity!
switchblade327
12-03-2009, 12:14 PM
... explain as you did here that, past projects have lacked visual appeal due to the amount of time spent on the technical side of things and that you think it would be advantages for someone to focus on game Art! in a similar way to on a real project?!

I don't know if final art assets getting pushed to the last minute while design and tech are sorted out is entirely unheard for a 'real' game :P
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