1) Why did u want to do this job? What was the motivation?

When I was a kid, I was all into games, comics, and movies, and I knew I wanted to do something in one of those fields as my career. I never got good enough at drawing to work in comics, so I started going full swing into CG. I considered movie work, but from what I read and saw about the industry, you are given a shot to do for a film and then you work on that shot for weeks on end. I personally like a bit more variety, so I decided eventually to get into games.

It is creative, has a lot of variety, you face interesting challenges on a daily basis... lots of job satisfaction, good pay, work with interesting people. It's a good job!

2) Was it difficult getting a job at first?

Yeah, it was. It took me a while to really get good enough for a job, even after going to school. I probably applied to a couple hundred jobs around the country for a year or two before I finally got one.

3) How much education (college, specialty 3d postgrad stuff) did you have, and how did it affect your getting the job?

I have an AA degree. It didn't (and doesn't) have any affect on me getting a job whatsoever. It was all a matter of how good the portfolio was. Now that I've been in the industry for a while and recently switched jobs to a new studio, experience has become valueable for placement as well, but without any experience, portfolio quality is the only real requirement for getting a job.

Not to say schooling wasn't valueable to me. If I didn't go to art school, I wouldn't have learned the applications I use for my career.

4) What kind of environment do u work in?

It's a very open environment, with few offices and lots of desks just shoved up together in a large room. We're also interspersed amongst artists and programmers as opposed to be segregated to our own little departments.

5) Do you consider your job "rewarding"?

As I mentioned, it's very creative and I get to do a wide variety of work, and am never too bored. The people I have worked with, for the majority, have all be great as well, so I'd definitely say its' a rewarding job.

6) Do you ever have to work long hours to make up for lost time?

I do have to occasionally work long hours, but it's not to make up for lost time. It's usually just because of whatever circumstances leading up to a deadline, I've got to work longer to get the job done on time and with good quality.

7) How do you consider the pay that you get? Bad, Good, Average??

For a single guy with no family, I'd consider it very good.