Tag Archives: Art & Animation

Train2Game news: The making of a Team Fortress 2 hat

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Train2Game Art & Animation students should find this interesting; a post on the Team Fortress 2 blog reveals the step by step process of building a hat.

For those unfamiliar with Team Fortress 2, players can customise their characters with hats and other accessories. And as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, many community created hats have made it into Team Fortress 2, with the creators earning money from the sales!

But anyway, The Making of a Skull Hat details the creation process from just a concept, to modelling, to adding a polygon mesh and texturing. It makes an interesting read for Train2Game Art & Animation students.

Valve are extremely open to community contributions in Team Fortress 2, and have keenly supported modders over the years, with many joining the development studio.

Indeed, speaking to the Train2Game blog last month, Valve’s Chet Faliszek told us that modding is a really good way to get into the games industry.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he said.

“Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.”

So Train2Game, what do you think about the process behind making a Team Fortress 2 hat? Would you consider making a submission?

Leave your comment here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Team Fortress 2 blog]

Train2Game student Fabiano Dias video diary No.2

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Train2Game student Fabiano Dias has posted his second Train2Game student video diary. In this installment, Fabiano talks about passing his first exam and gives us an insight into his course. He also discusses some of the challenges of the Train2Game Art & Animation course and offers advice to other Train2Game students.

Watch Fabiano’s latest Train2Game student diary on the Official Train2Game YouTube channel, or below here on the Train2Game blog.

See Fabiano’s first Train2Game video diary here.

Train2Game at Gamescom: Interview with The Witcher 2 Environment Artist Marek Ziemak

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Train2Game was at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany from 17th August to 21st August. In this interview, we caught up with The Witcher 2 Environment Artist Marek Zeimak to talk about new features in The Witcher 2 version 2.0 and the Xbox 360 release. Zeimak also revealed how he started in the games industry and gave Train2Game students advice on how to get in. Read the full interview below, or listen to it on Train2Game Radio. Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game Animators get excited: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations tech could surpass that of L.A. Noire

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Train2Game students will be familiar with the impressive facial Art & Animation of L.A. Noire, with many wondering if it could be beaten in future.

Well, the facial animation of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations could surpass that later this year, thanks to the Mocam technique used to capture footage.

“One of the elements that’s really interesting about Mocam is that, while  it creates a lot of high-fidelity character expression and movement, the actor doesn’t need to look like the character he’s playing.” Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Lead Game Designer Alexandre Breault told Now Gamer.

“It’s a system that’s able to interpolate the facial movements of one person and apply them to any model. That gives us a lot of flexibility with our actors.” He added.

That means the in-game character doesn’t have to look like the actor who plays them, useful for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations which features a number of historical characters.

Another way the motion capture used for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations could beat that of L.A. Noire is that it incorporates the entire body. Team Bondi’s method, while very impressive, only captured the face of the actor or actress.

“They’re also able to act with their whole body, as the system isn’t just limited to the head” explained Breault.

“ Mocam doesn’t create a clash between facial expression and body movement – it’s all integrated. It allows realistic facial expression, but not at the cost of actor expression as normal mo-cap does.”

It certainly sounds impressive, much like the fact the Train2Game blog reported earlier this year that the Ubisoft team behind Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is over 200 people strong.

And while it isn’t being used to capture facial animation, Uncharted 3 is also using advanced motion capture techniques.

So Train2Game, could Revelations surpass the tech of L.A. Noire? Would it improve the game? Is motion capture the way forward?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Now Gamer]

Train2Game Art & Animation student William Alexander speaks to Train2Game Radio

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William Alexander is studying to become a Game Artist & Animator with Train2Game. Train2Game Radio caught up with him to find out why he chose to study with Train2Game, how he’s finding the course and how he balances it around the rest of his life.

Listen to the interview at http://audioboo.fm/train2game

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game Radio interview with Art & Animation student Dave Higgins

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In our latest interview, we speak to and Train2Game Art & Animation student Dave Higgins.

Train2Game Radio caught up with Dave to find out why he chose to study with Train2Game, how he’s finding the course and what he wants to achieve in a career in the games industry.

Listen at www.audioboo.fm/train2game. Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

 

Train2Game’s 2nd Webinar Part Four

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In Part 4 of the 2nd Train2Game Webinar the panel continue to discuss the Art and Animation course, mainly about when it will be benchmarked and also answer live questions on how strong the job market is for Train2Game graduates and if the opportunity to start on your own as an ‘Indie’ is better now than ever before.

Key quotes include…
Carsten Maple on the UK video game job market “I say to all of my students now, you gotta show that you’re worth it…There are jobs for those who can really make a difference”

Carsten Maple on why the UK video games industry needs tax relief – “I think it’s something they [Conservative Government] should do…For a whole number of reasons, not least of all that the significance of the UK games industry that it has been before is slipping backwards in terms of its relative success and I think it’s something that needs to be addressed because more companies are moving abroad because it’s a lower risk. If you’ve got to spend less money developing a game, than that’s a lower risk and unfortunately we’ve seen that move away and unless we act quickly and, I know it’s difficult, but we’ve got to keep petitioning the government to say “look we need this because once you lose it it’s very difficult to get it back”

Tony Bickley on why it’s not all doom and gloom for the UK video games industry lacking tax breaks – “This is probably one of the best times over the last 5-6 years for the smaller studios and the start-ups. You’re not looking for that half-million, three-quarters of a million pound investment to develop for the PlayStation 2 with £20,000 development kit, etc. You’ve got the three, four or five man development teams so there is a lot of opportunity for people entering the industry to join the smaller indie studios”

You can leave your thoughts about the Train2Game webinar on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game’s 2nd Webinar – Part 3

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Part 3 sees the Train2Game webinar panel answer questions on if you’re video game idea is worthy enough to be pitched, if the video game industry is in danger of coming to a full stop and where the games industry will be in ten years time.

Key quotes include:

Carsten Maple on moving away from producing sequels : “Where is an idea that’s quite unique and pivotal to a game rather than just an idea for a game…most [games] are quite derivative and what makes it sell is the branding around it”

Pete Hickman on protecting your idea and getting it implemented: “it’s very difficult to protect just an idea, and IP protection law is a very complex subject. The best way I think to protect an idea, especially when you’re showing around to different publishers is to make sure that it’s not just an idea there’s some physical assets that you can use, you can show. We’re talking about storyboards, character design, and level design…”

Tony Bickley on publishers and video games – “I do know of quite a few publishers that refuse to accept ideas that are unsolicited because the ideas are fairly worthless unless they’ve been worked up into a full pitch, but they could impact on a current development and most big publishers and developers have 30-40 ideas that they’re kicking around, they prototype a few, they play with a few more, they take them to a storyboard etc.”

Let us know your thoughts either here, or on the Train2Game forum.