500 Years ago, craftsmen rarely worked for a “company”. They were contracted for a period time and then moved on to the next contract. To remain competitive in such an atmosphere, many formed “guilds” or organizations designed to provide networking, ongoing training, standards, certification, and even some social services among their members. Kings did not post jobs in the “classifieds” to find craftsmen, they contacted guilds who did not compel the employers to hire their members but simply were the only ones who could produce the work.

As the industrial age emerged, many of these guilds faded as machines replaced much of their work. For 100 years, workers “contracted” for much longer periods of time (we called this employment), often their entire career, to one employer who took care of things like development, health care, etc.

Today, the current job market, especially in the film and TV arenas, has returned to “contract” labor and we are much more akin to “craftsmen” than to employees. Many of us work as subcontractors...we work on a brochure, a website, a game, a film, or a TV show for 6 months and then move on. Our ability to continue this cycle depends on our ability to network with others in our field and continually learn in a rapidly evolving industry that seems to transform itself every 6 months. Skills valuable today may be worthless next year.

How do you keep up?

The Pixel Corps is a guild for the next generation of craftsmen... digital craftsmen. We are dedicated to delivering much of what was provided to traditional guild members hundreds of years ago, all of which is needed now.

Currently, we are building the foundation of the guild. To do this, we provide:

Training - We provide you with over 90 hours of video training when you start, plus weekly updates on everything from Photoshop basics to Motion Capture, HDRi, and Photogrammetry. In addition to “passive” video training, we challenge our members each week to produce work together. These challenges allow our members to learn from each other and learn concepts in hours that would take them weeks to learn on their own. This peer-to-peer training allows our membership to improve at a far faster rate than traditional training.

Community - One of the most powerful aspects of our membership is our community. We have experts from every area of the industry trading notes with each other and beginners alike. Beyond learning, this community builds a tight network of individuals who have already begun to trade work among themselves.

Production Training - In 2006, we will form 27 teams of over 300 members to produce short films, music videos, commercials, and more. These projects do not produce revenue, but they do generate production experience, demo reel footage, and a bond between the members. It also serves as a lab for us to build the infrastructure and standardization that our members need to pass real work amongst themselves.

In the future, we intend to expand our services...

Certification and Standardization - We are slowly building a system that standardizes how our members name their files, organize projects, and approach their work. This provides a “common ground” allowing them to seamlessly trade work with each other. We intend to make this certification the most stringent in the industry providing both members and possible employers with a clear guide to a given member’s expertise. If we are successful, over time, this may be the only certification anyone looks for.

Combined Resources - As our membership grows in specific geographic areas, we will build “brick and mortar” locations to support these “clusters” with hardware and infrastructure unavailable to most individuals. Few of us need a motion capture system, bluescreen cyc, or a render farm every day - But having access to them when we need them would allow our members to compete in areas currently out of their reach. Combined with a large network of artists, this becomes a very compelling market force.

As we grow, we will use our size to leverage advantages for our members...

Software companies have already begun to offer our members extended demo licenses to truly learn and compare the tools. Each member gets access to over $20,000 worth of software from 3 to 12 months (varies by application) – combined with training from our staff. Currently, we are “taste-testing” a wide range of solutions. Over time, we will begin to standardize on specific applications. With a large enough membership, this could directly affect the industry.

Production companies have already begun to use the Pixel Corps as a resource for staffing. As we grow and if we are successful in our training and networking, we could become the most direct route to work. Our growing membership alone offers a building network of freelancers able to trade work among themselves.

Bringing the Pixel Corps to Everyone...

The Pixel Corps is not about simply collecting current computer artists... It’s about providing access to anyone interested in the field...Enthusiasts with little interest in a fulltime career, graphic artists migrating to greener pastures, visual effects artists keeping up with an ever-changing field, educators staying current with industry trends, Students augmenting their schooling, and those who can’t afford traditional schooling but still have the will and drive to enter the industry.

We are committed to collecting these individuals, training them to be the best in the world, organizing them to work more efficiently than any other group in the world, providing them with the benefits of collected effort and, together, taking over the industry... and while many will struggle in a changing economy and quickly shifting market, our members will drive the change rather than wait for it to come to them.

The easiest way to predict the future is to create it. We are creating the future of this industry. 

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