Chris Wilson
After graduating from mad academy, Chris went on to work for Plastic Wax, a Sydney based production studio who specialise in creating premium movies for videogame cut-scenes and intros, as well as complex in-game character modelling and animation.

After several years this led to the opportunity to work for UK based games studio Ninja Theory and eventually as one of the Animation leads in the hugely successful Heavenly Sword PS3 game.

Ninja Theory’s PS3 debut is about more than just action – it’s also about presentation. Each aspect of Heavenly Sword, from the fighting to the art direction, comes together to create one of the most engaging titles on the PS3.

To read more about Heavenly Sword visit the website by clicking here >

Heavenly Sword reviews:
Cheatcc.com - Heavenly Sword Review
Gameinformer.com - Game Review
PS3.Gamezone.com - Reviews
Gamepro.com - Game Review

Q:Why did you choose mad academy?
I had studied for 3 years doing a Diploma in Multimedia. The main reason for this was to get into 3D art. Unfortunately there wasn't as much focus on 3D as I had liked, so it had given me a good basis in the tools, but not enough to gain employment. I had been in touch with Truelife Creations during my Diploma and they had said they were running short courses. After a couple of years of freelancing and trying to gain full time employment, I thought it was time to renew my skills, so I approached Truelife again. Now they were just starting the Mad Academy and I felt it would be a well structured course that would meet my needs.

Q:What words of advice would you give someone looking to invest in a mad academy 3D Animators education?
Some words of advice for anyone looking to invest in the Mad Academy 3D Animators Course would be to set yourself a goal before you start, think about what kinds of role you would like to get into in the industry and work hard towards the requirements of being employed in that position, use your time wisely. Ask as many questions as possible and makes sure you come out at the end with a strong, high quality showreel.

Q:What was your career path prior to 3d and visual effects if there was one?
Since my final year of high school I had always set my sights on being a 3D artist. Infact since I was about 7 I have always dreamed of making video games, but at that age I was looking at it more from a programming point of view. After gaining a Diploma in Interactive Multimedia I stuggled to get employment with a 3D FX company because my skillset was too broad. So I ended up working in hospitality.

Q:What inspired you to change direction if at all?
I basically got sick and tired of working in a hotel, and felt my skills were going to waste, that's why I looked into the Mad Academy.

Q:After graduating how did you end up working at Ninja Theory in the UK?
After graduating from the Mad Academy I spent 2 months finishing off my showreel and started sending out for jobs. I eventually scored an animation position with Plastic Wax in Sydney. I got a lot of great experience with them, particularly in Motion Capture techniques. After 18 months with them I decided to take a gamble and move to the UK, where with the skills I had learnt at Plastic Wax enabled me to get a job with Ninja Theory setting up and working in their cutscene Mocap department.

Q:What is your role there?
When I firs started with Ninja Theory I was responsible for establishing a pipeline for dealing with mocap data and cutscenes. I was also resonsible for looking for people with similar skillsets to mine and setting up the cutscene team. I was then flown out to New Zealand to oversee the technical requirements for mocap shoots with Weta, which was then going to be used in the games cutscenes. Once we had received the data from Weta it was my job to implement motion capture data and supporting hand animation in MotionBuilder to create and compile all cinematic cutscenes for Heavenly Sword. This also included working in Maya to set cameras in the 3D environment for each cutscene, refining camera positioning per shot as per the creative director's direction. On top of all this I have also been responsible for creating and maintaining a cutscene tracker, to make sure we were upto date with everything that was happening in our department.

Q:What has your experience been like working at Ninja Theory compared to some of the other studios such as Sydney's Plastic Wax?
My experiences with both Plastic Wax and Ninja Theory are very similar. Ninja theory is a much bigger company than Plastic Wax, and since NT is a game developer, Ive been working with all different sorts of people with different skills. Another big diffrerence is everything at Plastic Wax was post production and pre-rendered sequences, whereas the work Im doing at Ninja Theory is all in a real-time environment. Because of this there are far more technical issue to come to grips with.

Q:What took you by surprise with the job and the company, and what did you learn once you started at Ninja Theory?
I think the biggest surprise was the sheer scale of the company. I had never been invovled with a project or team of this size. There was a massive learning curve once starting with Ninja Theory, firstly I had to cross over from 3D Studio Max to Maya, and had to also learn Motion Builder. Then there was the hurdles of developing cinematic sequences in a real-time environment. I was use to pre-rendered work, and normally what you see through the virtual camera is what you get in your rendered frames. Not the case in real-time. We are reliant on so many varibles based on how the game code works. It really helps with lateral thinking skills!

Q:Were there any specific hurdles or problems that the team had to overcome during any of your recent productions in particular?
To put it short, we encounter hurdles and problems on a daily basis. I guess this is because we are doing something that has never been done before, plus its a next-gen title, so the technology is still being developed.

Q:For those not yet familiar with games production, what is the environment like at such a high level production studio?
The atmosphere at ninja theory is surprisingly relaxed most of the time. Everyone is very professional, and always willing to help out with problems we come across. Things do start to get hectic around milestones or alpha stages, but even still, everyone just gets their head down and produces outstanding work.

Q:Can you give us a brief rundown of your typical day at Ninja Theory?
A typical day for me at Ninja Theory would consist of firstly, getting all the latest assets that have been generated on the previous day. This is very important as we never want to work on a scene without the lastest characters or environments. We also need to get a copy of all the lastest game code so we know that anything we test is as up to date as possible. After this, tasks can vary quite a lot, depending on the stage of the project. At the moment, I am cleaning up scenes and making sure that everything is spot on. eg. cameras, floor contacts etc. But there is always something new that arises during the day, its something you can never really prepare for.

Q:What projects have you been involved with during your time at Ninja Theory?
I have now been at Ninja Theory for a year now, and have only been working on one project, 'Heavenly Sword'. It is a PS3 exclusive game that has been in production now for about 4 years.

Q:What are the other staff members like and do you get a chance to learn from each other?
Everyone at Ninja Theory is great to work with. It is a very professional environment, and everyone is very helpful. We have a specific team for writing scripts and tools for us that will speed up our workflow, and any ideas we have, that can develop something that will help. There is a huge amount of experience from all different kinds of disiplines, and its always easy to get answers to any queries.

Q:What skills and abilities were Ninja Theory looking for when they hired you?
Ninja Theory were looking for someone with experience with Motion Capture data and the pipeline in dealing with this. They were also looking for someone with cinematic experience to work on their cutscenes. I had plenty of experience with MoCap pipelines from my time with Plastic Wax in Sydney, and had refined their MoCap pipeline, this was exactly what Ninja Theory were looking for and made me an offer right then a there.

Q:During your time at mad academy what kind of preparation did you gain that helped with your current role? Skills, experience, connections etc..
I think the good thing about the Mad Academy course I attending was the course structure. It was set out with a project that followed the same principles that the industry follows. From script writing through storyboarding, animatics and final production. I felt this prepared me for what to expect once I got out into the industry.

Q:What was the greatest learning experience you gained working at Ninja Theory or other studios?
It's hard to specify one great learning experience. Every day is a learning experience, and I think it's like that with any studio in the world. You can never know how to do everything, and there are always going to be new problems you come across. I hope I'm learning new things on a daily basis for the rest of my career.

Q:Many production environments get hectic, especially nearing deadlines; how busy did you and your team get during the more intense times on the project? 16 hour days ? no sleep? ... ?
I haven't had to do too much overtime during my time with Ninja Theory. Maybe the occasional weekend here or there, but I think if a project is well managed and scheduled no one should have to any overtime.

Q:What has been your favorite thing about being involved with projects at Ninja Theory and working with other talented people?
I guess my favourite part of being involved with Heavenly Sword at Ninja Theory was when I got to go out and be Technical Supervisor for the MoCap shoot at Weta Digital in Wellington, NZ. This was an incredible expereince, and was something I had only dreamed of. But there are always new experiences on a daily basis, especially in a large company.

Q:What are your goals for future career development and experience?
I don't really have any pre-defined goals for my career. I would really like to dabble in all disiplines to get an idea of what is involved. After this project I will be moving into PreViz which I think will be great. I think it will give me more creative input into future projects and give me a good chance to experiment with new techniques.

Q:What is your ideal job?
I wouldn't say I have an ideal job, as long as I am doing something involving 3D or visual effects I'm happy.

Q:What kinds of other media work have you been involved in commercially?
Before I enrolled in the Mad Academy I had done some comerical work for public events to be displayed on large screens, and also some architectural visualisation. Post Mad Academy I have only worked on games, where it was pre-rendered FMVs or realtime cutscenes.

Q:Do you have any words of advice for students considering a career in animation and visual effects?
The number one piece of advice I'd give anyone considering a career in animation and visual effects is that no matter how good you think you are, there will always be someone better. This isn't a bad thing though, because you can learn more from the people that have more experience. The industry is all about sharing ideas, and a fresh mind and set of eyes on your work is always going to improve the final aesthetics of anything you produce.

Q:What is your demo reel advice?
Finally for demo real advice, start out with something simple that is going to get you the job you would like. Perhaps do some research into what employers look for in you chosen disipline, and work towards that. If you think its good, make it better.