Us vs. them Education vs. Industry

By Adam Rudd

Executive Summary

• Education vs. Industry

• Processes & skills within the industry

• How to prepare students today

• This is a Discussion, not a lecture

About Me

Adam Rudd• B. Interactive Ent.• Midlevel Artist• ~3 years industry• 7 titles• Mobile > Next Gen• Multiple Genres

Overview

• Art Pipelines– 2 Example Projects

• Software– Maya, zBrush, focussed development

• Skills– Skills to develop in this climate– Developing a marketable graduate

Pipelines The Importance

• Pipelines are core to a project

• Pipelines are constantly evolving

• Students with experience in pipelines will be more flexible within the industry

Pipelines What is a pipeline?

• Series of processes to get a feature from paper to game

• Eg. streetlamp

Pipelines In class

• Giving students pipeline responsibility – Less overhead/planning for Lecturers– Less risk of outdating subjects– More onus on individuals– Encouraged Team interaction

• The Obj/Dae– Open file format– Supported by multiple software packages

Pipeline Example Project 01

• Assets and Levels built within Maya– Locator based placement for instanced files– Eg.V_appletree

• Renderware exports for each file

• Very Centralised

• Very Volatile

Pipeline Example Project 02

• Assets: – Maya <500vert assets – Collada Shader setup– Melscript export system generates Database

entry, DAE composite file for the level editor, and builds chunk files for the game engine

– Assets are now ‘available’– OBJ files placed in level editor– Export form editor for placement information.

Pipeline Example Project 02

• Terrain: – Middleware Sculpting package– Tile based, utilizing DEM data Hightmaps for

basemesh. Additional Sculpting for landmarks– ~8 world textures to be masked in per tile– 12,000 pieces of imposter vegetation painted

on via middleware per tile– Building sets & landmarks imported via

custom asset set plugins as per design aesthetics

Pipeline Example Project 02

Terrain

Trees

SoftwareOverview

• Modeling Packages

• Sculpting Packages

• 2D packages

• Encouraging mastery

SoftwareModeling Packages

• Autodesk Maya– Industry Standard– Melscripting

• Autodesk 3d Studio Max– Strong Polygon Modeling interface

• Luxology Modo– Strong Polygon Modeling interface– Pricepoint

SoftwareSculpting Packages

• Pixologic zBrush– Industry Standard– scripting

• Autodesk Mudbox– Obvious pricepoint advantage with bundles

Software2D Packages

• Adobe Photoshop– Industry Standard

• Corel Painter– Traditional 2D focus

• GIMP– Free (limited) toolset

SoftwareEncouraging Mastery

• Most programs are interchangeable

• Community and friendly competition encourages software mastery

• Discipline mastery only – Animators should know how to animate– Prop artists should know prop workflow– Character artists should know character

workflow

Community

• Online Forums– GameArtisans, Polycount

• Integrating curriculum into becoming active members of communities– Personal investment with structure

• Criterion for community activity & achievements

SkillsOverview

• The current situation

• Important skills for a graduate to have

• Not so..important skills

• Creating a marketable graduate

SkillsThe current situation

• Difficulties entering the industry– Aversion to juniors– Salaries

• Globally occurring

• There are still jobs out there!

• On the plus side: the bar is being raised

SkillsImportant skills for a graduate to have

• Industry standard tool mastery

• Very high quality work in their chosen discipline– Environment– Characters– Animation– Web Design

• Communication skills

SkillsNot so important skills to have

• Jack of all trades artist

• The ability to do what they don’t want to do

• Obsolete Engine knowledge

• Video Editing skills

SkillsCreating a Marketable Graduate

• Communication!– Linkedin – forums – industry contacts

• Portfolio – Demo reel optional for those who aren’t

animating

Understanding hiring criteria

SkillsHiring Criteria - NaughtyDog

•Technical Skills•Communication•Teamwork•Experience

Questions!

• This presentation is available on my blog

• http://www.AdamRudd.net

• Adam@adamrudd.net

Thankyou