1. Us vs. them Education vs. Industry By Adam Rudd

2. Executive Summary Education vs. Industry Processes & skills within the industry How to prepare students today This is a Discussion, not a lecture

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

4. Overview Art Pipelines –2 Example Projects Software –Maya, zBrush, focussed development Skills –Skills to develop in this climate –Developing a marketable graduate

5. 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

6. Pipelines What is a pipeline? Series of processes to get a feature from paper to game Eg. streetlamp

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. Pipeline Example Project 02 Terrain Trees

12. Software Overview Modeling Packages Sculpting Packages 2D packages Encouraging mastery

13. Software Modeling Packages Autodesk Maya –Industry Standard –Melscripting Autodesk 3d Studio Max –Strong Polygon Modeling interface Luxology Modo –Strong Polygon Modeling interface –Pricepoint

14. Software Sculpting Packages Pixologic zBrush –Industry Standard –scripting Autodesk Mudbox –Obvious pricepoint advantage with bundles

15. Software 2D Packages Adobe Photoshop –Industry Standard Corel Painter –Traditional 2D focus GIMP –Free (limited) toolset

16. Software Encouraging 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

17. Community Online Forums –GameArtisans, Polycount Integrating curriculum into becoming active members of communities –Personal investment with structure Criterion for community activity & achievements

18. Skills Overview The current situation Important skills for a graduate to have Not so..important skills Creating a marketable graduate

19. Skills The 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

20. Skills Important 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

21. Skills Not 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

22. Skills Creating a Marketable Graduate Communication! –Linkedin –forums –industry contacts Portfolio –Demo reel optional for those who aren’t animating Understanding hiring criteria

23. Skills Hiring Criteria - NaughtyDog Technical Skills Communication Teamwork Experience

24. Questions! This presentation is available on my blog http://www.AdamRudd.net Adam@adamrudd.net

25. Thankyou