GDC Observations - For Jamie

Post date: Mar 25, 2016 2:26:5 AM

Observation 1 - Conference goers are nice

While waiting in the many lines of GDC I met and talked to a myriad of friendly conference goers. Most of the people I met in line were fellow students from various schools around the US, a mixture of other 3D artists, programmers and concept artists, all of whom made for great conversation. At the quieter parties I attended I met with a few professionals, who were also very friendly and open to fun talks. Many business cards were exchanged and many LinkedIn connections were made. Talking with other conference goers was one of my favorite parts of GDC

Observation 2 - Art directors are also nice

I spent most of GDC hanging around the career floor and at the all day Blizzard mixer/panel, only hitting up the expo floor for an hour or so. I waited in a lot of lines and talked to a lot of artists at big studios, and to my great surprise all of them were super nice and helpful. I got a lot of positive feedback on my portfolio and a bunch of extremely helpful and insightful constructive criticism from a wide range of industry professionals. The reception of my work was well above my expectations and was a huge confidence booster.

Observation 3 - Particle effects are very cool

A comment I heard repeated endlessly around GDC is that VFX artists are in very high demand, and that they're super cool. I managed to catch a live demo of Houdini FX which looked like an amazing program that I want to learn how to use. It does so many things it's magical. That was a Houdini joke. Hilarious jokes aside, seeing that demo definitely significantly elevated my interest in VFX.