Computer Graphics World

DECEMBER 2010

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/22917

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 35 of 43

Education which, for me, was invaluable because I came in with silly ideas. I wanted to wor k in 3D, and that doesn’t really exist as an industry. It’s either [visual effects in] films or games; that’s what you should be aiming for.” And H olmes aimed for commer cials. The Mill’s Robert Holmes (shown at left) was a VFX lead on these spots (above) for Nike and Playstation 3’s Kill Zone. At Escape Studios, he sharpened his skills and learned theory as well as how to apply it correctly in his work. they leave school. “Tey say, ‘I’m done with school. I don ’t need to learn anything; ev erything needs to be given to me because I’ve gone through school. Tat’s my dues.’ But school is not the dues you pay to work in the in- which specializes in game cinematics, Yacalis’s transition from intern to pro was made simple in that his role as intern ended when the proj- ect he was working on (TRON: Evolution) was delivered. “When I started officially full time, I started on a new project (Red Faction: Arma- geddon), and that helped buffer the transition,” he says. Te new job did come with some ne w re- sponsibilities. “Tey have laid mor e upon me as far as the pipeline [is concerned], and essentially helping to lay out the foundation of the systems w e are using to complete the projects,” Yacalis explains. “Instead of just cre- ating assets or shading the lighting or creating shaders and materials and doing lighting, I am actually creating the process, which flows through the pipeline.” Yacalis, like many other recent hires, was al- ready very knowledgeable of the software used at major studios. “Te only thing I had to learn in-house was the pipeline, the in-house tools, such as whatever various scripts or pro- cesses they were using,” he notes. What tips would Yacalis offer others? “Love what you do and wor k hard. It’s really an in- dustry where the har der you work, the mor e you’ll get out of it,” he adds. “You need to be social. You need to be able to network and talk to people. You can’t be a loner. You need to be able to coordinate with your peers and be wil- ing to learn and take criticism.” Te new hire says some people who can ’t take criticism ar en’t as willing to learn once 34 December 2010 dustry,” says a wise Yacalis. “School is prepping you to be able to handle the dues.” The Mill’s Robert Holmes Robert Holmes, a 3D ar tist at London’s Te Mill (www .the-mill.com), is no stranger to dealing with clients and deliv ering projects— he was a graphic designer r unning his o wn small company for eight y ears. Clients w ere asking for more and more projects incorporat- ing 3D motion graphics, and he “ fell in love” with the process. When he did officially make the jump, Holmes found himself at Escape Studios, pre- paring to work as a 3D artist. One of the first things he was taught was that he didn ’t need to know every aspect of every tool. “You open up a package of Maya or Shake, and you think you hav e to kno w every single button, and you think you are going to walk into a com - pany and start modeling and doing big things straight away, but they said, ‘No, no, no. You learn this part of this package; it’s the most im- portant bit you need to know,’ and that really helped take the pressure off.” Another thing Escape taught H olmes was the theory of everything and then the practi - cal application of that theor y, and after ward, the application of the practical within a wor k environment. “Tey told us, ‘You can do all the squash-and-stretch cartoon characters and all the gargoyles you want, but if y ou want a job [you have to listen to the client], ’ ” he re- calls. “Tey geared the learning to ward that, “Tere wasn’t anything about the pr ocess I didn’t like,” he says. “S tarting in M aya with a concept, making that concept into 3D, go - ing through the process of texturing, writing, and rendering it, going to Shake, compositing it, and then finishing up; I wanted to do all those things. We had some guys who came in and play ed Warcraft for eight hours a day and then came to Escape for eight hours a day and modeled those characters. It was obvi- ous that is what they wanted to do.” Another thing Escape emphasiz ed was al - ways pr oducing something that has a r efer- ence. Te [instructors] would tell him, “Don’t just model a seat or a car randomly—cr eate something that is real because that is what hap- pens in the commercial world. If they want a brand-new L’Oreal bottle, you make that.” As part of the course, Holmes had to design his own character, and then he had to r ealize that character in 3D. “Tat trains you to de - liver what you are asked to deliver, and not your opinions or your view of what you are asked to deliver,” he explains. “Being a lead now, I see a lot of guys who didn ’t go to a finishing school and came straight fr om univ ersity. Tey say, ‘Oh, I thought this would be a good way to do this.’ ‘No, this is what we need.’ From a produc- tion side, that is what Escape really gives you.” Critiquing work was part of the curriculum at Escape. “A critique is never like, ‘Tat’s bad.’ It’s always constructive, and even in a commer- cials environment [like here at Te Mill], it’s always constructive because your lead is trying to make you better,” Holmes says. “If you have someone who is critiquing your work, literally, just criticizing, that’s not good for anyone.” Holmes offers this advice to students turn- ing pro: “Understand what y ou want to do and deliver what is asked. Your opinion will be asked at some point, but if it ’s not, don ’t offer it. If you are asked to do a shampoo bot- tle or r ealistically light a scene, do that, and do it well. Offer your opinion once someone is looking at your work and nodding. Tat is one of the best times to offer it because by that point, you’ve earned their trust and they know you can do it, and anything you can do on top gets received better.” n Randi Altman is the chief editor for Post magazine, CGW’s sister publication. She can be reached at raltman@post- magazine.com.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Computer Graphics World - DECEMBER 2010