Spencer Bugg Artist Interview - Joe Shoopack of Sony

Joe Shoopack Interview - Nov. 1, 2013

Quick Bio

Joe Shoopack is Director of Artistic Development for Sony Online Entertainment Studios located in San Diego and Austin.

He works to facilitate solutions and maintain high art quality standards for all SOE titles, works with outsource partners domestic and overseas. He works with academic programs in a mentoring and advisory capacity and helps define career paths for artists within SOE. Shoopack has developed Massively Multiplayer Online games and single player games since 1988 on platforms ranging from the PS3 back to Atari 7800. He has worked with Sony since 1997. He holds a BFA in illustration from Brigham Young University and has shipped over 50 game titles. (wikipedia)

Past work: http://shoopack.wordpress.com/

Change isn’t necessarily bad

When he started, they were using technology that today is entirely nonexistent.  8x8 bitmaps and tiling were all the rage in the era of the Sega Genesis and Dreamcast, but have now gone the way of the dinosaur.  The market has drastically changed over the years, but there is always a need for concept artists in gaming.  It is very much a separate classification from modeling and rendering in the production process, although 3D modeling is certainly more applicable to concept artists’ work.

Large companies can afford to develop a more segmented division of labor while small companies are more open to hire an “everyman” artist.

Grow with Technology

It’s important to get exposure to different disciplines, but its best to focus on things that still pertain to the sphere of concept work like texture mapping and zbrush sculpting.  Zbrush and mudbox are good transitional programs that appeal more to the traditionally trained artists (a lot like sculpey)

That being said, paper’s been dead to most studios for at least 5 years now, so getting comfortable sketching directly onto digital devices is vital to staying up to date.

I’m personally not an avid gamer, but in order to provide art with a real sense of direction, you have to put in time for research.  That’ll be a tough sell for my wife.

The Game Industry

Overtime isn’t as bad anymore, even large multimillion conglomerates are more sensitive today than they were 20 or 30 years ago.  Some companies, when they are forced to overwork their artists, offer some form of compensation, profit sharing, etc.  In the 80s it was considered a “badge of courage” to push through weeks of sleep deprivation, but today’s game studios, like film studios, are abandoning the antiquated employment model of big hiring, working for years on game development, and then mass layoffs once the game is released for a more amiable contract basis.

People don’t spend their career at one company anymore, game artists are more nomadic nowadays.  This means that to stay ahead of the curve, artists need to constantly reinvent themselves, stay up to date on developments in the industry by researching sites like Kataku and Gamasutra.

If you want a steady paycheck, you can’t find the same kind of long-term security in gaming as you would necessarily in another field.  Contract work is favored now by most companies, but layoffs still exist in other companies in other fields.  Willingness to work, vigilance in maintaining industry insight, and of course an impressive portfolio that displays your talent are your best keys to getting – and staying hired in the gaming industry.

Anatomy of a Good Concept Portfolio:

·      More traditional, painterly mood pieces.

·      Functional concept art (i.e. - side characters with full 3D views to serve modellers)

·      Architecture samples

·      Style Guides on Cultures/Races

·      Definite visual motifs to get general direction