Andy Davis

A Technical Artist with qualifications ranging from architecture to music tech and an impressive CV to match, Andy Davis is a textbook case of somebody who entered the game industry purely by chance, thanks to his logically technical yet inventively creative mind. Andy describes his role as a generalist, because there is no definitive way to describe what a Technical Artist is due to the role varying from company to company. Andy sums it up by saying that the Technical Artist bridges the gaps between Artist and Programmer - even if the "Programmers would probably laugh at our code; they would probably find it childish."

Andy created a tool which massively streamlines the creation of Lego build animations, scaling it down from hours or even days to a matter of minutes. I find his work incredibly fascinating and I can’t see a way which his role could be better displayed to us. I was almost intoxicated by his presentation, and that’s not an over dramatization.

Andy started out his higher education by taking a degree in Architecture, something he enjoyed the logic and technical challenges in - he found himself wanting to do other things and later progressed to take BTEC's in music and computer aided graphical tech amongst other things. After bouncing between courses of study, he eventually found himself working at Traveller's Tales (A subsidiary of the interactive branch of the media giant conglomerate Time Warner) on the Lego franchise (Notably, the Star Wars and Harry Potter renditions).

Andy says he isn't much of a gamer himself - but he thoroughly enjoys the beauty and experience of games such as Limbo. To hear that someone with such a career, with a good history in the industry, isn’t a square eyed nerd is refreshing.

A fan of Manhunt due to its inherent horror themes and general engrossing gameplay (no pun intended), Andy enjoys his work at Rockstar not only due to its past creations but his own work there. Although he is contractually bound not to tell us what he is currently working on thanks to the suits, he was able to share his most previous hit with us - Max Payne 3.

He divulged upon the many, many roles that he has as a Technical Artist. Here's a summary of what he described to us.

The job of a Technical Artist is difficult, but at the same time it’s small and obscure. The role has very few people filling its shoes, but it is in massive demand within the industry - Agencies can't fill all the roles. There are a wide range of tasks which a Technical Artist has to complete.

Technical Artists are expected to have some understanding of programming languages. A few common ones for a Technical Arist are: MEL, MAXScript, Python, C#, C++, Objective C/Android (Mobile Development) and HTML5 (Web Development). MEL is diverse, usable for scripting. dot.Net is commonplace, working its way in with MAXScript and C++ in 3DS Max. Flash is currently popular, but Andy believes it will be phased out by HTML5 in the near future.

Software which is often used includes: 3DS Max and Maya for modelling, Photoshop and Illustrator for image manipulation and design, Motionbuilder for animation, plenty of backups with source control, After Effects/Premier/Final Cut for video editing and Sound Forge/Logic/Pro Tools/Cubase for audio.

Technical Artists are responsible for the creation of tools, which are divided into two categories: Functionality Tools and Workflow Tools. Functionality Tools are tools which provide the artist access to functionality that would be unattainable through other means. An example of this was portals between areas which are massively different in design, so that only visible parts of the map are rendered, to prevent massive amounts of rendering occuring all at once - something unavailable by default in 3DS Max. Workflow tools are tools which speed up the existing artists work flow. These include user interface customisations, selection utilities, automatic rigging tools and more - his work ensures that artists still have the stamina to keep on working whilst maintaining a high standard of quality.

Optimization represents a sizable chunk of time in development for games. In a perfect world, perfect work is always ready to ship. This isn't a perfect world. Higher quality art work tends to be denied by game engines. Artists are often assigned poly limits etcetera before work begins to make sure that their work is compatible - something coordinated by the Technical Artists.

Technical Artists are responsible to maintain inter company wikis which documents their tools and how to use them. They're also responsible for searching for art, technical and tool bugs utilizing bug hunting software. Silly bugs often arise such as, in Lego: Star Wars, Jar Jar Binks is able to double jump - in fact, he can triple jump. That's because he has a bug which allows him to infinitely jump throughout the entire game!

Andy also informed us about NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements). These are documents which state that employees can't tell people about what their working on, lest they want to have a series of very serious discussions with the suits in legal. A case of an NDA being overlooked was when a Lego: Harry Potter staff member's CV stated that they were working on Lego: Harry Potter before it had been release - something which an IGN reporter noticed. 30 minutes later, Lego: Harry Potter was leaked via a headline article released by an IGN correspondent - the importance of NDAs being observed in their fullest displayed in one scenario.

Andy also laid out his standard working day, dividing it into mornings which focus on organization of the day, lunchtimes which grant personal time and gaming time, afternoons which are full of work focused on their tasks for the day, followed by evenings focused on filing reports, then the infamous crunch time at the end of the day to get work done without exceptions - he also noted that lots of industry standard overtime is unpaid.

Andy's presentation has enabled us to learn quite a lot about industry practice and his role. I can say without a shadow of doubt that Industry Week is going to impress me vividly.

Questions & Answers with Andy Davis

        Here's a summarized, paraphrased log of the Q&A that followed Andy's insightful presentation:

Question: Working in London, is there a lot of potential for working in the games industry?

Andy: Yep, I'd say a lot of computer game companies, especially those with global influence, have studios in London. The creators of Brink are in Croydon. EA and SONY have locations in and near London. London is definitely the UK capital of the games industry.

Question: You've moved around a lot, is it something you have to do within the industry?

Andy: Yeah, you do. I've never been in a company which has been forced into closure, but there is a lot of scope for staying at one company if you're able to and you can handle it.

Question: What do you have to put forward to prove yourself good enough for a job?

Andy: That's really interesting actually. You don't have to put much on paper for your work but you have your tech to talk about - you have to get that into the interview. You need to show off your tools and your work, images aren't always good enough and demonstrations with descriptions are probably the best way to go to get a TA job.

Question: Do you show it off before or during the interview?

Andy: The best way to do it would probably be to give images and descriptions beforehand, then show the work on a laptop or something when you're in the interview.

Question: How quick is the expectation to change workflow at new companies?

Andy: What I find is that it takes a few weeks to get used to a new company. I've found annoyingly that companies tend to use software differently to the company before, such as your previous using 3DS Max but the new one using Maya. You have to get used to their file systems and procedures too, but after a few weeks you're really expected to hit the ground running.

Question: What do you consider your best achievement?

Andy: You keep getting bigger and bigger tasks, more intricate tasks keep getting thrown at you. I've worked on a fairly complex mathematical problem lately and I really enjoyed it. Its hard to pick your best achievement. It sounds boring but if you have a passion for it you'll do well - there's no way to make it sound sexy.

Question: Have you done much work with 2D plugins for Photoshop?

Andy: I'll say no, because my last real work with 2D was during my degree. It's a very interesting area but you won't typically get an opportunity to work on it.

Question: Do members of teams request plugins and changes personally?

Andy: Yeah, what we do is our bug mapping system has a category for tool requests, so if artists are thinking that something is tedious and they want it shortening, they make a tool request. This is passed onto our managers, who decide whether the request is good or not, then if it it is good it gets passed onto the TA's.

Question: Your wide job roll lets you work with lots of people, is there much difference?

Andy: Yeah, I used to work in environment art. I attend art meetings but I don't do art work. Programmers would probably laugh at our work if they saw it. TA tends to be former artists so we feel like artists but our work tends to not be as creative.

Question: How many TA's are there in ratio to other team members?

Andy: Tricky question because we worked on a tiered studio basis. We work hand in hand with other studios so I don't know about the team sizes. At TT the art team was roughly the same size as the programmers, and the designers were about half the size. The bulk of artists are environment artists because that's where most of the work lies. There are few character artists and even less vehicle artists. TA typically only occupies 2 or 3 spaces. When I was working on a DS game for 6 months there was 2 of us. Triple A projects which take years will probably have a lot more. It's determined by the type of game your making. It's logic at the end of the day.

Question: How often do other skills come up in your work?

Andy: Photoshop, everyday. Illustrator sometimes comes up for smaller things, but most of it can be done in Photoshop - some people just don't like Illustrator. I've not done video editing but I've seen TA that do. It's really down to what task we get from our bosses.

Question: Do you think your skills will open up other jobs for you?

Andy: I'm not sure if many jobs are similar. Say you're a rigger, you could probably get a job in films - the TV and film industries use TAs in animation. Companies like Adobe and Autodesk are probably places you could go. The only other area would be web design. TA skills could make you a good web designer. It's all down to what you do.

Question: Do you all get royalties?

Andy: I'd say that every company has a different policy. TT offered a bonus instead of royalties - they also paid overtime. Every company has a different strategy. I think overtime is one of the best ways, so you know your time input earns you plenty of money. Money is important!

Question: Have your tools ever ended up not how you expected?

Andy: You can be surprised, but when you get your brief you tend to focus on it to tick all the boxes according to the specification. You often realize there are a lot of things a single tool can achieve. Rarely you'll have to drop it because it just doesn't work, and you're probably unlikely to fail, it's just the connotations which can distract you.

Question: Do you interact with other teams?

Andy: Yeah, say if somebody in Edinburgh makes a request, I have to make sure its done how they wanted. At Rockstar, we do video conferences to get everyone together and we have a messaging system. We often work as one big studio.

Question: Do you sit in with teams other than art?

Andy: Ultimately we are artists, but we work under a TA lead. We have our own meetings sometimes, we sit in on art and a few others but we wouldn't sit in with the designers or the programmers.

Question: What other rolls would you do?

Andy: I'm keen to do other things but as games go I think TA is the best for me because of its wide range of problems which I have to solve.

Question: What do you see as the future of TA?

Andy: I hope that it will become more advanced with better technology rather than constantly having to reinvent the wheel. We don't know the future of the industry because the next consoles could change everything for us. Rumors are one thing but we don't know how anything will go.

Question: Any advice?

Andy: Absolutely. Possibly the best thing you could do if you want to be TA is look into the roles. Every company expects different things from TA and if you find you can tick every box, they'll want you.

Question: Are portfolios necessary?

Andy: You'll find they'll be flexible about it - I suspect I think that because my approaches from companies comes from my long history in the industry, my website doesn't even say I'm a TA. A website is the way forward.

Question: Favorite game?

Andy: I would say Limbo. Its really stylish, really stepped down. Its not about killing, its pretty, the ambiance, and I wanna reply it again and again. I hate Bejeweled, but its infected me and my phone and I can't keep off it. I'm addicted to online poker as well, too much for my own good. Limbo is the short answer.

Question: Preference, 3DS Max or Maya?

Andy: Maya. MEL is better. I'm more skilled in 3DS Max but Maya is just a really solid piece of software. You should still make sure you know both, though.

Question: Could you make software instead of tools?

Andy: I'd say there is a really thin line between tool and software, which is really hard to draw. Tools could be software. It's a semantic argument.

Question: How restricted were you working on Lego?

Andy: The Lego games were never really a problem, most of the problems were in the licenses. People from LucasArts for example kept getting involved and giving us problems with our work but Lego never interrupted us. It wasn't as restrictive or tedious as it sounds. I don't think there are any restrictions really, its all about consistency.

Question: Does the company own the tools you make?

Andy: This is contractual. Most companies say anything you make there is owned by them. The actual code is theirs but your algorithm and idea isn't.

Question: Can Rockstar executives overrule decisions made at Rockstar London?

Andy: Its not something that has specifically happened but in theory it could technically happen.

Question: What is crunch time like?

Andy: Its different at every company. Companies sometimes pride themselves on having no crunch time. No crunch time is blissful. It's not typical unfortunately. Our crunch time ended up being 60-70 hours a week at the end of Max Payne 3 for about 2 months. It's often unpaid. Passion in your work is a necessity.

By Lewis Bradley, Level 3 Gaming student