Art Outsourcing: Is It Worth It?

What the talk is about

Olena Krasavina examines whether art outsourcing is worth it, testing common stereotypes against survey statistics from an industry conference. She argues that the main reason companies outsource is to expand the team, not to cut costs. She notes that India and China no longer mean only simple work, and that Ukraine entered the top five countries by outsourcing volume for the first time. In her view, boring routine and constant crunch are not a given: overtime is minimal, voluntary and paid. The downsides she lists are language barriers, incomplete documentation, time differences, hard planning and being unable to show projects publicly. Overall the market and demand for 3D art keep growing, so the outlook is good. Useful for artists choosing between a product studio and an outsourcing studio.