Nobody likes missing a deadline. Not you, or the client. It’s stressful, costly and looks bad for your reputation.

However, as artists it’s our job to tell the client how much time it will take to complete a project and how much they can expect to pay. But how do we predict the unpredictable?

To get more practice in this department I like to create deadlines for personal projects, regardless of whether or not there’s a need for one. I find this prevents laziness and endless test and adjustments.

My most recent project was a New York city earthquake animation. So before I started the project I wrote down a list of everything I would need to model:

• A bedroom (chairs, desk, bed, bookshelf)
• Detailed building (multiple floors, smashed windows, broken walls)
• A camera mapped city
• Smoke
• Falling debris

I didn’t have the luxury of working on this full time, so I estimated the project would take 3 weeks to complete.

And how long did it really take?

3 months.

Where did I go wrong? The biggest problem was failing to predict certain issues.

Here’s a list of the most time consuming tasks that completely skipped the planning stage:

1. Learning Time

I had never modeled a destroyed anything before, so it goes without saying that I would need to learn a few things. Learning takes time, a lot of time. When you don’t know how to do something your entire production grinds to halt whilst you stumble around the internet trying desperately to find an answer.

2. Software Issues

I was using Blender 2.5 Alpha. That last word there should have been a neon flashing billboard that spelled TROUBLE. However, this completely overlooked this fact. As a result, I had to deal with dozens and dozens of unpredictable bugs. The most noteworthy bug was a ‘segmentation fault’ that caused the software to crash during rendering. I spent over a week trying to find an answer. The worst part is, I never got one. It was in Alpha stage. Nobody knew.

3. Over-estimating my skill

Everyone knows how fast they work. Or at least they should. But when I was estimating on how long certain tasks would take, I severely overestimated my skill. Tasks such as modeling the inside of the bedroom took a mere day in my head, but when I sat down and actually started working on it I realized a week was more realistic.

4. Video production

Model, Texture, Light, Render = Finished! Right? No. There’s also, re-rendering problematic frames, compositing passes, buying sound effects, exporting in various formats for different media, uploading and distributing. They are all crucial tasks, but they never entered the planning stage.

5. Being a perfectionist

After I spent a week detailing rooms of the building that the audience would only see for a split second, I realized that I was being a little OCD. Every artist wants their work to be perfect. After all, that’s what makes great art. However, there comes a point when you need to step away from the computer and and accept that it’s not perfect, but it will pass.

The project was an enormous learning experience for me. It made me wonder:  Is determining a realistic deadline a skill that can be taught? Or is it something that only comes with experience?

At completion I jokingly thought that perhaps in the future I should just triple my original estimate. But on a second thought, maybe that’s even such a bad idea?

I put the question to my twitter followers and facebook fans. Here were their suggestions for determining a realistic deadlines:

@r3dp_01: I breakdown the layers of the project, 3d , matchmove etc. then the level of the artist(s)

@francoisgfx: The first thing they teach me when I started at Ubisoft: Always triple what you think

@DarkCellar: Complexity, team size, commitment, experience, skillset.

@OscarMopperkont: Realistic planning.

@Laxy: I work out roughly how long it’ll take then double it. But that’s me dealing with my optimistic calculations

Renato Sousa: Multiply by two…

Brian Knezevich: By figuring out how the project is coming along. Of course you determine it by the time and the work you all ready have done.

Mark Walder: Depends on the desired outcome, Time, detail, texturing lighting, placement and strength of lighting, HDRI background as part of that lighting and Ambient effects, In my experience it is hard to follow real world lighting so to keep rendering and adjusting has been the key for me, and that can make determining a deadline difficult at times.

So how do you create realistic deadlines? What methods have you found that work for you? Share your experiences and lessons learned in the comments below!

Don’t get me wrong, I love 3d art,  I really do. But after spending 7 years scouring the internet for inspiration I’ve become a little bit cynical. Now when I look at 3d art, I only see it’s flaws.

Are my renders perfect? Absolutely not. My portfolio is riddled with flaws. In fact almost every single piece of my artwork violates at least one of these ‘rules’. This article is to share what I’ve learnt as an artist and as an onlooker.

Here’s my top ten pet peeves…

1. There’s no point It doesn’t tell a story, it’s not advertising anything and it’s certainly not pretty. What exactly is the viewer getting from this? Nothing makes me close the window faster than a piece of art with no clear objective.

2. You use pre-made content Stock models are great for studios who want to save time and money by purchasing a pre-made model. But it has absolutely no place in your portfolio. Personally I find no pride in showing someone a render that I haven’t created entirely by myself, but that’s just me. If you don’t know how to model it, why not learn?

3. You’re copying something far more successful I love Wall-E as much as the next guy, but that doesn’t mean I try to mimic what a professional studio has slaved over for years on end. Why? Because unless it’s an uncanny comparison (which it won’t be) viewers will only spot its flaws.

4. You didn’t plan it on paper first It’s easy to tell when an artist failed to put their idea on paper first: it’s a confusing mess. They started with an idea, skipped the planning stage and jumped straight to their 3d program. Most artists cannot model/texture/render in 3d at the same speed as their imagination. The best thing you can do is put it on paper as soon as the idea strikes you, that way you have a reference in 2 weeks time when you’re sitting at your computer and asking, “what was I making again?”.

5. It’s cliche If I see another cave troll or big breasted warrior I’m going to puke. Be original and create something that everyone hasn’t already seen a thousand times.

6. It’s a test render Hey cool, you just got your head around the new array modifier! Don’t post it on the net. Test renders are exactly that. Tests. They are a learning experience that should remain on your hard drive.

7. It’s poorly lit Let me say this once and for all: Dark is not moody. If you want to create a moody atmosphere there are plenty of ways of doing it, but making your scene dimly lit is not one of them. Pick up a copy of Jeremy Birn’s Digital Lighting and Rendering to learn how to light your scene like a pro.

8. You don’t realise it sucks No one likes receiving bad feedback on their artwork, especially after you’ve spent weeks creating it, but to tell the hundreds of posters that they “just don’t understand it” is like throwing salt on the wound. If you want to progress as an artist you need to be able to take critiques on-board and learn from your mistakes.

9. It’s boring architecture Archiviz is great skill to have under your belt. There’s a lot of work available and it pays quite well, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring and emotionless. Read my post on 20 Architectural renders that break the mold or watch Alex Roman’s amazing short The Third and the Seventh and you’ll pick up dozens of ways to make still architecture interesting.

10. It’s overly post-processed There’s nothing wrong with fixing the colour levels or altering the contrast in Photoshop, but when you start adding filters and chromatic aberration to hide your own incompetencies there’s a problem.

Well that’s me finished, what are your pet peaves?