Outsourcing: Studio Process Slide 2 Who am I? Executive Art
Director What do I do? Oversee and maintain quality of art
studio-wide Manage production Artist career management R & D
new technology Relationship Management Pandemic Studios
Outsourcing!! Pandemic History Slide 3 Outsourcing art for 7 years.
Star Wars: The Clone wars Vehicles & characters Full Spectrum
Warrior (1 & 2) Buildings Mercenaries 2, Saboteur & Lord of
the Rings Vehicles, buildings and characters Animation 60-70%
Pandemic Studios OP studios Slide 4 Outsourcing Studios Outsource
Companies AMC Studio (Romania) 37 employees XPEC (Taiwan, China)
437 employees OP studios Slide 5 Animation Outsourcing House of
Moves (Los Angeles) 8 animators Technicolor (Los Angeles) 12+
animators Outsourcing Studios Process Slide 6 Outsourcing:
Production Failures Slide 7 Lack of complete asset list Unclear
schedule commitment Concept art delay Slow concept sheet production
Idle OP Slow revision requests Inaccurate task estimations >
Increase cost to OP Asset complications More complicated = more
bugs= internal or revise OP morale Where does our process fail? And
Crappy Art! Production Phases Slide 8 Production: Phases Package
Creation Revision Approval Slide 9 Whats in a package? Content
Creation Guide (CCG) Setup and method Instruction Sheet Lists
deliverables Concept Sheet Dimensions and details Creation: Package
CCG Slide 10 Content Creation Guide Creation: Package Instr. Sheet
Slide 11 Instruction Sheet Creation: Package Concept Slide 12 Focus
on accuracy. Be as simple and clear as possible. Sometimes the word
reference is another word for option. Creation: Package Whats in a
concept? You want their art to reflect your decisions --not theirs
Slide 13 Slide 14 Slide 15 Slide 16 Slide 17 Sample Concept Art
(good) Sauron Creation: Package Slide 18 Revisions Slide 19
Production: Revision Review methods Slide 20 Art Review Methods
Lead Asset Review Depends on strong QA effort from OP Prioritized
asset Team review Lead chooses top 5 assets to review Rest of team
reviews rest of assets Revision: Process Creation Phases Slide 21
Creation Phases Asset Approval Phases Model Texture Final Animation
Approval Phases Poses (blocking) Rough Final Revision: Process
Asset revisions Slide 22 Asset Revisions Work at least 1 revision
per phase into contract Strive for single-day turnaround on
revisions Revisions should NOT be never-ending Assume single
revision phase (except for animation) Unless they do revisions
incorrectly! Once approved- dont disapprove it! Revision: Rules
Animation revisions Slide 23 Animation Revisions 3 revisions needed
Larger variables for completion than assets Do animation in sets
Allows for greater consistency Revision: Rules Good enough Slide 24
Production Team Trip to OP Review management processes. Asset
creation problems. Good enough policy Revision: Process Slide 25
Slide 26 Slide 27 Slide 28 Slide 29 Slide 30 Slide 31 Revision proc
Vested Interest Slide 32 Production: Communication Feedback Slide
33 Feedback Provide clear and consistent feedback All revision
requests should sound like they came from one person. All language
should be clear and uncomplicated. Use consistent subject
definitions for each request Communication: Feedback Timezones
Slide 34 Pros/Cons Local Timezone Decrease cost savings Increase
short-term iteration Shorten delivery cycles Non-local Increase
cost savings Decrease short-term iteration 24hr scheduling
Communication: Time zones Communication Slide 35 Asset Tracking
Methods Asset Tracker! Web Accessible Email status notifications
Tracks artist revision requests Includes photos and/or animations
Charts and tracking metrics Communication: Tracking Screenshots
Slide 36 Slide 37 Slide 38 Slide 39 Troubleshooting Slide 40 AP:
(panicked and angry) I just got an email from Proklovich! Whats the
!@#$?! He seems horribly mad and sounds like hes going to stop
production for us unless his ruthless demands are met! ME: Calm
down, wait until your conference call and then check with him
again. Its probably just an email issue. Here, wipe your mouth with
this tissue Troubleshooting! Email communication issues Slide 41
Lead Artist: Ive asked them dozens of times to make their asset
this way. Their incompetent! My monkey could do better! ME: You
have a monkey? ME: Lets review your concept work to make sure you
are clearly communicating what you need. Also, have you sent them
sample assets for that type which clearly show how you want it
made? Troubleshooting! Concept Clarity Slide 42 Lead Animator:
(after looking at first revision) This totally sucks! Clearly they
cant animate. Ill have to accept this one and fix it myself. ME: If
you do that then youll always get that quality. You have to revise
them to quality because thats the only way to learn.
Troubleshooting! Good Enough Sum up Slide 43 They are not an
outsource partner They are your team. You know them You trained
them They want your game to succeed Uhthey also want free copies of
the game when it ships. To Sum it all up Thank you Slide 44 Thank
you for your time!
