I think there’s huge potential for growing the video game industry in India: Jodie Azhar, CEO at Teazelcat Games, and BAFTA Breakthrough 2016 finalist

Q. You started your career as an animator and then transitioned to the role of a technical artist. What prompted the shift? Can you shed some light on a technical artist's role and the part they play in bringing a game to life?

Jodie Azhar: When I started in the games industry, being a technical artist was a niche role, and finding entry level positions wasn't easy. I have a great love for animation, so I focused on this as my way of getting a job at a games studio.

Once I was working, I could see more of how games are made and what work is involved for different job roles. As an animator, I worked a lot with programmers to solve technical challenges, and my background in programming helped me translate ideas between other animators and the programming team.

I realized that this was a dedicated role that also included building tools and pipelines for animators, creating character rigs, and solving animation problems to ensure motion in the game looked correct and visually appealing.

By moving to a larger studio, I was able to pursue this job role as my full-time position. I later transitioned to become a technical artist. It is a similar job that focuses on problem-solving and improving the different aspects of art in a game, including shaders, 3D models, UI, and VFX, rather than just focusing on animation.

Q. Your role was integral in bringing the Total War franchise to life. Can you shed some light on some of the hurdles you faced when bringing the visual narrative of the games together?

Jodie Azhar: Each game project has different challenges depending on the gameplay and visual requirements. For a game like Total War, where players might have hundreds of animated characters on screen in a battle simultaneously, performance can be a big concern.

The game must run smoothly without lag to ensure the player knows what is happening and look its best and show off the beautiful art and animation. This means that art must be optimized not to display unnecessary detail when it’s far away from the in-game camera but look impressive when close up and appears much larger on-screen.

Image via Total War

This is especially important when using art in story moments, such as cinematics. At these points in the game, the art shows off the full details and impressive quality that the artists can achieve.

But throughout the game, the art still needs to have a consistent style and level of quality, ensuring that story characters are recognizable through the different areas of gameplay and maintaining high production values that provide an immersive experience for players.