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Interview Questionnaire as v ray artist for arch viz


jaypatel
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I more ask art side and production questions based on your portfolio and resume. The only technical question I tend to ask is, "Are you comfortable with Vray?" I want to hire an artist, not a technician.

 

Are you wondering if I ask someone in an interview if they can explain DMC sampling? Like Chris said, what do you mean by technical? What is your idea of a technical question? To me, a technical question is explaining the difference between linear and Reinhard color mapping.

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Oh .. that's good. if they are to ask me about art side questions that would be good. but i was wondering do companies ask about DMC? or indirect illuminations maps or color mapping?

 

And art side questions means like lighting basics and scene compositing right?

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Sounds more insulting than helpful. When I was nearing the end of architecture school and some of my friends had interviews at big NYC firms that included a "CAD test" our reactions were mostly along the lines of "WTF is those guys' problem?"

 

I think it would be different with Vray because it would not be if you CAN do it but HOW you would do it and how you would handle settings. Someone's understanding how of to use Vray effectively would be very apparent right away, letting you know how much training, if any, would be necessary.

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I think it is very important for every artist to know his tools, but when you are in the search for a job, the most important thing for a company and Scott will agree with me, is they only care if you can get the work done, in a timely manner without much or non supervision.

No matter how, if you use Brute force or Irradiance as first bounce, it does not matter as long you are producing a good image that the client will be happy and proud. It does matter if that image take 12 hours to render instead of 30 minutes, so it is up to you to know your tool to adjust to different problems. But those specific questions fit much better in a learning facility or between colleagues lunch talk ;)

It is like you where a drafter or an Architect, and besides asking you if you knew AutoCAD and REVIT, they ask you how to setup auto snap in autoCAD or what are the step create a new family on REVIT.

If you are a entry level and you say that you know VRay and I take a look at your portfolio, I can already know what is your level of knowledge of VRay, now if you get interviewed by a Human resource person or hiring agency, well, they may ask you those pre-made question, I have been there and it suck.

 

I never trusted those companies or people that ask me for a trial time period before hiring, "oh we will test you with this small job with no pay before we decide if we hire you"

Yea right, here is my portfolio, this is what I can do, you like it great if not, thank you very much.

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I had to hire 3 people to help with Photoshop on a big job a while back. It had to be done quickly so I used Craigslist and I would send people a small Photoshop file - some shelves with merchandise floating around - and asked them to arrange the items on the shelves in an attractive manner.

 

It was invaluable. I would have wasted a lot of time having people come in and finding out they didn't have the skills I was looking for.

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I'm actually surprised that architecture doesn't use more art tests for jobs. It's pretty much a common place thing in games and VFX. It really weeds out those people with kickass portfolios who aren't upfront that all they did was model a rock that is in the background or it took them 8 months of work per image. In all of the art tests I have taken, I have never thought it to be insulting of my skills. If you are confident in yourself, you should be able to knock it out of the park.

 

The only art test I didn't like was one I took for an animation studio that didn't warn me before hand, surprised me in the interview with it. So I was forced to use Max without my keyboard shortcuts/quads which made me look like a monkey trying to fly a spaceship. I'm so used to alt+W doing one thing that is different than the stock Max shortcut for it.

 

I'll usually ask for a breakdown of how you did a cool looking material, that is about as technical as I will go. Just so I know you understand materials and didn't just get everything from the Vray Material website.

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I've been doing AutoCAD since R2.2.

 

Anyone asks me to take a CAD test I get up and walk out - no one can possibly "guess" which of the plethora of ways to do something in AutoCAD that any particular CAD-nut thinks is "the only right way to do it".

 

Same with everything else in life, and business. And I started life, and work (business), in NYC...

 

Art is subjective, and I am the only person I know that actually knows what 'good art' is. :D

 

Here's a little oil sketch/color exercise I did a few years ago when I was bored:

 

COWBOY SUNSET.jpg

 

Just so so - some things I like, some things I don't... Don't ask me the settings on my brush or how I mixed the colors - you either like it, or you don't! :p

 

I wish 3DS Max had M. Graham and/or Grumbacher color palettes!

 

Sounds more insulting than helpful. When I was nearing the end of architecture school and some of my friends had interviews at big NYC firms that included a "CAD test" our reactions were mostly along the lines of "WTF is those guys' problem?"
Edited by karlar
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NOOOOOO do NOT do that, sir!

 

I am old and crotchety, I CAN do that!

 

When you get old and crotchety, then you can do it too! LOL ;);)

 

 

Thank you all for your invaluable inputs.. nice painting Karl .. I will walk out of interview if they ask me to do CAD stuff in interview :)
Edited by karlar
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