From Environment Artist to Technical Artist, What do I need to know?

Jespar

I am trying to slowly make the switch to a technical artist (for some reason I really enjoy making art tools in Maya). I am already working in the industry as an environmental artist, but curious what should I start learning. I know Mel and Max script pretty well and those are about it.

Which languages should I start mastering?
Should I take classes or just learn from books?
It appears like most tech artists are focused on making rigs and animations. Is there room for focusing on graphics/tool pipelines (creating simpler modeling/shader/texturing tools)

Any info will help. Thanks guys!
-Jespar

Runner

I think it really depends of the needs at your current workplace. Maybe start working on areas that could improve the pipeline, its always a good place to show off your work.

Try to combine tedious or “useless” steps in to a simple and effective tool, that would most likely get you noticed. From there you could maybe go for what you enjoy doing more.

Probe around the office and find out what are people complaining about.

Books most likely.

Ben Apuna

If you haven't already been there, you should check out the forums at tech-artists.org.

There are quite a few threads there about how to break into the field, such as this one and this one. Here's another good thread.

haiddasalami

Python is starting to look like a damn good language to know as most programs support it and I know its definitely faster than MEL and better. Currently right now in the same phase as you mentioned haha. Check out tech artists forum as Ben mentioned and I try seeing if you can talk with some of the tech art guys at work or the engine/pipeline guys. From what i know, the industry is looking for more veteran people to step into the role than hiring a junior. Even though tech artists need to know a lot of stuff between the different paths, they should also have a strong point (rigging, shaders etc) so choose one you enjoy and improve that too.

Kwramm

What tech artists are focused on depends mostly on the company they work on.

There's no single "you must know this as tech artist" answer - there's a big degree of specialization within the TA profession - e.g. SFX artists are often considered TAs. Then there's scripter/ programmer TAs, rigging TAs, pipeline TA's, etc, etc.

There's a few things many areas have in common though: You should know some scripting - Python is definitely the most versatile option right now. Being a generalist helps - knowing a little bit of everything is definitely important when dealing with a pipeline. Being able to see "the big picture". Being a good communicator - you will have to talk to a LOT of people and departments to get them work together to make the perfect pipeline work. You may also have to present and defend ideas. Having some improvisation talent can also be useful, depending on your studio's culture. Knowing revision systems like P4 is also quite essential. But that's just scraping on the top of the skill list...

My personal opinion is that you cannot learn to be a pipeline TA in a school or self taught (as opposed to learning to write shaders for example). Because to learn you actually have to work in a studio with a pipeline. Either you're part of the pipeline as artist or admin. Or you assist a pipeline TA as apprentice. After a while you will see what works for a certain project and what doesn't and what you can improve in the future. Real life experience is the key here...

However writing tools to make artists workflows easier doesn't necessarily lead to becoming a "pipeline" TA. Could also lead towards becoming a "tools coder".

Just to clarify: In my book a pipeline TA is someone who is concerned with data flows. Where do files go? How are they tracked? How do we preserve integrity of the pipeline? How do we integrate it with the user's workflow? How do we convert/export data between apps and pipeline stages?

keres

I have to agree with what has been said here so far. Being a tech artist doesn't mean that you have to know how to program, of course (you probably already know this.) However, you will really find use in knowing languages such MEL or Max Script. Above those, I think the most important language a tech artist should know is HLSL/GLSL. When you have good understanding of these shading algorithms, it really opens the door to creative shader innovation. Nvidia has a wonderful GPU Gems article on how to increase shader performance. This knowledge is (largely) invaluable for a person in such a position. After reading and understanding that short series, you'll be able to diagnose just about any performance bottleneck for a game. Quite amazing stuff!

I'm reading that Python has some great bindings to MEL. It's a very simple language, and most people suggest it as a first. If you're not wanting to do programming full time, it's easily the safest time investment.

I wish you luck with your endeavor to become a tech artist.