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interview withTom Hamilton (BFA, 2000), gaming artist
Interview posted with permission - 2/12/03
1. What was your training (education)?
I received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Southwest Missouri State University.
2. How did you receive your first job?
My first job in the games
industry was for a company called Page44 Studios. They are located in San Francisco.
My first project/position was as a 3d artist making the EA sports BIG title,
Freekstyle. A friend of mine that graduated college with me got a position at
Page44 as a lighter, and he referred me. It was his first game as well.
3. What is an example of an entry-level position?
Entry-level positions depend on the company, and the area of expertise. When you start working for a smaller company, like a private developer, the ability to move up the ladder quickly is much easier. the downside is that it is very difficult for these companies to stay in business. Often times smaller private developers will hire people straight out of college, simply because they cannot afford to pay the high dollar for experienced candidates. This makes small houses an ideal starting point for newbies.....but be prepared for layoffs and failing companies. in my 3 years in the industry i've been with 3 different companies, of which 2 were forced to layoff the entire staff at one point or another.
4. What made you decide to become a animator or modeler?
i liked art, i felt i had talent, and i was technically good with computers. it made sense for me.
5. What are pros and cons of your position?
hmmm....there are lots. for me personally, most of my work is as a 3d artist/environmental artist. so most of what i do all day is model in maya (and sometimes max), paint textures in photoshop, do lighting passes (either using vertex lighting, dynamics, or lightmaps depending on company technology and platform(xbox,ps2,gcube)), and from time to time draw up concept sketches. The pros are: i get to play and work on games. i get to draw, model, light, and sometimes write mel script all day. the cons: LONG hours...usually at least 10 hours a day, tons of pressure to come up with innovative and creative ideas everyday, and sitting at a desk all day. another con of the games industry is how fragile it can be. one of the best pieces of advice i ever got was,"have your portfolio ready to submit every single day". This is true, because in this industry any day could very well be your last.
6. What education or training, or knowledge is required for this position?
Art, art, art! Fundamental skills are essential. A friend from PDI once told me, "you can teach a monkey to push buttons, it takes talent to be an artist". this is true, any company will hire a candidate with strong art skills over a candidate who just knows a lot of software. you can always teach the artist how to use your technology...but it's difficult to teach a "computer jock" style. often times, in-addition/instead of an art degree, some companies consider architecture degrees for thier EA's(environmental artist) equivalent.
7, How much time do you spend working on a project?
Standard project cycles usually range from about 12-14month. larger projects by larger develops can take from 18-24, but that is only for your large scale projects like a Vice City.
8. What advice would you give to a person considering this position?
Never stop drawing. It is your foundation. Keep that skill sharp and you will have a solid edge on competition. also, be ready for lots and lots of rejections, and to change jobs quite a bit for your first 5 years. be willing to move where you have to, and when you find a good place with good people, hold onto it...it's golden. this might help someones confidence as well...the first time i sent out demo reels I put 50 in the mail...I got only 3 responses...all rejections. the last time i started job searching, I recieved 3-4 job offers in 2 weeks....but i also received 3 rejections on one day. it happens to everyone..keep you chin up, and keep trying.
9. What do employers look for in a demo or portfolio for this position?
For a modeler/EA they look for drawing skills, painting skills, texturing ability, modeling ability, etc. they want to see "clean" geometry, no messy stuff. everything should tie together perfectly, no spiderwebbing edges or 5 sided polys. UV mapping should be dead on, no seams. lighting should show an eye for color, and color relationships...it should establish foreground/midground/background through the use of warm/cool color combinations. (e.g. warm oranges against cool blues to push depth). Webpage portfolio's are becoming much more popular than a demo reel..for EA's, not for animators. Put up shots of good wireframe models, good environment lighting, solid traditional/concept drawings, and tileable texture maps. i recommend a they be at least 256x256 or 512x512. Here is a quote from my first producer, and some of the most sound advice I ever got, "it's hard to sell art, it's easy to sell pepsi". Let me explain. What he was trying to emphasize was that art is something very subjective, usually very specific to a certain audience…whereas pepsi can be sold to the masses. Pepsi's design scheme is mass market, and it sells. So when you make art for a worldwide project or for your next art director…make pepsi.
10. What is your work environment like?
for the most part...fun. people in this industry are cool. they are all gamers. they enjoy the cool movies and the cool games. some places are more professional than other. the less professional environment is definitely more fun.....BUT, you will do yourself a big favor if you develop a solid professional demeanor inside of work.
11. What is your average day or schedule like?
busy....really busy.
12. What kind of software do you use for this position?
maya, photoshop, proprietary game engine and often times a proprietary level editor much like unrealEd. i have also used max and deep paint, but maya is my preference. when i was in college i used lightwave, but there is very little of that in games. lightwave is great for television and architectural renderings.
13. if you were still
in college, what class or classes would have taken?
when i was in high school, i took 2 classes in turbo pascal and C++. i went
all through college without ever using it...but once i got into the game industry
it was hands down one of the greatest "extra" skills i could have
possessed. i use that knowledge to script in MEL everyday. having an artist
who can script C code will definitely put you at the top of the list.
14. How important is traditional and skills in your position?
it is THE most important skill you can possess. everything else comes second. i have a friend who works at Shaba who was hired simply based on his drawing portfolio. they saw his work and hired him immediately with little or no knowledge of his computer skills. Think of it this way, when you are 40 and simply cannot compete with the technical training college kids applying for your job have, you will be glad you kept up on your art skills, because that takes years and years to develop.
15. What are the trends in the field in terms of you position?
not sure on this one...depends on who you ask...
16. What type of companies do you deal with the most?
mostly i have dealt with private developers. in larger operations you will definitely be "castrated" of your artistic opinion. the most difficult/frustrating thing i have encountered ( and it happens everywhere), is that as an artist you work to create styling beautiful images based on your knowledge of art, your training, your talent, etc...but what happens is in many cases you get executive producers from large publishers with little or no art training making aesthetic decisions. so ironically, if you want to make the big art decision on what looks good.....get a business degree.
17. What advice would you give to a person considering this position?
polish your traditional skills, and don't give up.
18. Have any good reference books or magazines you can recommend?
game developer magazine, www.gamasutra.com, www.highend3d.com, www.flay.com, www.3dcafe.com.
19. What would recommend for conferences or special interest groups?
E3 and game developers conference
20. What kind of self-promotion works best for this position?
bribery and pity ;)...just kidding...make yourself up a great looking/designed webpage with samples of your work, resume, and contact info. then get a couple great looking renders put together and try and get them on galleries at the above mentioned sites. if your stuff is good, the right people might just visit your site for more. also, once you get that webpage set up, start contacting employers and directing them there...attach 1-2 at the most pics (make sure they are web friendly and small on memory) and cross your fingers.
21. Who or what was the greatest influence on your work?
God.
22. To what degree do you work with and interact with the other departments be they programming, marketing, and other department within your job?
Tons. all your art has to go into the game engine or level editor...so when things break, you have to work with these people to make things right. they will also ask for feature requests for the engine. having a good knowledge of how engine's work will help you help them.
23. What is the best way to find clientele this area?
internet...see sites above.
23. What professional guilds or organization do you belong to, if any?
no organization....i have met lots of people in the industry...when i have a problem, i know who to call for what.
24. How much background research is usually required per project?
there is usually 3 months of concept before a project is started.
25. On storyboards and designs, is any medium acceptable or are there any preferred?
artist choice a lot...but in the end they usually like a nice image painted in photoshop with a wacom...it's clean and easy to pass around.
26. On storyboards, how detailed or rough is each panel expected to be get point across?
i've seen some rough stuff. depends on your art director...as long as you get the point across, a lot of times it just doesn't matter.
hope this helped. best of luck with your paper and endeavors.
take care,
Thomas Hamilton
EA
The Collective