Hellou everyone!
I’m a Rigger / Tech Artist currently working mostly in Unity for mobile games, and I’ve been thinking of starting a vlog about the ( Tech Art side of the industry ) but before I dive in, I’d love to hear from people who’ve been in the field longer than me, I’m working at 4 yeears ago in the industry.
I’m trying to get a clearer idea of what to focus on, so any recommendations, insights, or personal experiences would be super appreciated.
Stuff I’m curious about:
What does your day-to-day look like as a Tech Artist?.
What skills or tools made the biggest difference in your career?.
Any common mistakes to avoid early on?.
How do you keep growing or staying relevant in such a technical role?.
And yeah, if you’re open to it — what’s the realistic pay range like these days? (doesn’t have to be exact numbers, just trends,)
Not looking for anything super formal just honest thoughts, tips, or even random advice from people who’ve been around the block.I’d love to feature some of these takes in a chill vlog about the real Tech Artist experience.
I hope your vlog helps people in the industry, and I hope my answers help you in your vlogging adventure!
What does your day-to-day look like as a Tech Artist?
I think this definitely varies between a well established AAA team and Indie dev.
I love indie dev because it means I get to “wear many hats” and solve issues for team mates from different disciplines. On AAA you tend to have more focus and tend to have expertise in a specific discipline. I think both have benefits. Sometimes I feel like I am really good at a lot of different aspects of the development process but not quite an expert at one of them. So for me day-to-day usually means working on specific Jira tasks and with some firefighting in between. Firefighting certainly takes center stage as we get closer to big milestones.
What skills or tools made the biggest difference in your career?
By far the most import skills/tools for me are:
Coding/Scripting
Math (specifically linear algebra)
Development related vocabulary/communication. It is important to be able to express yourself clearly.
Good bedside manner (diplomacy)
Any common mistakes to avoid early on?
For me it was difficult to not have my hands in every part of development. It is healthy to let go and let others be owners.
Having hunches based on past experiences is important but you should strive for definitive proof via testing and data.
Remember that games, engines, tools, workflows… are always evolving and so should you. You can never rest on your laurels.
Be helpful to the gamedev community. Your edge should be the product, and less so the technique. Though I definitely understand why some teams are very secretive.
How do you keep growing or staying relevant in such a technical role?.
Never stop learning. Push yourself to know more with every project.
what’s the realistic pay range like these days?
This is highly dependent on specific role, location, team…
But from what I see on LI 80k to $250? Not sure
Heey Ricgreen1 !!!
Thanks a lot for taking the time to share all this really super clear and honest, and that really helps everyone get a better sense of what being a Tech Artist actually means today in 2025..
I really relate to what you said about wearing many hats xD. In my case, I’m working as a Tech Artist while also handling Rigging and Animation implementation in the engine in my case Unity. Since I’m in a small team and working as a third-party collaborator, I often end up coordinating the pipeline and jumping between different areas too .
That’s why hearing your perspective is so valuable it helps to compare experiences and keep improving how I approach this kind of hybrid role .
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!!
.