Description
The areas of responsibility for Technical Artists include setting
up and maintaining the art production workflow and making decisions about which
art packages and tools a studio should use. Technical Artists will be
responsible for investigating new techniques and implementing them within the
team. The job often includes an instructional element, with the Technical
Artist sharing their knowledge with other artists via training and mentoring
sessions.
The Technical Artist typically works one step removed from
the direct creation of game art assets, setting up the systems of production as
well as solving problems as they arise. It is crucial for the Technical Artist
to keep up-to-date with changes in technology, both regarding 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. These tools are
usually carried out using the scripting languages included in the modeling and
animation packages.
Technical Artists will play a key role in providing feedback
or debugging complex assets. They will also research and oversee the
implementation of rendering techniques such as BPR maps, particle systems, and
pixel shaders, etc.
Responsibilities
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Maintain and improve technologies and art
workflows.
•
Identify art workflow problems, and work with
Technical Producers, SME’s, CG Sups and TA’s to solve them.
•
Establish and enforce naming conventions within
assets, tools, and workflows
•
Integrate new technologies (internal and
external) into art workflows.
•
Interact with other artists/TA's on a daily
basis to identify challenges and provide solutions.
•
Accountable for asset delivery on time and
meeting budget (memory and performance).
•
Accountable for continuous asset build
stability.
Required Skills
•
At least 1 -3 years games/animation/FX production
experience.
•
Intermediate knowledge of CG fundamentals:
modeling, texturing/shading/surfacing, rigging, animation, lighting, rendering,
compositing.
•
Understanding of various gaming hardware
platform limitations regarding visual assets.
•
Advanced understanding of at least one 3D
package, preferably Maya or Houdini.
•
Intermediate scripting experience with Python
•
Proficiency with C# or C++ is preferred
•
Excellent aptitude for troubleshooting CG issues
•
Ability to think creatively to resolve technical
challenges and limitations.
•
Excellent communication skills, with a
willingness and confidence to provide a bridge between artists and software
engineers.
•
Experience with commercial or propriety games
editors e.g. Unreal, Unity etc.