Well despite the (deceptive) title suggests, I have a 'serious' remark/query:

I am wondering why most companies don't use people who work from home to create assets I understand why Digital Domain/DNEG/Dreamworks/ILM/WETA reasons why not to do so and normally I wouldn't even ponder( <-- had to use the word because of the title..consistency and all that) about this.

But about a week ago, it just so happened that by accident I had to help someone out , his laptop crashed, and he had done the project in Renderman..which isn't a very widely used program so I helped him out.

They've shared a dropbox folder with me, I downloaded neccesarry files, got a short brief over the phone, did the necesarry tweaks , rendered some testframes and playblasts send it over through Wetransfer, got an okay -after some back and forth humbug ofcourse-and hit the renderbutton.
Once all this was done I send he files over using we transfer.
Easy peasy

Don't get me wrong I do understand that there are certain benefits of having people onsite and I would agree that you have to have a healthy balance between having people on site and off, but I think it would takeaway a lot of barriers when it comes to utilizing talent and scalability.
It is also a great way to scout and test talent over a longer period of time before committing to hiring them.

What do you guys think?

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My website;
https://www.eyellem.com

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/martin-van-stein/42/a81/b82

Yoda post;
https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...highlight=yoda

Indiana Jones Post;
https://srv01.simply3dworld.com/showt...threadid=29188

Offsite people get used a lot where I work, but really I have to say, it is so much easier when someone is say next to you. Immediate feedback, face to face resolution of problems and no time zone difference. Having said that, a lot of the time it goes very smoothly.

@Gubar: With the limited experience I've got I do know that there has to be some common ground if that isn't there, it doesn't matter if you are face to face.
Try putting together a artyfarty conceptartist and an UberTech programmer in one room, they wouldn't understand each other.
The time zone difference at least the way I see it could be an advantage as well, you could have like 24 hour productiontime and you can agree with each other that you stay up a bit late or get up a bit early to have a bit of a chat.

I for instance live in the Netherlands, if I have to speak someone in America I can often reach them from 15:00 ( if they are eastcoast of course) for UK based companies it would matter even less.

I think it depends on the company and the artist if it works or not

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My website;
https://www.eyellem.com

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/martin-van-stein/42/a81/b82

Yoda post;
https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...highlight=yoda

Indiana Jones Post;
https://srv01.simply3dworld.com/showt...threadid=29188

Its basically easier to have people on site for production, problems occur all the time and while you're at home, you cant go to dailies and view the work and get the feeback you need there and then, the process is huge. Also security issues are a big thing, backing up of work and so forth. Pipeline is a big thing for production to move forward and you wont have one at home.

As for the renderman comment....I think you'll find its pretty much STILL industry standard. Other renderers are used of course and it would be stupid of me not to acknowledge that fact, at Digital Domain we use VRAY, but we all want renderman.

Jay

Good points Jay,

"Try putting together a artyfarty conceptartist and an UberTech programmer in one room, they wouldn't understand each other"

They wouldn't, but the point is they're different parts of the same pipeline. They don't need to understand each other, but there will be people in the pipeline who do understand them and who need to communicate with them. And as soon as someone is offsite, a barrier is presented to communication.

We, like some other companies have an Indian office who are taking care of more and more assets for us. It's cheaper and they are getting really good. Previously we would send things back or tweak them, but this happens less and less now. I would suggest in maybe two years most asset departments will be tiny as the work moves overseas to india and china.

As jay said, other than the cost, there is the secrecy, nda, security thing.

@Jay: Yeah I know Renderman is still a standard and widely used in big Post houses, but here in the Netherlands we have only a few of those and only one has Renderman.
So here it is not a big player.
What I don't get is that people @ Digital Domain use VRay when they already have Mental Ray ( for free assuming they have network licenses) which are more or less the same ( except for the fact that Vray is better implemented as GUI renderer) Renderman is a different beast altogether and can turn around displacement as if it is nothing and nowadays it has become a bit cheaper only around EUR 1000 ex Vat vor a RMS license and they have Renderman on Demand( rendering in the cloud) which could be a viable option for freelancers and a nice buffer when it comes to crunch time in the large facilities( scalability).
I for one am a great fan of Renderman

I understand the pipeline stuff as well, but nowadays with new technologies and ever increasing internetspeeds ( at least in the netherlands)they can sure come up with a system where people can submit their work and it get's back upped or incorporated in the pipeline.
I knew a guy @Dreamworks who told me that they were moving to a system ( or have already done so) where the data is stored on a remote facility and the workstations basically only have a monitor and a keyboard and a wacom/mouse etc.

@Honest:
Yeah I hear that a lot, but these facilities are mostly dependances of the original company and I heard ( again from the guy I knew @ Dreamworks)that these facilities where called internally ( on featurefilms) the sequel departments because the people at the western facilities got sick and tired ( and left the company) of animating and texturing the same characters over and over again so in order to keep them ( in the company) and happy they do/did this.

The Non Disclosure thingies are mostly a trust thing, everytime I visit Guerrilla I have to sign one of those NDA agreements...at the end of the day it's but a piece of paper and I believe that if someone is serious in doing his job ( and keeping it i might add) he won't breach security if someone has that urge I doubt that being physical present will change his or her urge.

I don't know how it is in the UK but here in the Netherlands we have a lot of freelancers who work for the same circle of companies so I doubt secrecy is the biggest issue ( especially since most leaks come from physically present people who are to enthousiastic on twitter or facebook).

Dailies can go through a webex meeting and once every two weeks you fly over ( if needs be) and discuss things.

I think it would save on costs tbh you don't have to pay for computers, licenses can go over VPN, no travel expenses, reallocationcosts.
I am not saying it is the next thing I just think it can be a great addition, I also thing this is something that would or can work better on midlevel companies ( SMB level) who can't afford to reallocate people and are more fluctuating in the amount of work they have.

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My website;
https://www.eyellem.com

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/martin-van-stein/42/a81/b82

Yoda post;
https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...highlight=yoda

Indiana Jones Post;
https://srv01.simply3dworld.com/showt...threadid=29188

In my experience (forget the fact that I have a job completely different but abstractly the same as you guys) Gubar made great points.

if you're working with someone it's easier to pop over to their desk and help them out. it's also easier to ease drop (over hear rather) or be told random things in person.
I work in a different city to everyone in my current place, but go to the other city every so often. While i'm there I can over hear potentially irrelevant conversations but add some insight if they are talking about a problem i've already solved.
Also if someone is looking at something interesting on their screen then you can know about it.
I also find it easier to help someone solve their issue if i can see their screen. Rather than do it for them and then explain after the fact what happened and potentially have them not understand what I said because it's irrelevant to them now that they don't have to deal with it.

Also, if you work on site then you don't mix home and work up and think you're always at work while at home or vice versa. Although it is nice to not have to waste time travelling.

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that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

Hi Chirone,
Yes there are plusses and drawbacks to each way, that's why one shouldn't replace another.

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My website;
https://www.eyellem.com

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/martin-van-stein/42/a81/b82

Yoda post;
https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...highlight=yoda

Indiana Jones Post;
https://srv01.simply3dworld.com/showt...threadid=29188

There are pluses to being there all the time, by not being there, well, you simply are just going to miss out everytime.

I find as well being in that environment too will in hindsight raise your game -period. You will become a better artist and your working practices will be more professional, and far far more disciplined

Jay