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SCREENSHOTS
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GET TO KNOW BENJAMIN
Can you describe the extent of any relevant work experience you might have?
I've attended various seminars and events hosted by industry members in person and online where I have networked with various artists and developers across the triple-a and indie scenes. Although I haven't had any direct work experience within the industry, these experiences along with personal research and networking I've done on the way have given me a good understanding of what would be required of someone in my specialism upon entering the industry.
How would you describe your contribution to your group project?
In both of my team projects, I served as a Material Artist, managing a custom prop material library for the other 3D artists and creating high-quality textures to suit different situations including tileable textures, decals and animated functions. For 'Hexed', we wanted to create a creepy yet realistic witch's hut in the Romanian forest which required VR-compatible, organic materials to dress the forest environment.
For 'Empyrean', I was a producer for the team and one of the two material artists. To set-dress a realistic Greek environment, I created trim sheets and a variety of tileable materials. I managed all the custom real-time materials and shaders for the Unreal Project to keep everything optimised and consistent in quality as well as helping with modular kit texturing and mesh creation. As a producer for the team, my duties included hosting team meetings, managing an asset list and presenting our work to lecturers and industry professionals.
What do you specialise in and what made you choose that specialism?
First and foremost, I am a material artist which includes using Adobe's Substance suite and other modelling/sculpting programs to create high-quality and detailed textures for game environments. I enjoy creating materials and the reason I chose to specialise in the discipline was due to my fluency in creating procedural patterns and noises that can suit the needs of a project. I find shader and texture optimisation incredibly interesting as well as their application to real-time scenes which led me to also have an environment art angle to my material generation.
What would your ideal first role in the industry be?
Materials / Environment Artist
Which of your student projects are you most proud of, and why?
The student project I'm most proud of is the Biomechanical Environment I made for my advanced material specialism. I believe that this venture displayed my range of material and scene creativity. This assignment included creating a custom modular kit, multiple extraterrestrial materials and reusable trim sheets which were all assembled in Unreal Engine. I also added custom material functions to include irradiance on metallic surfaces, a specular light workaround through the emissive channel and multiple animated features using world position offset. The reason why I'm proud of this project in particular is how much it matches my original brief and concept plan, ultimately realising H.R. Giger's unique art style in a 3D format. I think that this piece displays a good balance of showing my skills as a material artist and showcasing the distinctive aesthetic that is unique to me through creative decisions and scene composition.
What’s a piece of media (film, game, animation) that changed the way you think about your discipline?
Games as a medium have always been more interactive to any viewer than the other forms of media can be, I feel that many stories and horror experiences in video games can hit harder and submerge the player in beautifully crafted worlds. I've always been a fan of the 'Alien' franchise, including the original films and Creative Assembly's 'Alien: Isolation' due to its clever worldbuilding and memorable aesthetics. A game that made me want to step into the games industry was Kojima Productions 'Death Stranding', where both the story and environments were very detailed and high-quality, enlightening me to the focus and skill required to create something so intricate.
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