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Autodesk® 3ds Max®
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Autodesk® Maya®
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Autodesk® MotionBuilder®
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Autodesk® Smoke on Mac®
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Carlos Dominguez
Position:
Technical Artist
Company:
High Moon Studios
My name is Carlos Dominguez and I am a Technical Artist at High Moon Studios. I worked on different areas of The Bourne Conspiracy game, and I am currently involved with all disciplines in the pipeline developing an unannounced project. I come from an engineering background, where I worked for over 5 years in software and hardware development in projects for Oracle, Boeing and Qualcomm. After watching a Motion Capture session with Jackie Chang and Jet Li I was inspired to switch careers and start looking into video game development. Half way through my studies at the Art Institute I was hired as an Associate Technical Artist at High Moon Studios and the rest was the beginning.
At High Moon Studios, we act as in-house experts in digital content creation programs and mentor artists in core technologies used in our workflow pipelines. This means sometimes we have to build tools to hide scary stuff from the occasional artist that doesn't feel comfortable with complex process like MultiRes bakes, Source Control, Build syncs, Export/Import, and more. We batch process as much as we can, automating repetitive tasks and making our development more efficient.
As part of this process, we create tools to extend functionality already built into programs like Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Photoshop and Unreal. Wet get involved in any scripts or plugins for the tools used by our content creators. This means that our Tech Artists need to know one or more languages like MEL, MAXScript, Python, Perl, Lua, HSLS, CG, JavaScript, C++, C#, ActionScript, Unreal Script, Visual Basic, etc. We prototype new game mechanics or systems and make recommendations on best practices and implementations. As our Technical Art Director would say: "We design, create, and maintain the art creation pipeline."
As our name states, we are the liaison between artists and programmers. We take over the more technical pieces of the art content creation that blends with the programming side. We skin weights for characters and models; build rigs and animations to game engine pipelines. We create shaders and materials that are both artist and performance friendly. We participate, document and train artists in the dark mysteries of game development.
Interview with Carlos Dominguez
Technical Artist duties:
Stuff that we tend to do at High Moon:- Tools to extend 3ds Max, MotionBuilder and Maya. We get involved in any scripts or plugins that involve core artist's tools. Tech artists might know one or more of the following MEL, MAXScript, Python, Perl, Lua, C++, Visual Basic etc.
- Mentor artists in other core technologies (i.e. MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Unreal, ZBrush, Clay Tools, FaceFX, Photoshop, etc.)
- Skin Weighting for character models.
- Shader and Material Creation
- Character animation Rigging
- Animation to game engine pipeline
- Batch Processing of stuff (usually art assets) (This could be DOS, text, python or C++)
- Hiding scary stuff from the occasional artist that doesn't feel comfortable with complex process (i.e. in perforce, Moon Base, and CC tray would be a few examples)
- Prototyping new pipeline tech and handing off the process to regular artists for the in-production implementation.
- Assist and support art pipelines.
- Documentation and Training of artist in the dark mysteries of game art development.
Technical Artist Description:
Individual contributor who supports development of scripts and pipelines to increase efficiency in the studio.
- Supports aspects of short-term objectives of assigned projects.
- Assist in designing tool/process solutions and pipelines for artists and designers.
- Works with mentor/lead to seek out inefficiencies and problems in existing pipelines and identify potential problems.
- Supports improvement/enhancement of processes throughout the project cycle.
- Works with programmers and designers in researching and developing new game features.
- Checks art content against technical guidelines prior to integration in the game.
- Identify and evaluate Middleware solutions for studio.
- May guide/mentor assistant, associate artists and interns.
Requirements:
- 1-3 years game industry experience.
- Experience in developing games for console systems.
- Shipped title.
- Proven record of successful contributions to software titles.
- Strong artistic skills and working knowledge of 3D art production.
- Proficiency with MAXScript or MEL.
- Solid artistic background.
- Ability to recognize aesthetics of good art.
- Understanding of Middleware pipelines (modeling, animation and physics).
Competencies:
- Communicates and collaborates effectively with the development team.
- Strong problem solving and trouble-shooting skills.
- Strong interpersonal skills.
- Continuous learner.
- Ability to adapt to change.
| Tutorial | ||||
| Title | Software | |||
| The basics of Autodesk® 3ds Max® Software Scripting | Autodesk 3ds Max | 
| Download PDF | |
