Interview: Industry Profile: LOOM

[requiem2d]

Ryan, thank you taking the time to participate in this interview.

First off, congratulations on your well deserved & first position within the industry. Could you tell us a little bit of what you do at Krome on a day to day basis?

Thanks for opportunity Noel ! My Position at Krome Studios is Prop and Texture Artist, which involves me working along side Level Designers and Environmental Artists (a bunch of cool talented guys). I create Prop & Level (Map) Textures as well as the Prop Mesh themselves. I cant go into too much detail, but at the moment im working on Cemetery/Graveyard Assets. Such as : Gravestones, Shovels, Trees etc. Konami says Release Date: Summer 2007 , but who knows .... i guess, when its done :P I use 3dsmax8 and Photoshop CS1(bit of a bummer on the cs1, as i am used to cs2)

3D Forums are often packed full of threads relating to getting in the industry, as such, how did you find Krome, or how did they find you?

Well as most keen artists tend to do is reveal themselves in a "Artists Looking For Jobs" forum topic. Which i did, and in not too long i was then greeted by a recruitment agency (Interpro). They said they had a company who was looking for artists, i was a little skeptical about who it was. I never knew it was Krome Studios until they sent me their Art Test.

Do you remember if any one piece in your portfolio was a real gem to the recruiter?

Hmm, would definately be my weapons. Probably my USP .45. They really seemed to like them, and still talk about them... hehe

USP Render & Texture Sheet



Being a mod veteran, how much of a role did those experiences play towards the recruiter?

I will say that working on Modifications team with a professional attitude is about the best out-of-industry experience you can get. I've worked and contributed to about 7-8 mod teams now and have found that each team as different method and attitudes, while picking up all little tips and tricks from each team person. This has really helped as i am working with a different teams at Krome. I think that Recruiters are really seeing potential from modders these days, and are willing to snap you up.

Map props made for the HL2 mod Off-Limits


Now that you've transitioned from an enthusiast world of game art to a professional one, what major changes have happened in your texturing workflow?

Mod work would usually be a little more relaxed with vague deadlines, i would do 2-3 hours texturing then nothing until later that night. As of now its all "Work from 9 till 5". Which is fine right now, as i love it... haha. In the past i would handpaint most of all my work, while here i have a whole drive with phototextures/references at my disposal. I guess i havent taken on any new texturing skills as of yet, but i am increasing the speed and quality of my final work.

On a lighter note, what are the perks and funner aspects of working in a professional studio?

2 Words, Beer O'Clock. Usually on a Friday at 4:30. While Drinking a few everyone joins a BattleField2 or Quake3 Server and has a fun afternoon.

Our last question, if a texture artist could only have three photoshop filters to their disposition, which ones would you pick?

Nice Question, Probably Unsharp Mask, Grain and the Nvidia Normalmap plugin.

Thanks to Ryan aka LOOM for the interview. You can visit his website / portfolio here !

[requiem2d]

Was wondering what happened till I checked my spam folder. Apologies for the delay, article is now up!

[Pete]

Snazzy. Sounds pretty fun, I want to be Loom That friday beer o' clock sounds like fun too. Congrats getting into the industry too, very well deserved

[jaboo224]

Awesome Job loom. Its funny to hear serious answers from you instead of the silly ones on msn :P

[Pankake]

Wheeey, congratulations on your job LOOM, cool interview.

[Talon]

Nice interview.

I just saw on your site that it says you don't use a wacom... jesus, man. Nice one. I couldn't live without my tablet :x

[benclark]

nice interview, cheers LOOM

Its great to see that your MOD work is rewarded too, congrats on the job