n/a
As far as games go,
Theres nothing that says you CANT do both, it always helps to be familar with both because often modelers and animators have to work together.
However, as games get more expensive and more complex to make, jobs get more specialized. It might take weeks to make one character or possibly the entire project iterating on it. The same is true for animations, hundreds of them need to be made. It is just too much work to be bouncing back and forth between modeling and animating, and your manager will want you focusing on what your best/fastest at. In the end, the only thing that hasnt changed is publishers want to see fast progress and they usually dont understand how difficult this stuff can be to make.
Hey Peter, 
Nice work. You have some impressive stuff there. Did you rig too? If you did the rigging, you can probably make a pretty good career for yourself doing character rigging alone. They seem to be able to do a lot. If they are easy to use, fast and if you can create them quickly that’s saying a lot.
Overall, I think the animation is nice. You have some great poses. It’s clear; easy to read.
My biggest issue is that the animation often stops towards the end the characters’ performances.
It could be argued that it is style. To me it feels more like an oversight. A blemish in an otherwise lovely work.
I also think the main character’s face is a bit too rubbery, especially at the end when he’s checking for witnesses.
Don’t get me wrong, it is good stuff. I just think if you toned it done to the point where the viewer “feels” it but doesn’t really notice it per se, then it would be brilliant. There are many other “extreme” things you have going on that lend to the flavor yet don’t stand out as being overdone.
I have no experience working in the UK. In the States, it seems to be the opposite of what you described, at least in film. Game companies here are also primarily concerned with experience.
Many of our film studios often prefer to nab fresh talent right out of school instead of hiring (or keeping) experienced people. This is not always the case of course but it seems to be on the rise.
As for generalist vs. specialist. It all depends on the studio. Some (often smaller) studios prefer generalist because they need flexible artist to serve different purposes as needed. Other (often bigger) studios prefer to hire specialists because they feel like they need someone that lives and breaths whatever it is they do in order to maintain the studio’s high standards.
I have worked as a designer, modeler, texture painter, rigger, fx animator, character animator, lighter and compositer (earlier in my career it was many at once, now I specialize in animation for pay). Of all these charactor animator was the toughest to be hired for. Animators are picky! Me included.
There are exceptions to every rule. If you really kick arse at everything and can do it backwards with your eyes closed, faster than anybody else in the room, you just might get to do whatever you want, wherever you want to do it.
That is, if you can make a studio understand the value of having you do all that without the different departments fighting for your time.
It seems like you could be that kind of guy. You’ve definitely got a good start.
Good luck and keep up the good work!
Blastamon:
Big thanks for the feedback. I definately get the impression that specializing is a necessity at the large companies, I just know that I will start slipping in one area if I devote myself more to the other. Animation, in particular, I found INCREDIBLY difficult, often frustrating, and obviously very time consuming, and the stakes seem to be rising at such a rapid pace - all the studios demanding Pixar-like levels of polish and really not understanding what goes into work of that caliber.
Poda:
Wow, I saw your site! I love those models, I rarely see such appealing cartoon work these days. Huge thanks for the crits.
Yes, the stopping was meant to be a stylistic thing - a nod to Warner Bros cartoons by Chuck Jones and such, but I think you’re right, it doesn’t seem to work effectively. And yes, the wobbly head at the end has been a bit of a concern for me.
Characters were rigged using a Maya plugin called the Setup Machine - very little weight painting and zero scripting to be done. I pretty much try to avoid rigging like the plague, far too technical for me to enjoy.
Just thought I would also add, I spent under a week modelling, texturing and rigging everything in that film. The course’s focus was on animation, which took around eight weeks to produce. Given more time, I think I could produce much better models.
Would you guys say it would be easier to consistently find work as a modeler then?
Peter Kasim
www.peterkasim.com
peterkasim.blogspot.com
Thanks for the kind words Pete!
Yeah, things that work fine in 2d animation often do not work so well in 3d.
Under a week modeling, texturing and rigging 3 different characters is impressive indeed! I’d put that on the video.
BTW - I think I may be buying Setup Machine because of you. I usually like to maintain control over my whole pipeline and avoid “black box” elements. But I really want to spend more time animating too.
Did you use the Face Machine for your face rig or did you rig it some other way?
Hey Poda, you should DEFINATELY buy The Setup Machine. It seems a little odd at first, but after a few tries you can rig an entire body in under an hour, and the animation controls are some of the best I’ve ever used- easily better than any of the free rigs on highend3d.
I didn’t use the face machine for faces, just good old blendshapes. From what I can make out the face machine looks pretty complex and requires a lot of accurate work on weighting.
I noticed you only seem to have still images on your site; I’d love to check out your animated work if there’s any online. Have you moved any of those particular characters?
Peter Kasim
www.peterkasim.com
peterkasim.blogspot.com
Hey Peter,
Most of the characters on my page are “one offs” designed and posed as stills. I have a love/hate relationship with rigging, even more so with weighting so I hardly ever animate outside of work. I want to change that though and TSM might just do the trick.
Here’s some older stuff I have done. I need to update my reel though. Hope you like it. Feel free to crit if you want.
Boog from Open Season. This is a test I did to keep my character chops up.