NEXT-GEN Nescot Year 3 HND - Personal development plan for Monster poster

NEXT-GEN Nescot Year 3 HND - Roles of the Media industry

Eventually, I would like to get a job in the Video-game industry due to my well rounded skills while also having a fallback industry of VFX because they share many of the same skills and softwares. However, the specific role I want to get is much less concrete. This is because I have multiple different roles I would like to enter with the skills I have for each of the different roles.

As of now the Roles in the VFX  and Video-game industry include:

·       Modelers / 3D Artists – this role creates 3D models such as environments, animals and characters. The modeler/ 3D Artist role mostly works with the Texture artist, animator, compositor, Layout 'Technical Director' (TD) and motion graphics artist.

·       VFX Artist – this role is responsible for creating CGI effects such as water particles, explosions, destruction of objects.

·       Programmers – creates code for a video-game production, making the physics, movement and other functions within the game.

·      Texture Artists – creates textures for models and adds them to the scene, often these must be photo realistic. Texture Artists also must be able to UV map models and characters for the textures to work.

·       Animators – uses the rigged character models to create their animations, often makes a previsualisation, so they can accurately create the full animation using correct camera angles.

·       Compositors – have multiple processes in their role. They add composites of objects and people to a scene and they put multiple layers of scenes on top of each other, including animated ones, into one scene. Therefore, compositors are tasked with creating the final image of a frame, sequence or shot; this is often done through taking digital elements and adding them to a scene such as animations or backgrounds, while adding special effects (SFX) to make a believable image/video.

·       Motion Graphics Artists – uses visual design or video to communicate concepts or some form of story. This role normally has people who have higher digital skills and are proficient with interactive media software including 3D animation and graphical design e.g. 2D animation and drawing. They also create posters, trailers, commercials and title sequences etc. etc. alongside other roles like the animators and concept artists for marketing purposes.

·       Matte Painters – one of the first VFX techniques used regularly in movie making. Originally the technique was used in photography, however, it evolved from painted glass panels shown over a camera lens into being 2D plains/panels of entire 3D digital environments. A matte painting is often a plane or panel used to show a large landscape or set piece that can be a render of a 3D model/area.

·       Rigging TDs – creates Riggs for 3D modeled animals and characters. This is so that they can be re-positioned, animated and moved using the character’s skeleton.

·       Lighting TDs – creates lighting for the environments and scenes. Often goes to places and areas to examine the lighting in the area and any added lighting that is used.

·       Roto Artists – often works with the compositor, rotoscopes objects and characters from different scenes so that they can fit into a scene without having their backgrounds show. This is normally done with a green screen background, however, it can also be done with a blue screen.

·       Pipeline TDs – works with creating a pipeline of events and tasks for the different roles and processes. This role also ensures a smooth rendition of workflows and sometimes provides technical support to other roles in the industry.

·       CG Supervisors – are involved in the production of the computer-generated imagery in either animation or VFX . They are practically always interlinked with the modelling role, animation role, rigging role and texturing role. Most CG supervisors have specialized skills in certain areas, for example; management, art or even programming.

·       VFX Producers – manages all aspects of the project and is sometimes regarded as the “heart of a production”. This role typically involves planning and scheduling resources, monitoring work during the production processes and managing the VFX teams.

·       MatchMovers – integrates CGI/VFX into live action footage and normally is linked with the Roto TD and compositor roles. MatchMoving is often referred to as motion tracking and is mostly used in the film industry using tracking suits and green screens.

·       Concept Artists – creates the initial ideas and images of characters, environments, animals and in film and animation, scenes including camera angels and story direction.

·       Layout TDs – determines the layout and position of the camera/ virtual camera and determines the positions of the characters. This role mostly works with the concept artist and modeler. However, Layout TDs normally have a large assortment of skills alongside their role leading to them often working as other roles.

Out of these roles, I believe that I would most like to become modeler, using other roles that I am interested in as fallback lines.

I want to be a modeler because I enjoy using sculpting and modelling softwares and because I was inspired by Video-games and their environments, giving me ideas and ambition to create models. I was also inspired by 'YouTubers' such as 'Quixel' and 'CG Geek' who can create fully 3D realistic environments within the space of 1 hour.

I plan to become a modeler by improving my skills in making textures/UV maps alongside making higher detailed models with lower poly counts.

What I've done so far to complete this goal can be found at: https://tobymroberts.blogspot.com/2020/01/next-gen-nescot-year-3-hnd-personal-and_27.html

Ultimately, once I have finished my higher education, I intend to show myself as an attractive candidate using my existing portfolio and educational background as I am committed and have a deep seeded interest in the subject.

NEXT-GEN Nescot Year 3 HND - Personal and Professional Developments to support growth to a Career of interest

I believe the improvements I made to the 'Making of a Monster' poster have personally improved my skills to a more professional degree.

This is because the use of higher grade texture and mapping is widely used in the industry and is incredibly important to develop. The VFX and Video-game industries require these high quality effects to sustain its audiences.

This leads to employment being highly competitive and I would need more developments in my work for when I enter it.

Because of this, I've been improving my skills at both home and college by using tutorials to learn new softwares that specialize in different areas of video-game development and VFX. This is so that I could eventually get a job in the Video-game industry, due to my well rounded skills while also having a fallback industry of VFX because they share many of the same skills and softwares.

Examples of what I have done to improve my skills on a personal and professonal level include:

• Experimenting with code in 'Unity' to create a rag-doll-based movement script and using tutorials in movement code from 'YouTube' and 'Unity's' official website as a starting point before experimenting and branching out from there, leading to my code being nearly completely from scratch.

• Starting to use 'Blender', which is a free modeling and VFX software that is known for its realistic fluid and rag-doll simulation abilities, with the ability to auto-generate destruction of models such as doors and fully render realistic water with foam and impacts to surrounding objects. I did this by using the automatic tools available for breaking models and creating water and also using tutorials to create small models, more detailed water effects and more effective breaking effects such as the model turning to sand. These tutorials have mainly been from 'YouTube' because the official website doesn't have many tutorials to go by other than the bare basics.

• Using 'Unreal Engine' to experiment with level layout, by using models and pre-existing textures to create maps, buildings and to experiment with player interaction with levels. As well as adding animations to characters/models. I did this by looking through many different tutorials on both 'YouTube' and their official website, trying my hand at making a few textures and models in the process as well.

• Honing my skills in 'Maya' by creating many different models, textures and experimenting with the X-Gen editor by trying to create accurate hair or hair effected by wind and gravity. Meanwhile I experimented with  N-Cloth by using gravity and realistic movement of cloth. I did this by watching tutorials on 'YouTube' for X-Gen hair and N-Cloth physics, as well as modeling tutorials for more sophisticated tasks. Unfortunately, the Autodesk website doesn't give detailed enough tutorials so I had most of my help from there in text form.

The models I made in 'Maya' would often differ however. I often centered around Norse or Viking themes. For example: I created a Viking helm, boat, sword and sheild alongside an assortment of plates, bowls and cups.

• Using 'Sculptris' to create/sculpt models such as a large sculpted T-Rex. This was by mostly learning it in class, however, I watched a few tutorials on 'YouTube' to master the software to its full potential. Unfortunately, I never looked through their website for tutorials but I believe I know the softwares full capibilities.

• Using 'Mudbox' to sculpt models from existing meshes and to create normal and bump maps. This was done by looking at both the official website for information as well as some 'YouTube' videos too. Despite this, I still have some difficulty with the software, but with the use of tutorials I find it much easier to use.