Rookies Weekly Update

I'm Conor Woodard, and this is the Rookies Weekly update. Today we're talking about new games, TV shows, movies, devices, AI tools, and this is the last weekly update before the 2023 Rookie Award submissions close forever.

You've probably heard me say it before. If you're an entry level 3D artist, you've got to submit to the Rookie Awards. Even if it's just for the exposure to the judges, it's worth it. It's completely free and you only stand to gain.

Create a profile. And submit your art right now cuz the next time you see my face, it will be too late! Do it now!

The latest on AI:

Adobe's Firefly integration is available in Photoshop Beta. As a longtime Photoshop user, this seems like a natural development for the software.

I'd like to add that since this tool does not scrape data sets blindly from the internet, but is using their own data set that they have the rights to use, this is a super cool and responsible use of AI tools.

Unity has released a blog post about their AI beta program, which shows their excitement for the technology.

They talk about lowering the barrier of entry for real time 3D games. Tools that allow creators to be much more productive,

NPCs that come to life. Diffusion content as a gameplay mechanism and who knows what else They briefly mentioned that their data sets will be produced in the creation and operation of realtime 3D experiences. So to me, this doesn't seem like they'll be scraping. But we'll have to keep a watch on this as it progresses.

Blockade Labs has released a Sketch to Skybox app, which while it looks insanely powerful and cool, I'm pretty sure this uses  stable diffusion, which is scraping content from unconsenting and unknowing artists on the web. Stable diffusion based tools are so far the most powerful, but not built on the most solid ethical ground. I'm happy to be corrected about this if I'm wrong, but for now, I'll stick with Adobe Firefly.

What do you think of this new generation of tools? Are they an existential threat to our industry or careers?

Outside of AI news:

PlayStation announced a new handheld device for the PS5. That looks really cool.

Bungie is making a new marathon game. If you didn't know, the original Marathon Game was released in 1994 and was very similar to the original Doom. Marathon set the groundwork for what Halo became, and as a lifelong Bungie fan, this is so exciting. They are hiring for it too.

Pixar is releasing their first episodic project. Win or Lose on Disney Plus in December.

It will be eight episodes long about a kid's softball team named Pickles.

Nimona  is being released on Netflix June 30th, if you haven't heard of this project before, it's gone through many obstacles to actually be released. It was created by Blue Sky Studios before Disney acquired them and Disney shut the project down when they closed Blue Sky.

Annapurna Pictures, animation from DNEG and Netflix distribution have saved the project so it will see the light of day. I'm thrilled to see that all this hard work was not wasted.

There's been a pretty interesting opportunity posted to the 3D Texture Artist group, Jaguar is growing their visualization team, and they need a bunch of unreal engine artists. It's so cool to see the games industry permeate so many others.

Scanline is looking for surfacing artists for immediate start.

Amir Satvat's games jobs database is continuing to grow. Version 8.2 has been released. did you know that it's not just a database of jobs?

There's also a list of mentors for career advice. Which I'm on, the Job Seeker's Workbook so you can get noticed by hiring managers and recruiters. And the career job pack, which has templates for resumes, cover letters, and a whole bunch of other things that will help you in your job search.

The featured Rookie profile of the week is Davide De Sensi for his Dune inspired ornithopter scene, really nice modeling, texturing, shading, lighting, presentation all around. High quality stuff.

Next featured artist is Shad Lee Bradbury and their team of over 300 volunteer artists that collaborated together to make the award-winning animated short film Run Totti Run.

Bradbury is a Pixar animator who made the film over the span of five years as a love letter to their dog Totti. The film is beautifully animated, rendered in a watercolor style, and it's gonna make you feel things.

And the next feature artist could be you. Keep making remarkable work. Keep participating online. Good luck in the Rookie Awards, and have a beautiful weekend.

See the full update here.