I am 27 yo, I am doing a PhD in Developmental Biology. But basically I work as a programmer C++/python doing 3D visualization/analysis of data, basically using VTK, a python wrapper and qt. I and I have some experience with 3D animation in Maya, modelling in blender, I’ve done a bit of 3d games in unity and I know some Threejs and how to do few shaders.
Not long ago, I’ve been told that there is such a thing as tech-artist. I’ve look at some people portfolios, and I think I would like to shift my career towards it. Any advice? What should I learn in order to became one?
I’m in a similar boat as you (30 yo, background in non-games Software Engineering, currently trying to pivot my career into TA), and I can share with you what I’ve learned so far.
The first thing to know is that Tech Art is a very loosely defined term. Depending on the company, TA can mean having skills in one or more of the following domains:
rigging/tech anim
graphics/engine programming
shaders/materials specialist
performance/optimization specialist
tools/pipeline engineer
VFX specialist
procedural asset artist
a regular 3d artist who happens to have deep technical knowledge
a generalist, but companies seem to be allergic to using the term “generalist” so they call you a Tech Artist instead
The first piece of advice I would give is to try to pick ONE OR TWO of these things and go deep on them. The second piece of advice I would give is to try to pick something you are really excited/passionate about. Learning this stuff takes a lot of time and effort, and you will have to be self-motivated for months or even years before you have enough built up on your portfolio in order to apply for jobs. If you aren’t sure what you will like, I do think its worth it to give yourself a bit of time (maybe a few months if you can spare it) and try out a bunch of stuff to see what sticks.
This next part might feel discouraging to you but I think it’s important to be realistic about what to expect: know that pursuing this is going to be incredibly difficult. You are going to have a lot working against you:
The vast majority of TA jobs are listed at senior and above. I think a big part of this has to do with the fact that a lot of TAs start out as something else and then transition into it slowly over time. I do still think that there are junior and mid-level positions out there, but they are more rare.
This is probably one of the worst times in history to try to get into gamedev. The entire industry has been in a quasi-recession since last year and there have been tons of very qualified people who have be laid off from their jobs. This means tons of very qualified people (probably with more on-paper experience than us) are all actively looking for work- i.e. competing with you.
Also, a pullback on funding means that fewer small studios (that might be more willing to take a chance on someone with less experience) are able to secure money for their projects.
A lot of game studios are very biased towards hiring people who have already worked at a studio before. I recently showed my portfolio to a TA manager and he told me that my skills are strong enough for a junior or intermediate TA position, but if I were to apply to his company, my resume/portfolio would probably never actually make it to his desk because I don’t have 5 years of experience and 3 shipped titles.
What to do about these challenges? I’m not 100% sure myself. My current thoughts are:
Try to really understand what you are good at and lean in as hard as possible.
Networking with people is really important. Even if you are like me and you are really bad at it- just do it as much as you can manage.
Don’t despair. No one is gong to believe in you. You have to believe in yourself twice as hard.
Remember to have fun. There’s so much cool stuff to learn out there.