What do you do?
I'm employed as an animator. I create all of the characters for the games. It can be anything from a sponge bob to a guy riding a motor bike. I get given the 3D models and I rig them and skin them ready for animation and then I create all of the keys and create the animation. That can be anything from jumping to throwing things to cars crashing, animals, creatures.
On a typical day, I'd work with an art director, the other animator and artists in our team. We have a list of characters for each game and a list of animations each character needs to do, and I work through those. I would be told which one to work on and I'd rig the character. It comes in a 3D model because we use Maya here - so I'd give the character the bones and the controllers to make it move. And then I just work through the list creating each animation.
Whether I work on one character at a time or multiple, depends on the game. If you are doing a main character for the game, then the list kind of expands. As the design changes or expands, then the lists change - but I am given a certain time frame to do it. I probably create about one or two animations a day, but it depends on how complex the character.
We've got two animators here at Tantalus. We work with the art director assessing the list of animations and decide on how we want it to look and how we want things to move. There are about another ten artists who create the levels and the models and the textures, so sometimes I work with them and help out with things that need doing in other areas, but I'm predominately an animator. We also work with the programmers because it's important the animations work well. So there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the programmers to make it look good. It's so important that the animations come across good in the game and for them to work well for the player.
How did you get to where you are today?
I studied at the Victorian College of Art where I did an animation course. It was good. It showed me all of the different directions you can go in animation. After that, I worked in television series work, traditional animation, and some short films. It was just kind of by chance that a friend of mine worked at Tantalus and he was an animator here and they had a position going. I'd been teaching myself 3D on the side for about four months before I got the job and so it was just kind of being in the right place at the right time. With the right skills!
What skills are necessary for you to do your job?
Technically, we use Maya software, so a knowledge of that program is necessary. A lot of people use 3D Studio Max or other 3D packages, so you could easily come across to Maya. To be a good animator, you need to have a good sense of all of the principles of animation - like weights and timing, silhouettes and the line of movement, and all of those basic sorts of principles which you learn a bit about at the VCA or in courses, but a lot of it is actually learnt on the job. When you get different characters to perform different tasks to do different things, you learn as you go to make things look good. You do a lot of research, and look at movies, look at other animated films and other games to see how things move.
How important was your education/training?
I think it was important. It gave a different overview of all of the different areas of animation. There is so much to know, like compositing and editing (which is also in film making). But in animation, there is 3D, and stop motion, and hand-drawn, 2D and digital. I think it's quite daunting for people when they are starting out - they go 'ah yeah, I want to be an animator but... ' There are so many different areas. I think it's good to do a course to see what you like.
Where do you see your career going?
You are constantly learning in animation - the software and all of the different things that you work on. I think I just see myself working on bigger and better things. I enjoy my job, it's a fun environment working with a lot of enthusiastic people.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter the games industry?
If you want to work in the games industry, especially as an animator, you need to have a good show reel. Going into a course to learn a bit more about the techniques is a good idea, and to work a lot on your own. Animation is a pretty solitary profession, so you need to work on your skills and spend a lot of time getting your show reel together and making it look good. Concentrate on your strengths. Also, general art, like doing life drawings, is good. Perseverance and being able to communicate with people is good too.
