I am a student studying a Bachelor of Interactive Entertainment (Animation) at Qantm College in Brisbane. I am interested in becoming a Technical Artist in the game industry, and would like to know more about how to get into this field and what I have to learn to get in to this role.
I also want to learn maxscripting and mel scripting. If anyone could post any advice or tutorials on the fundamentals of maxscript and mel, or other resources. This would be much appreciated.
I can’t vouch for MEL, because I don’t use it. :):
To be honest i’ve found the best way to learn scripting is to study other people’s scripts. I’ve learned more about Python by going over Adam Pletcher’s GDC scripts than I have from tutorials in general.
For MAXScript Bobo’s siteis probably a good place to start.
Make sure you hit up the Qantm lecturers for resources. That’s what you’re paying them for! You must have a library there somewhere, right? There are a great series of books for scripting, so if your course doesn’t have access to them, request them.
Do a lot of searching and asking on the respective CGTalk Maxscript and Mel script forums as well. There are already a lot of answers there.
While knowing various programming languages is certainly valuable and is a factor in hiring, it’s not the first thing I look for when I interview candidates. Something that I like to see is enthusiasm and dedication for the role. I don’t want someone who is using the TA role as a way into the company, because what they really want to do is character art, or something else. I look for someone who doesn’t mind providing support to others, because it happens a lot. I don’t want a hermit where all they want to do is write tools, and not be bothered by a TA’s other responsibilities. I also look for someone who is open to others ideas. Since you are a student, one way you can display these sorts of traits is to provide support to others in your class, and provide information on what you did. An example could be that you had a class project to create a small animated short. You provided technical support by writing a custom tool that did <fill in the blank here>. Something along those lines. Not only will that experience be good for your resume, but it will also give you some perspective into what a TA does as well as talking points, for whomever you interview with.
In terms of learning a new language, whenever I want to pick up a new programming language, the easiest way for me to learn is to choose a small project and write it in that language. For instance, a project could be relevant to current or past school work that you have.
[QUOTE=Jester3D;857]I am a student studying a Bachelor of Interactive Entertainment (Animation) at Qantm College in Brisbane. I am interested in becoming a Technical Artist in the game industry, and would like to know more about how to get into this field and what I have to learn to get in to this role.
I also want to learn maxscripting and mel scripting. If anyone could post any advice or tutorials on the fundamentals of maxscript and mel, or other resources. This would be much appreciated.
Terry[/QUOTE]
we have dvds on max scripting in the library… they work well.
Thanks Jason. When I started studying, I wanted to be a character modeler. I then attended GCAP (Game Connect Asia Pacific) and met Adam Myhill from Pandemic Studios at his seminar and grew a passion and enthusiasm for technical art.
[QUOTE=Erilaz;858]Hate to say it, but the best way to start learning max and mel script is to just start doing it[/QUOTE]
Ditto that. If you’re still in school you have a pretty unique opportunity there. I would suggest attaching yourself to a group that’s doing production and offer your services as a TA or offer to take on that role. Not sure about other folks but I remember when i was getting started, the hardest thing for me was just figuring out tools I wanted to write, so having folks that can feed you input may be a valuable resource.
Thanks for that. Could anyone tell me what a day in a life of a technical artist does? I have read stuff off the internet about roles, and I am a little confused to what TA really does. I know that they assist in help workflow of the art team by creating tools and researching (I am looking forward to the researching bit everyday. Constantly learning new stuff everyday. Bring it on).
[QUOTE=Jester3D;880]Thanks for that. Could anyone tell me what a day in a life of a technical artist does? I have read stuff off the internet about roles, and I am a little confused to what TA really does. I know that they assist in help workflow of the art team by creating tools and researching (I am looking forward to the researching bit everyday. Constantly learning new stuff everyday. Bring it on).[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Jester3D;881]Hey Shadow. I have already had a look at those Paul Nealis rigging dvd’s. They are pretty good. But only a little on Maxscript. Thanks[/QUOTE]
found this awesome sight where you can get scripts… so by looking at them you might be able to, you know, make some for yourself.
Those Maxscript DVD’s from cg academy are really good. I tried learning Maxscript from the help files but it wasn’t going well. The dvd’s were a good primer so I could use the help documents better. Melscript is a different story. I bought a book, I think it’s called MEL Scripting for Maya Animators. I bought it from Amazon. It was pretty good. Gave me a good base for doing what I needed. I haven’t used maya in a while since version 7. Check out your school library they should have plenty resources.