so this guy worked for valve.

[Coweetie]

There is something that bothers me.
I found a guy who claims to have worked at valve ( I can't say if it's true, but his animations are out of scale), and made animations for the tf2 game, which got denied, because he animated them too different for valves standards.
There was something planned called "dance fortress", but because of him not changin his animations, it didn't get into the game.
At least that is what I understood.

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

and it seems they do it with 3dsMax and cat. need this.


actual animation with sounds n stuff

phpBB [video]

But to get to the point.
I wonder what you guys think about it, to be an animator for a company, animating in your own style and get rejected because of it. Also, if you really want to animate because of pure joy, or to achieve something.
(To be honest, I found that pretty hard to invest so much time and to get a "no" because the style is so different. Since I know that TF2 game, it always ways crazy, confusing, funny, astounding., I don't get why they would deny his animations.)


Anyways.
To me, I wanted both. First I wanted to get a rank in forums, in these years ago. Just wanted to get better. But in the last time. I want to realize my dreams, my ideas, everything that has been undone for so long. Animate for the fun and joy. But also get stuff done.
could not imagine animating for a company, even If I would get lots of money for it, because I have my own dreams, my ideas, stuff that I want to animate. I don't want to bend myself for money in this point (not in any other point either lol).



Your thoughts please.

[Shad Shadson]

Welcome to the real world. If a client wants something specific and you don't give them what they want, they have every right to deny what you gave them or ask them to change it. They paid YOU for a product and if they don't feel it fits or it's up to the same quality or whatever they have a right to ask you to change it or deny it completely.

That's why if you actually enjoy something enough you generally don't make it your job. I want to be a game designer (and that's probably what I'll do as a job, or at least something computer science oriented), but I almost certainly realize I'm going to have to 'sell out' at some point. every other thing people consider 'art' is the same thing. It's why people like Kurt Cobain and Lupe Fiasco hate(d) the industry they got sucked into.

[Jojishi]

It sucks what happened but Shad nailed it on the head. It's typical in this industry and you're lucky if you can even get work. Shame those animations weren't accepted though because they look awesome to me. Clients can be an absolute pain in the ass and lots of the time have no idea what makes a good animation etc.

[Cowboy Memebop]

yeah clients are pretty dumb and their requests can be ridiculously vague and retarded according to some of my teachers who freelance. even if you have to resort to selling out, there's always time to do your own side projects in order to maintain your style and sanity. your solo work might even grab more attention than the industrial garbage you work on if you're lucky

[Daniël]

I also kinda see how Valve would think this doesn't really fit into their own style.

[Jon]

That's why if you actually enjoy something enough you generally don't make it your job.

I disagree with this on so many levels. I do what I love as a job, and I fucking love it.

[Shad Shadson]

That's why if you actually enjoy something enough you generally don't make it your job.

I disagree with this on so many levels. I do what I love as a job, and I fucking love it.

Depends on whether you're willing to do what you love as a job or what you do as art.

If I had to chug out another samey AAA title in what I want to do? I think I'd be fine with that. Obviously I'd try to make a game other people would enjoy (as well as myself), because if you know anything about game design, you know shit like metacritic scores matter. Another fucking stupid COD game? Sure, I'd make it.

If I wanted to make something completely off the wall genre-definingly different, however, I probably would keep my game design thing as a very serious hobby. Not to say you can't make money off your hobby/something you enjoy. Point being if you want complete artistic freedom (lining up with what I said above), you can't really have that in a job (though, if you enjoy what you do 24/7 I guess you could do it as a job and as a hobby, but I think you'd be burned out). It also depends on what you do as a job, too, I think. Too many variables. This is what I believe generally, though.

[Jon]

That's why if you actually enjoy something enough you generally don't make it your job.

I disagree with this on so many levels. I do what I love as a job, and I fucking love it.

Depends on whether you're willing to do what you love as a job or what you do as art.

If I had to chug out another samey AAA title in what I want to do? I think I'd be fine with that. Obviously I'd try to make a game other people would enjoy (as well as myself), because if you know anything about game design, you know shit like metacritic scores matter. Another fucking stupid COD game? Sure, I'd make it.

If I wanted to make something completely off the wall genre-definingly different, however, I probably would keep my game design thing as a very serious hobby. Not to say you can't make money off your hobby/something you enjoy. Point being if you want complete artistic freedom (lining up with what I said above), you can't really have that in a job (though, if you enjoy what you do 24/7 I guess you could do it as a job and as a hobby, but I think you'd be burned out). It also depends on what you do as a job, too, I think. Too many variables. This is what I believe generally, though.

Oh, yeah, I completely agree. I write, but I have to do more newspaper and sports stuff, (sport I love so I'm lucky), but really, my love for writing sprouted from creativity and writing fiction.

[MCToast]

You need to tell your clients "that sounds really impractical, what if we do it this way instead?", don't make bad shit just because the client first thinks it's good, they pay for your expertise rather than just doing something.

[Kev]

freelancing is mad difficult
source: i freelance

[socks]

freelancing is mad difficult
source: i freelance

Freelance life aint an easy life Kev.

[Coweetie]

I see your point shad. The thought to animate hours on something just to get rejected simply bothers me. It`s the same with drawing or creating tatoos, wallpapers or else. Might be true that this guy simply wasn`t flexible enough.
Basically, to know that people don`t say what they want straight ahead seems annoying to me. But yeah, that`sthe way it is.

[Kev]

that's what happens lol. its a competitive market out there and people are looking for something specific. those hours spent on doing something contribute to your portfolio though and having a strong portfolio sets you up for more jobs in the future, it's not wasted effort. getting rejected is part of the process; he's not the only one applying, and everyone applying is putting their time into the application. did you ever think about the other people applying for the same position?
of course people don't always say what they want at first. not everyone knows what they want. sometimes they think they know what they want and then they change their mind. they're hiring you to figure out what they want, and if they decide what you bring to the table isn't what they want, of course they'll reject you.
this is also an established game with it's own style from the beginning, so it's not surprising at all that a new animation style would be rejected.

i am mildly annoyed