Hey there everyone. My first post so bound to be a noobish one. General seemed the right place to post this but if it’s not let me know and if it’s duplicate I can just get a link to that.
I’m not completely a tech artist at work but at least not by title. I’ve been in the industry for 2 1/2 years and am currently on my 5th title. I graduated with BS in game art focused on environment art but would also spill into animations and some character art before my 2nd job where I had diverted almost entirely into programming by both internal and external forces. Though my coding has been focused on gameplay, particles, animations and ui so I still get to use the parts of the right brain that I enjoy. A number of times I’ve gotten to step in when the artist and programmers seem to be at a stand still, minor pipeline stuff (setup artists to create isometric props that will jive with the engines isometric code.)
The question that drives me here is where to push my focus, I’ve known of the position of tech artist since school days, though I thought of it more as a coder that gets to play with particles and tech animation, building collapsing levels and such. Though when I read up on Tech Art job descriptions they seem more focused on just pipeline building, scripting, rigging but not much heavy coding. Is a tech artist really just focused on those areas? What are the options out there?
I really do enjoy coding and want to keep with that since I can code faster that I can paint, though as much as I’ll study it I don’t see myself going as low as engine building or bit-twiddling, still more focused on presentation. I’m pretty comfortable in knowing that this job will be there for a bit but I’d like to think long game, strive to be multi-faceted like a daywalker but not nerfed like a red-mage, so I didn’t come off as unfocused at a job interview. Any thoughts would be exceedingly helpful.
There’s not just one description. The title can cover a huge amount of ground, varying both by company and between individuals. Pipelines, rigging, and FX are the main sub-specialties but there are more esoteric ones as well: some people code shaders, some build procedural art, some are the content cleanup-crew who fix other people’s messes with a mix of art skill and personal automation.
On the most basic level what these all share is the ability to use programmer-type skills (scripting of course, but also logical analysis, math and optimization) to work on game content. There’s a lot of overlap in terms of skills and personalities with people who’s business cards read ‘tools programmer’ and or whose cards read ‘technical designer;’ the primary differentiators are (a) what software environment you’re most comfortable in and (b) what kind of content you like to make.
From your post it sounds like you could market yourself in a couple of different ways: as a UI artist, an FX artist, a technical designer, or a technical animator – or as a jack-of-all trades.
The specialty jobs are ‘easy’, in the sense that they will have relatively clear responsibilities but they’ll also be less wide-ranging than what you say you’re doing now. Beyond entry level, of course the competition will be a lot more intense and if you go with a clear sub-specialty for marketing purposes you’ll need to pick up enough specialist knowledge to be an attractive hire: for example, if you’re applying for a senior job as a rigger/character TD your skills in particle animation might be considered a plus – but not enough of a plus to compensate for lack of serious rigging chops.
On the other hand at a smaller company you may be able to successfully market yourself as a generalist. If the studio can’t afford to hire both a pipeline TA, a rigger, an FX artists and a mr. Fixit, somebody with your skills would be very useful. The generalist route is great for the right personality type – it provides a wider range of challenges and learning opportunities. It’s also very difficult to stay on top of all your fields at once, so it takes a lot of extra effort compared to a more specialized role. And, of course, you have to balance the freedom and responsibility of being a jack of all trades at a small company with the relative stability and opportunities for upward mobility at a big one.
Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is a big help, as does asking the right questions when interviewing or looking at job postings. Naturally you’ll want to tailor resumes and interviews to the individual positions you’re responding to – but you need to have a good picture of what you’d like to be doing every day for the next 3-5 years before you pick which ones to answer.
I think the dichotomy and indecision you’re describing is part of the profession. If you want to do both, and can’t decide which to focus on, you may in fact be a TA. I would suggest applying your energies in the areas that you’re most interested in. There is a TA-like profession out there somewhere that needs that cross section of skills.
Thank you guys for the well thought responses, It sounds like picking a focus is good, maybe even a couple and go after those. The big thing going through art in school is to be specific in what you want on a business card which is true since at first meeting with possible employers you don’t want to come off as unfocused. Though it sounds as if there is a bit more wiggle room as TA as long as those paths are defined and practice you can go down more than one. This seems like a good forum to come back and post things over time as I work on them. Thank you!