Insights from student Olimpia Di Nella on creating procedural art
04/26/2023 - 08:28
Olimpia, a third-year Visual Arts student at Breda University of Applied Sciences, talks to us about her work in the Tech Art Outsource team.
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Could you tell us about working on the Tech Art Outsource team?
Olimpia: ‘This year, I have been working in the Tech Art Outsource team. We provide services for all the year 3 games teams. It is their goal to develop a game in one academic year. Therefore, I have been part of many projects.’
‘I am a procedural artist, or as it's generally known, a technical artist. That means I have technical knowledge as well as an artistic sense. This makes me the bridge between the people involved in the technical aspects of making a game and the people involved in the art aspects of making a game.’
‘We received requests throughout the year; they varied a lot. Some took little time; others took us several weeks. Depending on our interests, skill sets, and what each of us wanted to learn, we divided the tasks in our team. Also, we would regularly showcase what it was we did.’
‘I learned a lot by collaborating with other people. The diversity at BUas is a big plus for me. The focus on soft skills, like communication skills, also helped me a lot.’
How is your experience creating procedural art?
Olimpia: 'For the creation of procedural art, I use Houdini and Unreal Engine. With these tools, I can break down the steps to make art and teach the system how to make it. For example, with making buildings for a game. It helps automate tasks, which would otherwise take a 3D artist way more time. Depending on lots of factors, of course. Factors that influence how much time making an art piece can take, like scale, dependencies, number of variations and details needed etc.’
‘My first experience with procedural art was in block C of the first year of my CMGT studies. We had to create an environment in Houdini. In year two, we got the chance to select a speciality. I chose procedural art as an individual project.’
What are your plans for the future?
Olimpia: ‘Right now, I am looking for an internship for next year. After the presentation I gave at EPC (Everything Procedural Conference) last week, I already got some emails from companies who are interested in hiring me. That’s great! I would love to explore new and different places around the world.’
‘I have a lot of interests. That is why I am making video games. You learn something new every day. I would want to continue developing myself as a technical artist.’
