Breaking Into The Industry: Berjes Enriquez, Lead Development Director

Breaking Into The Industry is a weekly interview series that speaks with video game professionals from all across EA. We hope that by sharing how some of the industry’s biggest (and smallest) players got their start, you can learn how to do the same.

What’s your name and job title?
Berjes Enriquez, Lead Development Director.
And what does a Lead Development Director do?
It has really varied over the years, going from managing art teams, to managing the entire art discipline, to managing engineering disciplines, to helping the entire team hit deadlines and achieve their goals while assessing risks and helping inform decision making throughout the team.
The best part of it has been the people I’ve managed. They make me want to come in to work.
So you literally direct the development of a project.
Well, I would be a little cautious about using the word “direct.” I’m not an expert in the field of Animation, or Gameplay Engineering, or User Interface, so I rely on the leads of those disciplines to make the best decisions for the project. In this sense, they are directing their disciplines. I’m just there to help that process and to make sure there’s nothing preventing them from doing their jobs.
Which part of EA do you work with?
The Sims.
I know you can't discuss what you're working on right now, but can you tell me more about what you do?
Sure! Let's talk about pre-production first. So in pre-pro, the concentration is trying to drill down on a great design that we can deliver on. It’s also a great time to give people opportunities to stretch and explore other areas they might be interested in. For example, an engineer trying design, or an artist trying some project management.
What does a typical day look like for you?
In pre-production? It’s a mixture of making sure that design and production have what they need, so they can lock down a design for the next project; closing out projects that are in their final stages; getting folks growth opportunities in areas that interest them; and a whole lot of other things, but I’ll spare you the details.
Could you also describe the production stage, and how your role changes then?
In production, the concentration is on delivering against the vision, so my role becomes that of a supporter. Everyone sees the vision, and I help them get roadblocks out of their way. At the same time, I try to make sure we’re looking ahead.
Being able to keep the future “us” in mind as we work, be it two weeks, one month, or even one solution down the road, is something we tend to forget to do when we’re focused on the next milestone. Luckily, many people I work with share this philosophy. The Sims environment has always been great at maintaining its culture. The more people that embrace that culture, the less work I actually do. That opens me up to take more off my manager, which opens him up to make more off his manager, etc., etc.
How did you get your start in the industry?
My friend was in QA (he’s also a Development Director now, by the way) and asked me if I wanted to help him. I told him I wanted out of the video game industry, but he asked me to try it for a few months. I’ve been with The Sims ever since. There are at least 14 people from that QA team that are now on the Development team, and it’s The Sims culture that keeps me coming back for more.
What games have you worked on so far?
At EA? Every The Sims game since The Sims 2. Well, maybe that’s overstating it, but it’s much easier than listing them all out. So let’s say… minus two to four titles. PC, not console.
Wow. That’s a lot of The Sims.
Yeah, I’d hate to update my resume. The list alone would take up a page!
So, did you study something in college that helps you in your current role?
[Laughs] That depends on who you ask. I have a psychology degree, so while I don’t feel that relates to games at all, I’ve heard that it helps me manage people.
That said, I don’t think I’m psychologizing people. …Yes, psychologizing. I’m making it a word.
What advice do you have for someone in college who wants a job like yours?
A lot of success in the video game industry depends on work ethic. Whatever trade interests you – be it art, animation, engineering, design, etc. – your work ethic is paramount. Now, I’m not saying ungodly hours on ungodly days. It’s more about the pursuit to constantly improve, reflect, and shoot for quality and efficiency.
Going back a little, you said you started in QA, right?
Correct.
Would you recommend that as a first step for people who want to get into the industry?
That’s tricky. There are a lot of factors that come into play. I’ll say this, though: in my experience, it is the easiest position to get, but one of the hardest positions to get out of. This is when work ethic really comes into play.
There are those who just sit and absorb hours and paychecks, and there are those who really show interest in the project and have the ability to deliver high quality work. That’s the trick, really. QA doesn’t have “hard deliverables.” They have the very open objective of “find every bug in the game.” So work ethic really helps people stand out. The biggest impact you can make is for your work ethic to have a positive influence which helps improve the entire department.
Is there a more ideal way to get into a Development Director role?
The first step would be to get project management experience.
Are you a gamer?
I am. I’m a big, huge fighting game fan. Right now I’m playing Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
I’m also a big comic book fan, but my brother came over to my house and stole Batman: Arkham City before I could play it. He left a copy of Captain America in its place and said I had to play that before I could play Batman. No surprise, as my brother was a producer on Captain America!
Any parting advice for our readers?
Always be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Then, improve on both.

 Taken From www.ea.com  ( original post).

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BATTLE:LOS ANGELES!!----MUST WATCH!

Battle: Los Angeles

Battle: Los Angeles  also known as battle: LA  and Internationally known as world Invention Battle: Los Angeles .Directed by  Jonathan Liebesman . Remember The Rings.?  starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez,(Avatar Pilot gal) Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo and Michael Peña. 

 

Liebesman’s first big budget venture is almost a war movie with slight odd twist coz this is a war against …yah.. “Aliens” the outer world species came to destroyed ours. Jonathan Liebesman intended the film to be like a war film, and the complete film is shoot in hand held camera style remember united 93. The actors went through three weeks of boot camp, in order to learn how to realistically operate as a marine platoon. 90% of the alien are computer generated but the explosion and effects were mostly real though green screen and Roto were used.

The movie starts with Santa Monica Airport used as a base camp of us Marines. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), a 20-year veteran who lost his squad during his last deployment in Iraq. And he was planning to retire, but must replace the platoon sergeant from Echo Company, Marines. Under command of 2ndLt. William Martinez (Ramón Rodríguez), who graduated from The Basic School one month earlier. Platoon as to conduct a rescue mission for civilians at LAPD police station where civilians are hidden.

The complete movie is filled with cutting edge excitement with perfectly crafted Action with sear exciting plot and screen play. Though the critical response for the movie was that, special effects are good but script is quiet clichéd. Roger Ebert panned Battle: Los Angeles in a lengthy review, calling the movie "noisy, violent, ugly and stupid", giving the film a mere half star rating. Though he praised Aaron Eckhart's performance, Ebert heavily criticized the film's writing; responses by critiques in sites like Rotten Tomatoes were also not good. Though I enjoyed the movie personally. And I’ll suggest you guys to watch it!, you will love it! And for your information, a first person shooting game is already been released developed by Live Action Studios. Eeeeooo!! Battle: Los Angeles  has already done a business of 200million$ till now, world over. And more than 80 million$ in us alone.

TINTIN-YOU SHOULD KNOW .

CREATOR

 

The creator of TINTIN Georges Remi  was born in Brussels Belgium 1907

 Georges Remi was not a stand out student rather he would indulge in adventurgame on the street of Brussels. On higher secondary class he joined the boys scouts his Drawing skills caught the attention of is scout teacher and soon he was busy illustrating for scouts magazine and created his first character Totor.

TINTIN

 

Georges left school at the age of 17 and opted pen name “Hergé,” and started working for children’s page on a local news paper Le Vingtième Siècle. Tintin inspired by  scout boy Totor came out in 1929 it was an instant hit by the time of 1950 it has raveled all around the world but herge stayed in Belgium ..he established his own studio.And here with his team of assistant artists he started expand the TINTIN Adventure across all the horizon.

ROLL

Hergé’s had become a great sensation his story was based on current political scenario of that time. He took his readers to all around the world as TINTIN adventure was about traveling different places around the globe from Japanese-occupied China in The Blue Lotus to the Arctic Ocean in The Shooting Star.

The Black Island takes Tintin and his canine companion to a foreboding island off the coast of Scotland. A mythical beast — based partly on the Scottish Loch Ness monster — haunts the island, and Tintin is  determined to get to the bottom of the local legend, once and for all.

Ice Age 4 Trailer 2

TINTIN---WHAT THEY SAY?

Chris Rayment

Is it just me or does anyone else find the new Tin Tin movie disappointing?
A great adventure story told in true Spielberg fashion but for me the use of Motion Capture was a misconception. OK, you can't fault such technology but Mo Cao ia ear better utilised in the gaming sector.
The Tin Tin purist will not be happy as the film deviates from its comic book roots - Trad 2D anim would have suited it better but this was never an option for Spielberg. It wouldn't have worked as a 3D movie either.
I would have preferred to tp have seen it as a live action film laden with CGI and V/FX How could Peter Jackson not see this as well? It worked fantastically well for him in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
No doubt Tin Tin will do well at the box office and so we will see more use of Mo cap- remember how Stereoscopic 3D went ballistic after Avatar.
Yet again we can expect the overuse of technology for technologies sake . . . . .Ho Hum such is life.

 Nilanjan Roy Chowdhury but the movie is so.. so.. it is made particularly for the children in India.

Shibaji Dey I miss the test of animation in it. i cant compare it with UP.But Tintin is tintin above all in its uniqueness .

Abhishek Nitish Yes we can ...or rather should say, we have to expect the overuse of technology specially wen it is introduced by big players doesn't matter these are introduced in big budget way... these are actually money making techniques and lots of small players will go for it... i agree with you but but our agree-ment is motivated by our love for goodolddays theory which is not going to be viable commercially i guess.

Debabrata Chakraborty i agree with u sir but the thng is that 2much techno is not good...evrythng shud have some limit..

Abhinava Das ‎2d of tintin was more good than 3d.........    

Jaybrata Bhattacharyya agree, either 2D or live action with VFX would have been the right choice. Mo capture made the whole thing look like crap, they should have learned it from polar express. 

DIGITAL LONDON--Anonymous

Roland Emmerich's new Adventurer Anonymous where a virtual London was to be created, a London  prior to the Great Fire of 1666. for this they build thousand of buildings from a technology called OGEL. This enormous VEX challenge was taken by Volker Engel and Marc Weigert.

We went several times to England to shoot buildings for textures and photogrammetry that were left over from the 16th century," Weigert suggests. "We basically went everywhere from the Scottish border in Wales all the way down to the south and found every little village that we could use for assets to build the city." (excerpts from AWN).

They worked regularly in 3ds Max with both hand and automated work.

"We had more than 300 shots and a second unit team that shot a few back plates in England, but only a few of those were used," adds Weigert."It was all shot in Germany, using both interior and exterior greenscreens. We had entire sequences of 50 to 60 shots where it was just the actors walking or riding in front of greenscreens on stage, and we would build the entire environment for it, which was also accurate. When we were looking at old British films, even up to a few years ago, they were always shot on the same locations with the permission of the Heritage Trust. We didn't want to do that. We wanted to use visual effects to create history as it was, so we built the White Hall Palace, for instance, which was Queen Elizabeth's home. It doesn't exist anymore and is in a totally different place and looks totally different. But we built it accurate to old paintings.

"When you do something in 3D, you can never see it in real time," Weigert suggests. "You have to wait for the picture to render, then you have to wait for all the frames to render to then put it into comp and then to see the results. So we tried to move away from that and do as much as we could with projection techniques in Fusion, which was the software of choice for this project. And we together worked with eyeon to develop new tools, one of which was full 3D water as a compositing package inside Fusion, so we had almost real time feedback on our water of the River Thames; we did 3D backgrounds with projected images must faster. For instance, we'd only render a still frame in the 3D package and then re-projected that in Fusion. And we'd use that and add camera moves.
"We wanted those shots to look as real and as immersive as possible. Roland likes to create these shots to put things in perspective and guide you and give you a sense of scale." (excerpts from AWN)

Mega Gaming Tournaments

Gaming is in a stage like it was never before several Gaming competition are taking place every where in the world,more and more gamers are falling in to join, playing from right at home or gaming cafes all around the worlds.This is an electronic world where we are living in, so does our gaming habits.

Listed bellow are major gaming events which are taking place.

WCG

Started way back in 2000 in Korea presented  by on of the leading electronic appliance company Samsung. This was a huge success, establishing it in every gamers wish list. The WCG bags big sponsorship and offers up to $400,000 in prize money. The event is held every year between October to December. 

 First  four venue of the competition(2000-2004) was in Korea after that it moves on to other venues like US Singapore. WCG conducts preliminary rounds in all the participating countries, the winners of which play in the main event. It's a very well presented event with enough ex-poser.well Indian gamers are participating every year but we  have no luck so far.

ESWC 

 EWCG which stand for Electronic Sports World Cup was started by a french gaming company callen Game service. ESWC has gain huge respect among gamers and all over the world.the rezone alone is not the whooping prize money it offers that is 150 000 euros, ESWC is is also known for its smooth running.it stared in year 2003 is held each year in France. 37 countries with 150 000 gamers participated last year in the event. Indian gamers had no luck in the event so far.

ESWC is hugely popular and gaining more and more popularity.the prize package has raised this year from 150 000 euros to jaw dropping 300 000 euros. SK, zEx, Team 9 are few world known team has participated in the event are world known figure.

 

MATCH MOVING

CG car replacement-FastFive

Cinematic technique Match Moving is a Technique that makes insertion of computer generated graphics into a live action footage possible with correct position,scale and orientation according to the related motion.

why we do that?

Animated 3d effects or graphic (three dimensional character or effects) insertion into live            footage.

• save money--F16 flying footage required  into your scene..can you afford that?? no?? then its time build a 3d  model in Maya an do some motion tracking.
• Architectural Previsualization. ( ground or bird view)
• Set extension (Forts of Trons or Ndtv flashy news room.
• Crash from vehicle POV.
• Matte Painting ...how that end of the world like landscape has build. in Photoshop most probably.
• Replacing objects AD 230 there were no electric poles i guess! right?

original live footage of new york street where funny looking alien vehicles made in 3ds max has been inserted

The Process of match moving.

Tracking: Here specific track points on the surface of a real object will be projected in the scene to track the motion of the objects. After tracking i becomes the series of two dimensional coordinates once all the tracking data has been done...now it can be used for 2D motion or to calculate 3D motion.

Calibration: This process attempts to derive the motion of the camera by solving the inverse-projection of the 2D paths for the position of the camera. All parameters necessary to model a virtual or real world

camera, like orientation,focal length etc,and position of 3D points in a space roughly known as cloud points.

small dots( track points done in boujou)

Final Comp 3D text done in Cinema 4D.

Ground plane:Once calibration is complete, it is necessary to define a ground plane. Normally, this is a unit plane that determines the scale, orientation and origin of the projected space. Some programs attempt to do this automatically, though more often the user defines this plane. Since shifting ground planes does a simple transformation of all of the points, the actual position of the plane is really a matter of convenience.

Reconstruction: A reconstruction program can create three-dimensional objects that mimic the real objects from the photographed scene. Using data from the point cloud and the user's estimation, the program can create a virtual object and then extract a texture from the footage that can be projected onto the virtual object as a surface texture.

2D composition programme for Match Moving: Shake, Adobe Aftereffect, combustion etc.

3D composition programme for Match Moving: Maya match mover, voodoo, boujou, Nuke and Blender have Three-dimensional motion tracking capabilities.

VERY ROUGH IDEA ABT VFX

Don juggle your Brain with....... what this so called VFX is? . just take a look at scene composition from the movie called AVIATOR. and you will get the rough idea of what VFX is and why it is sometime unavoidable during movie making.
 first take a look at the picture given bellow.This shot was totally constructed in CG.and why is that??? because no camera in this whole blue world was capable to shoot this XF11 jet plane taking off at the speed of 130 knot  which is almost 250 km/h from a incredibly close distance  at astonishing 180 degree angle  camera track.


Awe! is it possible in real life? no way. take a look at the photographs first.-

Ok so what had to be done was to create an CG plane in 3 Dimension first and use a 3d virtual camera to shoot the scene in a single shot.And that is what special effects supervisor did.

This shot was totally constructed in CG by mapping photographs of the runway, environment, and cloudscape. The plane was also mapped from the original 1/4 model detailed photographs and animated based on the original pre-viz.


now take a look at the image below..A 3d model of XF-11made in maya

. And after that they had to be accurate to mach the color, reflection,lighting on the plane acording to the mapped runway photographs.to look the scene natural.

And this how it looked in the movie.

Interested in gaming??

Interested in gaming??

 

Well you are an art collage student or had a soft corner for cute animated characters you’ve grown with all these years and ultimately chose to build your career in animation industry. Right?? But as you’ve been taught in your school that Gaming (which is an essential part of animation industry which is expected to reach 607 million $ in year 2012) is a very lucrative career option for aspiring 3D artists. you may not find it that interesting …why???

Because you say “I don’t like gaming. I don’t play games; I tried my hand on some racing game before, but didn’t find it that exciting. Rather I like Mickey Mouse….. Tangled movie kind of stuff.”

 “Am I right?” Well, it’s your choice. But please let me tell you something before you shift delete this gaming option from your brain. I’m not going to give you lecture on how gaming industry gives you enormous creative freedom and how exciting it is to build a single high-end game or how brilliant this world is.. or you should sack your first cute gal friend Rapunzel and replace her with  sexy Tom raider. No I’ll never do that. but am going to give you some suggestion that how you can build interest in gaming so that when you get chance as an animator in gaming industry you show the same level of enthusiasms you might’ve show when your chosen in other television or movie industry. But how you can do this???? There is one single answer for this question and that is……

”START PLAYING GAMES.”

But before I start let me tell you something about myself, a couple of years ago I was no gamer actually never tried games before, and as 25 year old boy I was among the elders who use to think computer gaming is for kids...  Or…do they find it interesting..??? This is a waste of time. Or to an extreme...These violent computer games are ruining this generation. Blah blah blah. But as soon as I realize that playing games is actually good for my career enhancement or it is not too bad if we keep-it-on check. And it is good learning resource and its an ocean of creativity. I decided to try my hand a little. As a starter I find it boring, annoyed and felt like looser. But I kept on playing and I learned few things that I’ll share with you guys that can help you guys on how you can become a gaming freak from a complete novice or no gamer.and trust me on this, gaming world is so exciting that can blow your mind off it is a perfect escape and refuse from your busy life it is almost like meditation. Culmination of excitement and filled with so much creativity as well. Trust me guys even if your not playing...You’re still in the loosing side.

 ..No Gamer To Gaming Freak.

·     Don’t start with older games first. some people think that they should try their hand on older stuff first which is not true. Try newer… high end Games first. FAR CRY, MOST WANTED-NEED FOR SPEED, CRYSIS ARE GOOD CHOICE.

·     ASK FOR HELP...PLZZ DON BE SHY ON ASKING FOR HELP FROM A 16 YEAR OLD GAMING FREAK NEXT DOOR. PLZ DO OR DO SOME GOOGLE .ACHIEVING CHECK POINTS MIGHT SEEM IMPOSSIBLE SOMETIME.

·     Don just plays please. Take a look at what you see…graphics, lights landscape textures materials layouts... Enjoy as you enjoy any other art form see how much effort the entire gaming artists has put into this.

·     Go to the creator’s website and see how they do it. 

                

   Five games you should start with...

 

                         

 CRYSIS

NEED FOR SPEED

MOST WANTED        

 

 

FARCRY

                             

CALL OF DUTY                    

 

LARACROFT 

TO BE CONTINUE.!..........................

10th batch work!!

  A work by beloved Dipon.

10th batch work!!

No Arms No Legs No Worries : Nick Vujicic

Everyone should get inspired from his life...

How Walt Disney Cartoons Were Made

Bursting Balloons Animation

MARTYRS

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MARTYRS : The New 3D Students' Film from 9th Batch of RTG Animate Students

Hi all, here is a good news for everyone at RTG Animate - Animation Academy. Our 9th Batch of students have just finished their 3D project film after many months of hard work. This new movie : MARTYRS is now up on Youtube. All of you should watch it now at : http://youtu.be/4Su309-GLW4 and don't forget to rate it high.

RTG Animate at FICCI FRAMES 2011, Mumbai

RTG Animate - Animation Academy was invited in FICCI FRAMES 2011 Awards programs in Mumbai. Here are some of the moments and glimpses from there.

FICCI FRAMES 2011 inauguration stage

Dignitaries at the inauguration – Producer Yash Chopra, actress

Anushka Sharma, actor Kamal Hasan, director Karan Johar

Producer Yash Chopra and actress Anushka Sharma

in a chat after inauguration of the 3-day program

Mrs. Sonal Jindal, Director of Machino Animation Pvt. Ltd./

RTG Animate – Animation Academy, in the inauguration.  She

was invited to be a Jury in the FICCI Frames 2011 program.

Representatives from Ubisoft, Pune, discussing “Video Games

for Kids”

Representatives from big companies from different countries 

discussing “Challenges of Creating Animated Content from Asia

Pacific for Global Distribution.”

Michael Fink, Worldwide Creative Director of Prime Focus

discussing special effects

Discussion in process on “Valuing 3D Content: Movies, Television,

and Games”

Panel discussion on “Children Media Consumption Habit”

Representative/s from Google and other companies discussing

“Advertising for Next Generation”

David Freeman, Screenwriter, giving special training on hidden 

techniques used by Pixar to produce successful films, which 

RTG Animate has included in its curriculum

Entry point of FICCI Frames 2011, which was held at 5-star 

Renaissance Hotel with the biggest convention center in India

Mr. Nayan Mandal, Center Head, represented  RTG Animate – 

Animation Academy in the 3-day program. Scores of sponsors

poured in money into FICCI Frames 2011, which was evident 

from the splurge.  Delegates from different countries found 

the program to be encouraging and entertaining.

 

Representative from 99Games discussing their challenges and

success in the making of “Jim and Frank Mysteries”

LUCKEY THIEF : Lattest 2d classical project film of RTG Students

Art Exhibition @RTG Animate

Press Release : A New Platform for Young Artists of Eastern India

RTG Animate - Animation Academy, which is considered to be a premier academy in its category, is organizing Launch Pad Art Exhibition from January 28 through February 3, 2011.  This exhibition-cum-sale is intended to give students of all art colleges in eastern India an opportunity to exhibit their artwork and sell them.  Bringing up new talents and encouraging every artist is the main aim of this exhibition.  From visitors’ point of view, what makes this art exhibition unique is that this is the first art exhibition in eastern India where visitors can get glimpses of selected paintings from all the 13 art colleges in West Bengal.  Some paintings of RTG students who are studying animation courses have also been displayed.  As there is no participation fee, large number of students from art colleges requested RTG to display their artwork and help them to sell their work.  RTG has showcased only those works which are of good quality.  Paintings of students who are studying in art colleges or passed within the last two years were invited to display their work in the exhibition.  The artworks will be displayed from 3 to 8 p.m. everyday for seven days, including Saturday and Sunday.  RTG has invited about 3200 art enthusiasts and corporates to visit the exhibition and expects a good number of works to get sold.  Prices of the painting range from Rs. 2000 – 7000, which buyers will find interesting.   The program is a good platform for art students and will be held yearly at RTG Animate.

On 28th January, famous painter Mr. Wasim Kapoor and Ms. Piu Sarkar will inaugurate the program at 3 p.m.  Ms. Sonal Jindal, Director of RTG Animate, politician Ms. Shakila Shams, and Mr. Christopher Derek Rayment, Head of Faculty of RTG Animate, will grace the inauguration program.  Nayan Mandal, Center Head of RTG Animate, will anchor the program.

RTG Animate offers diploma and degree courses in animation and gaming since 2005.  It has arranged to offer free Animation Workshop for all visitors and participants during the exhibition.  Students who are good in drawing, sculpting, or other streams in the art colleges make good animators and the extensively growing animation industry is desperately looking for animators who have good drawing skills.  Apart from promoting new and upcoming artists, the exhibition intends to offer a lucrative career option in the animation industry to the art college students.  The annual Launch Pad Art Exhibition is a confluence for all stakeholders in the art and animation industry – art students, art buyers, animators, and the animation industry.

For Further Details: Launcherz

Rajiv: 9831362041

Moumita: 9831326900

Art Exhibition at RTG Animate Campus

 

Fun on Xmass

Artist: ARNAB SIR

Artist: ARNAB SIR & SUBRATA SIR

Artist: ARNAB SIR