Meaningful Problem-Solving in Games Creation and Beyond | Rockstar & Texas A&M | Houdini Educati...
0Representatives from Rockstar Games and Texas A&M University discuss the delicate balance between developing tool-specific skills and establishing foundational knowledge. High-quality games require good concepting as well as technical finesse. Being able to show your process and having the ability to deep-dive into a particular aspect of a tool (rather than just presenting your final product) are huge advantages that demonstrate an artist’s potential value to a studio.
André Thomas' passion for game-based learning resonates inside and outside of the classroom. A graduate of LCAD MFA in Game Design, he founded and serves as the director of the LIVE Lab in the Department of Visualization at Texas A&M University, where he also teaches game design, game development and interactive graphics techniques. In 2014, he founded Triseum, where he serves as CEO and leads the creation of its award winning academic video games. He is an EdTech Leadership award winner, National Academy of Sciences LabX advisory board member, National Arts Education Association lead instructor, and Chillennium Game Jam chair. André also has been invited to speak at numerous education and technology events both in the U.S. and abroad, including SXSW, TEDx, ASU-GSV, BETT, Chinese Academy of Fine Arts, Austrian Ministry of Education and European Schoolnet. His game-based learning insights and ideas are featured in the Huffington Post, Austin Business Journal, eCampus News and Learning Solutions Magazine, to name a few.With more than 25 years in CGI production, André has worked around the world on legendary video games, live action feature films and memorable commercials. Previously he was Head of Graphics for EA Sports Football games (including NCAA, Head Coach, NFL Tour and Madden, the longest running and most successful sports franchise in games industry). He also created graphics for such notable films as Men in Black, Con Air, Independence Day, Valiant, Ant Bully and Tomorrow Never Dies.
Nick Greco is the Director of Visual Effects for Rockstar Games, based out of Rockstar's New England Studio. Nick has close to 20 years of experience in the game industry, having started his career as an environment art intern back in 2002. Over time he found his true passion in VFX. Working his way into a VFX leadership role, he now manages Rockstar's global team of VFX artists. Nick has worked on many AAA titles including: Bully: Scholarship Edition, Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Each project brings new challenges and opportunities to do something that has not been seen before. The introduction of Houdini into the pipeline for the VFX team has helped speed up workflows and raise the bar on what is possible visually in our worlds.
Luiz Kruel is a Technical Artist working at Rockstar Games. Previously he was at SideFX Software, where he worked on the SideFX Labs team supporting games and film customers building tools and 3rd party integrations. Before SideFX, Luiz has worked on several of the largest franchises in the industry, including Halo, Call of Duty, Doom, Madden and Just Cause.