It’s European Cup time and while most of us will be watching the tournament live on the telly, there’ll be plenty of gamers trying to live out their dreams of Euro glory as managers or players using just the power of their thumbs.
But how would you like to go one step further and become one of the architects of the very games that you love playing?
The UK computer games industry is the fastest growing segment of our creative sector, and is also the sector’s biggest exporter, making it a vibrant and promising area for young creatives.
If you are one of those rare (but increasingly sought after) talents that is as comfortable tapping away at a keyboard as you are hunched over a sketch pad, then this could be the ideal industry for you.
As digital technologies continue to transform the way we produce and consume media, the creative and digital media industries are increasingly seeking people who can combine a creative flair with technical know-how to produce the sophisticated media products that surround us today.
A technical artist acts as a bridge between the artists and programmers working on a game. The role is a relatively new one for the games industry, but is becoming increasingly important as consoles and PC hardware becomes more complex.
Technical artists ensure art assets can be easily integrated into a game without sacrificing either the overall artistic vision or exceeding the technical limits of the chosen platform.
Despite their technical knowledge, technical artists work as part of the art team, and coordinate closely with the lead artists and the art director, as well as the lead programmers.
The main areas of responsibility for technical artists include setting up and maintaining the art production workflow as well as making decisions about which art packages and tools a studio should use.
Technical artists are also charged with investigating new techniques and implementing them. The job often includes a teaching element, with the technical artist sharing their knowledge via training and mentoring sessions with other artists.
As a specialised position, pay rates are higher than normal artists. The job can involve long hours however as well as being stressful, especially when dealing with problems during the final stages of production.
The technical artist typically works one step removed from the direct creation of game art assets. Instead they act in more of an advisory position, setting up the systems of production as well as dealing with problems as they arise.
One large part of the job involves keeping up-to-date with changes in technology, both in terms of console hardware, art packages and new techniques. The technical artist is expected to be able to create custom tools to improve the efficiency of their team. This is usually carried out using the scripting languages included in the main modelling and animation packages.
Technical artists will also have an overseeing role when it comes to providing feedback or debugging complex assets such as character skeleton rigs and skinning systems.
Most technical artists will have at least a degree in a relevant visual art or technical subject, but experience working on wide range of projects, both in terms of art tools and game hardware, is the most important prerequisite for the role.
For much more information about how to become a technical artist, or a huge range of other roles in the Creative Industries, please visit www.creativeskillset.org/careers.
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