Bianca Delaflor GDC 2016

Post date: Mar 25, 2016 11:56:48 PM

GDC Write Up 

I arrived in San Francisco Wednesday morning around 1:45 AM. I was really tired once I had arrived as well as nervous because I have never been to San Francisco before and it was my first GDC.

Wednesday

I went into the expo floor first and explored the various booths, I also introduced myself to various students and professionals, and tried out a VR demo with the bow and arrow and another with a basketball. I also discussed with professionals, the various new obstacles that come along with VR and whether or not their brand of VR was available to download as a platform if I wanted to use it to build an environment. We exchanged cards and he said he would put me on the list for the pre-release system. I also went to the Ringling Booth to drop off my business cards. Then went to the career floor for some portfolio review. The first career booth I visited was High Voltage. She said that she was impressed with my work, loved my gun kit, and that I should apply online. However, she said I also needed to watch my shadows on my Mary Jane Character. Then I went to Crytek, she said she really liked my pitch 1 (forest at sunset) concept art, and explained that they are most interested in biomes. After, I went to Gamers for Good. He said they were more interested in low poly or 2D stuff, so I showed my concept work. He said he liked everything, and suggested I develop more stylization. Then I went to Imagi Studios, he really liked my Mary Jane Character, loved the gas mask bong and bottle of acid at her ankle. He also really liked my slum level and my gun kit. However, he said the ground shadows were off on my slum level, and the tarp was a bit too flat. Then I went to Avalanche Studios, she said she really liked my stuff, especially my gun kit. However, she said I needed to pick one thing and get really good at it. She suggested I focus more on complex hard surface models such as guns, cars, and helicopters. She said they don’t do short summer internships and prefer graduates. Then she gave me her card and told me to add her on LinkedIn to keep in touch. Then I went to Wild Card. They were most interested in my slum level, however, he said I needed more trash, more of a grime pass and improve lighting on the ground shadows. Then I went to Virtuos, he said he really liked my entire portfolio but they were located in China. He then asked if I was willing to relocate. I said I was. He asked if I wanted a full time job or an internship. I said internship. He asked if I could do 6 months. I said I could only 3 months at most during the summer. He asked me to follow up, then gave me his card and told me to email him. Then I went to Tripwire, he said he liked my portfolio. Then he showed me a site where I could upload my work. He said that I can upload my models there, or paint skins for their models there and if they decide to use it, I get 20 percent of the profits. Then I wandered around the play section and the expo floor. On the expo floor I stumbled upon the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End talk by Naughty Dog. They discussed some of their pipeline and went into their use of substance designer. They used material Ids per mesh based on masks, and their sub tools and playgroups became their material IDs. They touched over baking with substance, and compiling their library using python. Their focus on tiling textures, and baking those textures on to planes. I also noticed that they used a lot of smaller textures, a lot of tillable 1024s, I asked him about it and he said they typically use those size textures, especially for props. larger textures like 4096, causes substance to crash and are only used for characters. 

Thursday

 I headed to the expo and met up with some other Ringling students at the Ringling booth. Dropped off some more of my cards and headed to the career floor. I went to two booths that I missed the previous day. One, whose card I realized I lost; Hi-Res, or Highwire or Hi-something, liked my portfolio a lot, and told me to apply online, but gave me no critique. Another booth, Six Foot, I went to because I noticed they were located where I live, in Houston, Texas. Their art director liked my work, but told me they did primarily software, game design, and programming, and that they currently outsource their art. However, he said he wanted to keep in touch, because they are going to develop their art in house within the next few years. Then I went to the ‘WB Games Monolith Production’s Nemesis System Revealed’ talk. They discussed story and what makes it compelling is the relationships and personal vendettas the player makes with the characters, and how each character has a special weakness if studied closely. I also wrote additional notes but I seem to have lost them as well. Then I went to the play section and wandered around for a bit.

Friday

I went to the ‘Been There, Done That: Industry Women Share Experiences and Advice’ talk, which went into self-confidence, speaking up in the work place, and not being afraid of failure. They discussed troubleshooting and not having to know all the answers, but instead asking someone who does. They also discussed interviews and doing research on a company before talking to them, finding the company values and culture, and making sure those values are in alignment. They also went into salary and how typically most women do not negotiate their starting salary, but most men do, which is something that should change. They also touched over resumes and how typically most women don’t take all the credit for their work, and usually describe their achievement as a team effort, as compared to most men, and how women should be more assertive and take credit on paper. One thing I though was funny yet applicable, be the statement, “you should find your inner, overly confident, white man and name him,” because “if you aim for the moon, you’ll land among the stars.” Afterward, I went to Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer. They discussed student portfolios and what are typical strengths and weaknesses. The biggest pet peeve with portfolios are lack of presentation. How they didn’t like pretty sculpts with no textures, that were not in engine. How they didn’t like badly lit screen shots, and hated when it was difficult to access a website. They also said that there were not enough FX portfolios and that there should be, because there is a large market for them. They went into how portfolio is most important, quality not quantity, and how you are only as strong as the weakest piece in your portfolio. They also went into how resume gets looked at last, how content in resume needs to be relevant and how presentation matters- good format, no spelling errors, etc. They also went into when portfolio should be a reel or a still. Like FX and animation should be a reel and environment stills are better than fly troughs, but having both is not bad. They went into how specialization and quality is best, and how you need to reduce your work by half to get the best of it. How all student work should be replaced with new work, and lack of specialization can be very confusing. How companies will hire you based on your taste level and passion. How rejection should not be taken personally and you should power through it. How you should always get someone else to look at your work because no one is good a judging their own work. Then they when into characters, how they need to have good typology and in engine with materials. They also went into art tests, and how it was important not to be intimidated, because sometimes they are designed to be too hard. They do this to find your troubleshooting skills, and determine whether or not you are able to fulfill the most important aspect of the test.