Greetings from the art engineer
(Part … well, we’ve lost count of Roman numerals, but it’s the next part in our continuing series of team profiles: Leap In’s Art Engineer, whose avatar binds our tongues with the challenging name “Schmayekol”. As you’ll discover, he’s a duality wrapped in two likeable personalities…)
Hello fellow cyberspace explorer, glad you came to visit.
I suppose writing that last sentence that I use the term cyberspace not simply to invoke 80’s nostalgia for William Gibson’s works (although I am a fan of that for some reason) but rather because the Internet has become something much more then a connection of networked computers.
Art brain: They don’t want to hear that…
Engineer brain: But it is interesting… packet switching over networks of networks routing data…
Art brain: They came here to have a good time, let me take over for a while…
Sorry about that. Sometimes I get a little carried away with the little details and need to step back and look at the work as a whole. As the art engineer I like to think I use both sides of my brain, artistic and logical and thus that my head will not get so full on any one side that I begin to fall over or walk in circles. I am (and possibly will be forever) a perpetual student even while I am out of school and am always looking for new techniques and ideas in art, computers and literature.
At Leap In Entertainment I have found a great place to learn, both in the great ideas and techniques of the industry from my fellow colleagues varied backgrounds and within the work itself. Zen and the Art of Art Engineering?
Engineer brain: They want the details! Less philosophy more facts… my turn…
The role of the Art Engineer is to work on the art pipeline bringing art assets (models, textures, animation) into the game engine in an optimal and efficient manner, while attempting to preserve as much detail and quality of the artist’s work as possible. I also get to work with some lower level details involving shaders, mesh manipulation and all sorts of fun graphics components which is really where the balance between art and engineering comes into play. It is not only important that the content works but also that it looks great.
While I may seem to have the need for two (sometimes conflicting brains) the ability to both help and create 3D content that is both beautiful and functional appeals to both sides of my brain.
It is my hope that you will enjoy them as well.
Till next time I remain,
Schmayekol
