{"id":6403,"date":"2018-10-15T14:16:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T19:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/?p=6403"},"modified":"2018-10-15T14:16:41","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T19:16:41","slug":"2018-10-15-bryan-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/2018-10-15-bryan-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrious Interview: Bryan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet Bryan; if you\u2019ve seen only a glimpse of the games we make at Norsfell, it\u2019s pretty likely you\u2019ve seen his work. Bryan is our 3D artist and the one responsible for turning sketches and concept designs into objects for our virtual worlds we can place the player in. In this post, he shares more about working with other artists, getting started in the games industry and his secrets to success.<\/p>\n

Bryan\u2019s initial academic interest in architecture led to his eventual decision to register in 3D Video Game Art at Haute \u00c9cole Albert Jacquard, only deciding to enroll two months before starting the program! He always liked playing video games, and was amazed to learn that specialized programs existed, not to mention the valuable classes and lessons that applied directly to game development. \u201cSchool teaches you how to learn quickly and get the basics. Once you know these basics really well, your lifetime job is to learn and build on top of\u00a0 that.\u201d Bryan says, \u201cBe curious; it will lead you to new techniques and more knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Two ramp variations made by Bryan, to be featured in our next project!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All that knowledge certainly helps when working on our team at Norsfell, as Bryan credits a fundamental understanding in game development as being an important part of teamwork in a game studio. For example, knowing basics in Unreal: \u201cEven if it isn\u2019t my domain, knowing a bit about how the development part works helps me give our devs better work,\u201d he says, \u201cIt adds more fluidity to the game development and means that we can better talk about how the different elements will fit together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another key part of working in an art department in a small studio like Norsfell is working with others on the same piece of the puzzle. \u201cCommunication is the number one thing,\u201d Bryan advises, \u201cI need to understand how they think, what they can do, what is possible, what is time consuming. And when people know you better, they know what you can do in return.\u201d Frequent conversations are important when it comes to turning concept art into a 3D object, as information can be missing about angles, movement or the in-game purpose. Character modelling, for example, means that physics and motion must be accounted for as well. \u201cEverything you do as a 3D artist will pass through a series of questions\u201d, he explains, which is why clear and open communication with game designers is necessary for his role too. \u201cSometimes you don\u2019t get a list of requirements, and then it\u2019s important to ask questions to make sure it fits the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Challenges in 3D art often take the form of such open-ended designs. As long as the mechanical and visual requirements are met, there is \u201clots of liberty as to what the concept feels and looks like, and where to add more detail. You can open your mind and really get creative, get specific.\u201d Bryan explains that this is often the point in the game development process where game worlds and characters start to feel real: \u201cWhat\u2019s so enjoyable about it is being able to put story on something that doesn\u2019t move or talk yet via the details. When you\u2019re creating something in 3D, you\u2019re the one giving it life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A piece of a mysterious boat that Bryan carefully modelled for us.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bryan\u2019s advice to those interested in pursuing 3D art and game development is pretty straightforward: \u201cEverything is way easier if you have passion. All your school and training time, all thoses hours spent on learning and practicing new things won\u2019t feel like labour, it will be fun to do.\u201d He also recommends learning about games, even if you aren\u2019t a big gamer yourself. \u201cKnowing video games will help you understand art and do your work well. It\u2019s important to know something about the basics of video games – the biggest titles in the last 10 years – without needing to play all of them.\u201d Watching streamers and game clips can help an artist get a good sense of various \u2018styles\u2019 of video games, so that you can understand references to these classics.<\/p>\n

What does he like best about Norsfell? The sense of community that comes with working closely together. \u201cEveryone takes care of each other\u2026 you know the people beside you really well, and creating bonds helps the communication to open up a lot. We\u2019re happy for each other to succeed.\u201d While working at a small company is rewarding for the relationships it builds, it also means that individuals might take on a wide breadth of tasks and end up growing in new ways. \u201cI have a lot to do as the only 3D artist, but it is very valuable because I am learning so many things so quickly,\u201d he adds, \u201cIt\u2019s a magical place to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Bryan\u2019s former teachers gave him a piece of advice that he\u2019s never forgotten and uses in his work to this day. \u201cBe lazy. It\u2019s kind of silly and it took me some time to understand it, but it means that it\u2019s good to take the time to think about what the shortest and easiest route to getting to your end goal is, without compromising the art.\u201d He credits this problem-solving technique as being the best way to work independently and efficiently, especially when on a small team. \u201cThat\u2019s the best thing you can do if you want to be a good 3D artist,\u201d he smiles, \u201cget good at being lazy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Bryan; if you\u2019ve seen only a glimpse of the games we make at Norsfell, it\u2019s pretty likely you\u2019ve seen his work. Bryan is our 3D artist and the one responsible for turning sketches and concept designs into objects for our virtual worlds we can place the player in. In this post, he shares more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,134],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6403"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6416,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6403\/revisions\/6416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norsfell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}