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Tag: REALTIME

The Year Automotive Events Went Digital

We absolutely love a motor show and are really excited to be back at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week, which is allowed to go ahead at full capacity as part of the UK Government’s pilot Events Research Programme. In the run up, we look back at how successfully the automotive industry embraced digital events last year, and what the future of motor shows looks like now.

Last year, the events industry took a massive hit. It is a significant contributor to the global economy. As per the report published by Allied Market Research, the global events industry was valued at $1,135.4 billion in 2019, with corporate events & the seminar segment holding the highest market share.

That was before the pandemic. With a sudden lockdown, every physical event was thrown up into the air. Like many other industries, there was no consensus on how to handle this unfamiliar situation. Eventually, with the writing on the wall, the events industry had to make a choice: cancel outright or move to digital events. The automotive industry was no different.

But with digital events being the only alternative, did the automotive industry take advantage of everything they had to offer? And did those that took up the challenge succeed in providing a worthwhile experience? And what will happen in 2021 and beyond for motor shows? Read our brand-new E-Guide on the subject and let us know your thoughts!

4 ways VFX recruitment is changing

As we all know, the last year introduced a new world of lockdowns, social distancing, and remote working. And everyone can see how it has changed our lives. 

But now we’re faced with even more change. A “new normal,” as more people are vaccinated and consider returning to how life used to be. Now, the question is, how much will our world resemble what it did before this all happened? Is remote working here to stay? And, significantly for the VFX industry, is relocating new hires going to be a thing of the past? Suddenly remote working gives studios the opportunity to recruit from halfway across the world. 

What will VFX recruitment look like in the coming months? 

Office vs home 

Perhaps the biggest challenge is going to be how to get people back into the office. We’ve not had a long, expensive commute for over a year now, will people want to go back to that full-time? It’s also allowed for flexibility, which has long been lacking in the industry. 

That’s not to say the office is obsolete. The VFX industry is a collaborative one. We want to be able to welcome clients into a studio space and get our teams together to brainstorm in a nurturing environment. Zoom calls are great – but they aren’t the same as having people come together in one room. 

So, one massive change we’re likely to see is a more fluid way of working. Companies will have to consider how they cater to both crowds, and this might mean shaking up our idea of what an office is. We think that we’ll see a blended working week, with hotdesking picking up, more communal areas for people to mingle and share ideas. A more open approach might be just what’s needed to get people excited about coming in again. In short, we need something at the office that we can’t get at home. 

Pulling from the same talent pool 

In a similar vein, remote working will benefit studios when recruiting, as people don’t have to be geographically close to the office. They could be on the other side of the country, if not in a completely different one altogether.  

So how will companies differentiate themselves from the crowd? They have to offer something more. And if we see a boom of freelance work, that’ll be even more important. We might see companies more open to listening to potential employee’s demands and offer more flexible options. Smaller studios might fare better as they can offer a more intimate environment that values all voices, one where everyone knows everyone else.

Changing priorities 

Something we’ve seen improve over the last year is the prioritisation of employee care. Since lockdown was tough on all of us, conversations about mental health and wellness are more common. That’s something we love to see. 

Now workplaces have to continue putting people first, where everyone feels appreciated and a valued member of the team. It also means offering a more fluid way of working. The traditional 9 to 5 doesn’t work for everyone, so a smart company will offer flexible hours. It means people can fit their personal life around their work. Take an extra hour at lunch and make it back later. Go and pick your kids up from school. And if you need a mental health break, take it. We wouldn’t be surprised if that kind of corporate attitude becomes more common.

Technical challenges 

Working from home presented its own unique technical challenges. Not only did we have to up our game with video conferencing software, the industry had to make sure that staff could remote into their computers in the office via a VPN and remote desktop application. 

To support remote working at REALTIME, we made several changes. We installed a 10 Gigabit internet connection in our two studios, invested in our GPU rendering capabilities, and worked hard to increase our security – as a result, we are well on our way to becoming TPN (trusted partner network) accredited.   

So, what do VFX recruiters want? 

If you’re looking to get into the VFX industry, or simply just want to move somewhere new, hopefully this gives you an idea of the shifting priorities. And while you have some say in how you work, they’ll still be looking for your best work. So, what do you need to show? 

For us, it isn’t just about what looks good. That’s great – we love to see amazing work. But we’re focused on you. Don’t forget that you’re one person applying for the role, not the whole team. What did you, the individual, do? What can you point to, even a rock or a tree, that you can say is your work? 

And what was your process? Some companies don’t want to see the entire working out, but there still needs to be a sense of where your ideas came from. How have you made your projects work? Why did you make the decisions you did? VFX is art, and every piece of art is made up of thousands of micro-decisions, so let that thought process speak for itself. It’s not just about high-quality work, but also high-quality thinking. 

So here we are, about to enter the second half of 2021, and we’re not sure what the future holds. But something we do know is the VFX industry is changing. And we can’t wait to see where it goes. 

REALTIME is always looking for bright minds to join our team. If you think you’re a good fit for our team, reach out to our recruitment team at [email protected]

REALTIME team up with Ukie to #RaiseTheGame on diversity

The #RaiseTheGame pledge, an initiative from UKIE, is a collaborative and high-impact commitment to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in the games industry — creating cultures where everyone belongs, voices are heard and ideas can thrive.

We are proud to announce that we are supporting the #Raisethegame initiative by pledging to create change within our own organisation.

Companies signing up to the pledge work towards:

  • creating a diverse workforce by recruiting as fairly and as widely as possible
  • shaping inclusive and welcoming places to work, by educating and inspiring people to take more personal responsibility for fostering and promoting diversity and inclusion
  • Reflecting greater diversity within games at every level from game design and development through to marketing and community engagement.

REALTIME joins developers, publishers and other companies associated to the video games industry who have also signed-up to the pledge, including Xbox, Mediatonic, Rare and EA.

Says Tony Prosser, Managing Director of REALTIME, “We wholeheartedly support the principle of equal opportunities and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment within our business. Signing up to Ukie’s #Raisethegame pledge is a hugely exciting step for REALTIME; diversity in our workforce ensures diversity, innovation and resilience in our work, which is a vital to our company culture.”

From concept to completion: Dragons in The Watch

In early 2021, BBC America aired the fantastical new Terry Pratchett adaptation – ‘The Watch’. A fantastical world as rich as Terry Pratchett’s Discworld required some innovative VFX work to bring this adaptation to life, especially the dangerous Noble Dragon that threatens its world and the cute, but fiery, pocket-size dragon Goodboy. 

REALTIME was a key creative partner on the series, creating a range of 2D and 3D VFX, including for the two very different dragons. Uniquely anarchic and thrillingly entertaining, the character-driven drama follows several of Terry Pratchett’s best-loved creations on a riotous and emotional odyssey.

But how did we approach such a task? In part one, we’re going to run through the initial stages as we worked to meet this unique brief. Let’s run through our VFX journey…

A tale of two dragons

This project presented two specific challenges: creating the smaller Goodboy, a dragon who fits in the palm of your hand, and at the other extreme, the colossal Noble Dragon, a creature the size of a jumbo jet, with enough firepower to destroy a city.

From the brief, we had to create something never seen before. With two distinctly different creatures to create, we started with the concept art. It’s at this stage we began to sketch out the look of the dragons, building an idea of how to bring them to life in 3D. In an age of Game of Thrones and other high fantasy, dragons have become part of the zeitgeist. Our goal was to make something brand new that gave the series two unique dragons of its own.

The production team had originally wanted to use a real gecko to ‘act’ the part of Goodboy. The wings and fire breath would just be added in post-production. In practice, this was a very challenging task to accomplish on set, as we saw when we suggested production do a camera test early on. It proved too difficult to work with a real lizard. This meant Goodboy needed to be a full CGI creature, but also work with the budget limitations of the series.

We still wanted to have the feel of a real-life lizard, so drew inspiration from the armadillo lizard. As we would be getting much more up close and personal with this creature, we had to focus on bringing life to it, capturing his personality and character. We visualised a rescue puppy to help us understand the kind of emotional response we wanted Goodboy to elicit from viewers, adding details like his broken wings and scars.

Goodboy might well be the cutest character in the series – just watch him sing – but he also has a dangerous side as a hand-held flamethrower. There’s a lot of personality to Goodboy that had to be brought out through the VFX work. He needed a cheeky personality with an expressive face, but we had to be mindful of budgetary considerations when designing his body and rigging his face. 

In the grand finale of the series, Goodboy takes centre stage to stop the rampage of the Noble Dragon. Without spoiling it for you, it proved a great opportunity to bring some of Goodboy’s personality to the forefront and finish the series with a bit of Pratchett-esque tongue-in-cheek wit. He is quite a young and inexperienced dragon, and we played this up in his attempt to fly. He launches off with a running jump, but his flight is very bumpy as he has to learn as he goes. 

For the Noble Dragon, with its awe-inspiring size, we needed a different approach. To make it feel different to the dragons featured in other popular fantasy series and films, we wanted to give it an ethereal, smoky quality. This meant it would need to go through multiple stages and be highly FX-driven.

When we designed the Noble Dragon, even though its scales wouldn’t be seen by the audience, we still rendered a version with them because we need to know how it looks and operates. 

But we’ll talk about the Noble Dragon in more detail in part 2 when we dive into the pre- and post-vis processes. This is where the two dragons really came to life. Stay tuned for part 2!

REALTIME has a team of highly creative individuals who can elevate your project with fantastic ideas and visuals. If you would like to find out more, get in touch with me at [email protected].

 

Four of the most inspiring women in the games industry

The video game industry has a reputation as a male-dominated space. At REALTIME, we are committed to playing a part to change this. To mark #IWD 2021, we are planning to sign up to the #RaiseTheGame Diversity pledge by UKIE. 

In 2019, 46% of gamers in the US were women. It’s a hobby that transcends gender and in this 21st-century world, we can move beyond this outdated viewpoint. Despite this, only 24% of game developers worldwide were women. Almost half of all gamers are women, yet there aren’t enough voices representing them.

Thankfully, that number is on the rise and we only have amazingly talented and skilful women to thank for that. They are working behind the scenes to bring games to life and lead the way for other young girls. Here are just a handful of the many inspirational women in the games industry who have had a huge impact. 

 

Robin Hunicke

Robin has had a rich and very impressive career. Starting off at EA, she worked on multiple games, including MySims as lead designer and Boom Blox as a producer. After leaving EA she went on to produce the award-winning Journey for the PS3 at thatgamecompany. If that wasn’t enough, she worked for Tiny Speck to develop Glitch. 

Robin is now the co-founder and CEO of the game studio Funomena, a studio that describes its games as “experimental, playful, and engaging” and is behind the charmingly bizarre Wattam. Robin is well-recognised in the industry for her support of indie games, experimental approach to game design, and advocating for women in the games industry. 

 

Aya Kyogoku

Aya worked her way up at Nintendo to the role of sequence director on Animal Crossing: City Folk. After City Folk received mixed reviews, Aya, as one of the two directors, decided to take a different approach with its sequel, New Leaf. She used her position as director to address the gender imbalance in the industry by hiring a team that was 50% female. She also encouraged members of the team, no matter their role, to make suggestions for the game. The tireless efforts of Ava and her team led to New Leaf selling over 12 million copies and receiving some of the best reviews for the series to date. 

That was until Aya Animal Crossing: New Horizons came along. Aya struck gold again, creating a game which the world very much needed last year. The game received the “Game Of The Year” award from the Japan Game Awards and sold over 1.88 million copies in three days in Japan. 

Twitter also announced it was the most tweeted about game in 2020. In the year that saw the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, along with massive titles such as The Last of Us Part II and the Final Fantasy VII Remake, that’s no easy feat.

 

Dona Bailey

Dona’s first exposure to video games was when her friend took her to a bar with an arcade to show her the game that the song “Space Invaders” by The Pretenders was named after. Already working as a programmer, she realised Atari was using the same microprocessor. So she decided to leave her job and moved to California in hopes of working for them.

Dona joined Atari’s coin-op division, where she was the only woman. In a four-person team, she worked as the software developer and engineer on the legendary game Centipede. It became one of the most commercially successful arcade games during the arcade golden age. 

Dona is also credited with designing the game in such a way so as to appeal to a broader audience. As such, Centipede became one of the first coin-op games with a significant female player base. She was a true trailblazer, and who knows if the industry would be the same without her impact.

 

Danielle Udogaranya

Of those working in the games industry, only 2% are black. And across all ethnicities, only 28% are female. So we estimate about just over 0.5% of the people working in the entire games industry are black women, and that fact hasn’t gone unnoticed. Representation matters and Danielle Udogaranya is at the heart of the discussion in gaming.

She’s known by her Twitch moniker ‘Ebonix’, but she is also a hugely influential voice in the wider industry and co-founder of Black Twitch UK. As a Sims streamer and customer content creator, she advocated for more inclusive skin tones. Her efforts paid off last year when EA added more than 100 skin tones to The Sims 4, as well as more options for black hairstyles.

She knows just how much people crave representation. She put it best when she said: “I wasn’t met with any push back, but rather embraced by the community, because I was creating content which allowed them to feel represented and see themselves in their games.”

 

Honourable mentions

Four definitely isn’t enough; there are too many great women in gaming to name. There’s Bonnie Ross, current corporate vice president at Xbox Game Studios and head of 343 Industries, the team helming the Halo series. Or what about Siobhan Reddy, studio director at Media Molecule, who just released the revolutionary Dreams?

Some talented voice actresses have brought their characters to life through amazing performances. Ashly Burch is one such name, starring as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn and Chloe in Life is Strange. Both Ashley Johnson and Laura Bailey delivered outstanding work in The Last of Us Part II. And we can’t not mention the extremely talented Yoko Shimomura, the composer behind many stellar soundtracks, including those for the Kingdom Hearts series and Final Fantasy XV.

But this is just a drop in the industry. Women are our community managers, our concept artists, our programmers, our animators, our writers, our QA testers, and all those in marketing, advertising, and PR.

There’s still a long way to go in bridging the gender gap in the games industry, but with women like this leading the way, we’re well on our way to gender equality in the industry. The work they are putting out today could be the inspiration many young girls need, and we can’t wait to see who the next rising star will be.

We also want to point out the great work Code Coven is doing with their female-led, games industry-focused online bootcamp. Their inclusive and friendly learning environment is sure to make the games industry a more diverse place to be. And if you would like to discuss your next project, get in touch with me today at [email protected].