A Tech Artists creed?

Professional
#21

[QUOTE=Bronwen;11386]I will learn something new today.
I will teach someone something new today.
I will speak to everyone on my team this week.
I will never say “no” when you ask for help.
I will ask lots of questions.
I will observe without interrupting.
I will spend time thinking before I act.
I will make small changes that have big impacts.
I may not give you exactly what you asked for, but I will give you what you need.
I will always have a plan “B.”

How does that sound? Too general? Is it missing something fundamental?[/QUOTE]

I love that one. Although I think it shouldn’t just be TA’s only who should make this their creed :wink:

#22

Stuck between an artistic rock and some hard code

or to borrow from a movie:

We make this S**t look good

#23

this is not nam, this is tech art. there are rules.

#24

or as someone wrote for the t-shirts:
“I do stuff…”
(said with a tone if you were to answer someone questioning what you do all day)

#25

I don’t remember who it was, but someone in the FarCry 2 Procedural Data talk at GDC 2008 said something that really impacted my role as a Tech Artist…
“You should build the pipeline so that the people with talent are in control.”
In their case, they were talking about procedural data generation and how easy that is to leave in the hands of programmers, rather than building good tools for the artists, but I think the same applies to any part of the pipeline, procedural or no.

#26

I think I got most sentiments in here. I’m not so sure about a few of the lines or some of the phrasing, I haven’t had a chance to really edit it. The structure was based on the Airmen’s Creed, which I enjoy more than the ‘I will…’ style of some other creeds (it provides more of a narrative structure). Please have at it and criticize down to the last letter. Read it over a few times, read it outloud, how is the sentiment, language, sounds? This is your document, not mine, so if it doesn’t represent you or convey what you think (or you think I could change even a single word to make it better), speak up.

I am a Tech Artist,
I am not a star,
but I will make your star shine brighter.
I will do my job so that those with talents are in control.

I am a Tech Artist,
I will solve the problems of today,
But design the answers of tomorrow.
I may not give you exactly what you ask for,
But I will give you what you need.

I am a Tech Artist,
Every day I will teach, learn, and assist,
And build bridges between teams and people.
I will observe without interrupting and mediate without judging,
And my decisions will be in the best interest of the production.

I am a Tech Artist,
I am a leader for my team,
I will do what needs to be done,
I will advocate for what should be done,
And I must always have a plan ‘B’.

#27

“To fix, or not to fix. That is the question!”
You have this and that. We are the middle.
Be the one who supports those who make the difference.

Make, fail, learn, make, fail, learn,…

#28

[QUOTE=Rob Galanakis;11439]I think I got most sentiments in here. I’m not so sure about a few of the lines or some of the phrasing, I haven’t had a chance to really edit it. The structure was based on the Airmen’s Creed, which I enjoy more than the ‘I will…’ style of some other creeds (it provides more of a narrative structure). Please have at it and criticize down to the last letter. Read it over a few times, read it outloud, how is the sentiment, language, sounds? This is your document, not mine, so if it doesn’t represent you or convey what you think (or you think I could change even a single word to make it better), speak up.

I am a Tech Artist,
I am not a star,
but I will make your star shine brighter.
I will do my job so that those with talents are in control.

I am a Tech Artist,
I will solve the problems of today,
But design the answers of tomorrow.
I may not give you exactly what you ask for,
But I will give you what you need.

I am a Tech Artist,
Every day I will teach, learn, and assist,
And build bridges between teams and people.
I will observe without interrupting and mediate without judging,
And my decisions will be in the best interest of the production.

I am a Tech Artist,
I am a leader for my team,
I will do what needs to be done,
I will advocate for what should be done,
And I must always have a plan ‘B’.[/QUOTE]

I like it! :):

#29

Ending it with plan b (last line) has a bit of a negative connotation, because all the above is about how we fix stuff and be the best for everything so mentioning plan B as the last sentence, gives the “if everything else fails” I must have a plan B. I think this belongs somewhere more upfront like in the second verse. And I’d like it better if it ends with the last sentence of the third verse.

Some thoughts after a first reading,
like the initiative and almost completely support the verses.

-Johan

#30

My proposed changes:

I will solve the problems of today,
Improve the solutions of yesterday,
But design the answers of tomorrow.

And build bridges between teams, people and ideas.

#31

I am a Tech Artist,
I am not a star,
but I will make your star shine brighter.
I will do my job so that those with talents are in control.

I am a Tech Artist,
I will solve the problems of today,
Improve the solutions of yesterday,
And design the answers of tomorrow.

I am a Tech Artist,
Every day I will teach, learn, and assist,
And build bridges between teams, people and ideas.
I will observe without interrupting and mediate without judging.
I may not give exactly what you ask for,
But I will give you what you need.

I am a Tech Artist,
I am a leader for my team,
And a standard bearer for my community.
I will do what needs to be done,
I will advocate for what should be done,
And my decisions will be in the best interest of the production.

Differences:
I may not give you exactly what you ask for-> I may not give exactly what you ask for
‘I may not give exactly what you ask for, but I will give you what you need’ moved from verse 2 to 3.
‘My decisions will be in the best interest of production’ moved from verse 3 to 4 (last line).
‘Always have a plan B’ line taken out.
Added ‘and a standard bearer for my community’, line 3 of verse 4
Changed ‘And build bridges between teams and people’ to ‘And build bridges between teams, people and ideas.’

More feedback and comments helpful. I’m going to send this around through direct email and via IRC to get some more feedback if I don’t hear from certain people in this thread.

#32

I know I am late to the game but thought I add my take on it.

Through milestones, deadlines and late nights we march,
building bridges, structure, stability, and support;
We have no down time or lull or void,
We repair and maintain, investigate and train;
Marching through the jungle carving a path,
till we find the edge, then we conquer that.
I am a Tech Artist, this is my creed.

#33

This is a great addition. I’d like to see a few more points related to community, something along the lines of realizing that as a tech artist, you’re not alone and that there is a community out there you can turn to for help. I’ve said this a million times, but the reality is, what we’re doing is not rocket science and god knows we’ve all solved the same problems a million times in a million different ways. That said, I’ll admit that MANY times i’ll see someone else’s solution and think “wow, that’s actually a much better solution than what i came up with, how can i implement that, what can i learn from that, etc.” I guess the short point is something about not just not being afraid to learn from each other, but to embrace that idea. Too often, i see too many tech artists with inadequate experience trying to solve those same problems that have already been solved by more experienced folks with better methods. Now, not to take away from the learning experience, but the reality of production (there we go, back to that whole serving the production thing) is that often times we don’t have time to “learn from our mistakes”, and three years later, the pipe is stuck with paradigms and toolsets that really just don’t work, but can’t be fixed due to production constraints.

Ok sorry that got a little ranty, i’ve had a long couple of weeks, so let’s see, how to shore that up:

embrace the opportunity to learn from the community (hey that rhymes), realize you’re not alone, someone has probably already solved your problem, admitting that there is a better solution is not a bad thing, etc.

I hope that’s somewhat cohesive, this is one of those things probably better talked out…speaking of:

We could do the g+ hangout and discuss it, i’m not sure i got my idea across very well here…better explained anecdotal, but it’s not really the sort of thing i want to explain publicly.

#34

I really like this thread :slight_smile:

My 2cents:

The first section feels off. I think Technical Artists have a great impact on a team and I am often inspired by my colleagues. They have, at times, been the ‘star’.

I strongly believe in the idea of pushing oneself to reduce complexity and allow talent an unobstructed path. This includes the artist, the animator, or fellow Tech Artist, but I don’t think it is at the cost of marginalizing ourselves. I think being humble is important, but we shouldn’t sell ourselves short either.

I look up to many Tech Artists and have seen their mastery at a tool, area, game and even studio level.

#35

[QUOTE=Drachis;11356]I think that the creed should be something similar to Tron’s;

I am a Tech Artist,
I fight for the artists.

~[/QUOTE]

this.Create()
:wink:

#36

Thank you! I was getting worried there for a second.

YES, I am an artist’s advocate, but I am also an advocate for the technology used to accomplish artistic tasks so as to make the production smooth.

I feel, maybe wrongly, technical-artists were the bridge for BOTH sides of the proverbial production penny.

I feel the creed should reflect that ideal:

Artists free from as many restrictions possible from the underlying DCC technology, minimizing any temporal impact of content delivery for production.

#37

Suggestions, use some grains of salt:

[QUOTE=Rob Galanakis;11449]I am a Tech Artist,

Differences:
I may not give you exactly what you ask for-> I may not give exactly what you ask for
[/QUOTE]

I may not provide what was asked for exactly, but I will provide what you need.

Provide instead of give just sounds softer, less final to me. I feel it should always sound like an on-going relationship.

“I will have an alternative if the first way does not succeed.”

I agree the original sounded a little negative, but I also feel it shows that Tech-artists are always thinking of other ways to accomplish a task, never leaving the original solution as a final solution.

Though I am not sure I captured the essence of that thought in my quote.

Can’t wait to have my team learn this by heart and recite it on demand! =o

Cheers.

#38

[QUOTE=Amorano;11523]I feel, maybe wrongly, technical-artists were the bridge for BOTH sides of the proverbial production penny.
[/QUOTE]
Agreed

#39

I am a Tech Artist,
Every day I will teach, learn, and assist,
And build bridges between teams, people and ideas.
I will observe without interrupting and mediate without judging.
I may not give exactly what you ask for,
But I will provide what you need.

I am a Tech Artist,
I will approach every problem with an open mind,
And with ears open to colleagues and peers across the industry.
I will solve the problems of today,
Improve the solutions of yesterday,
And design the answers of tomorrow.
I will do my job so that those with talents are in control.

I am a Tech Artist,
I am a leader for my team,
And a standard bearer for my community.
I will do what needs to be done,
I will advocate for what should be done,
And my decisions will be in the best interest of the production.

Diff:
Removed verse 1 lines 2 and 3.
Moved previous verse 1 last line to verse 2 last line.
Moved verse 3 to verse 1.
‘But I will give you what you need’ -> ‘But I will provide what you need’
Added verse 2 lines 2 and 3.

Explanations:
Seth: I agree and hope verse 2 lines 2 and 3 address this somewhat.
JasonB: I agree personally. As this is a collaborative document, I’m trying to be objective about injecting my personal views too much, especially when someone phrases something so nicely (I’m less likely to put in something I don’t necessarily agree with if they don’t put down something I can use directly). I’d love to add humility somewhere, do you see a spot?
Amorano: Regarding your first post, I agree and I think the creed already reflects that. I really don’t feel it’s defensive towards content at all. I changed the second ‘give’ to ‘provide’, as I think you’re right on with your analysis of the feelings of the words and it works better to have provide in the more positive second line of that couplet. Also I am not keen on adding back in a replacement for the ‘plan b’ line- there’s already quite a good focus on wide-reaching production and community issues, especially with the new lines in verse 2. But as always, tell me if you disagree.

Concerns:
My main concern is verse 2 lines 4/5/6. I like them, but they are a triplet that could probably be replaced by something more meaningful (and removing a line would bring that verse to 6 lines, like the rest).

Commentary:
My goal and metric for this creed is to give something- a set of values, a standard of behavior- we can judge our actions against. A 20 line poem is not going to provide any specific guidance that is going to support or detract from any particular TA or approach directly. Instead, it gives us an immutable set of rules we can critique our (and others) actions against. So in that case, I suppose it would be useful to look at every line and say, ‘is this something I should actively strive for in myself and others?’

#40

[QUOTE=Rob Galanakis;11528]
Amorano: Regarding your first post, I agree and I think the creed already reflects that. I really don’t feel it’s defensive towards content at all. I changed the second ‘give’ to ‘provide’, as I think you’re right on with your analysis of the feelings of the words and it works better to have provide in the more positive second line of that couplet. Also I am not keen on adding back in a replacement for the ‘plan b’ line- there’s already quite a good focus on wide-reaching production and community issues, especially with the new lines in verse 2. But as always, tell me if you disagree.[/QUOTE]

I think my first post was a little jump the gun, I didn’t realize the thread had 4 more pages so it was a first read for me and quick fire back.

It is plainly obvious that is not the direction this went =)

I like the polish. I completely understand the spirit of that line is in there, especially, as you pointed out, the meat of the second stanza.

As for that stanza #2, trying to bring it back around to 6 lines - The 2nd & 3rd line seem like they “could” become one:

“I will approach every colleague, peer and problem with my ears and mind open.”

Though I don’t fully love the verbiage, perhaps even tighter grouping of colleague/peer ? == person?

“I will approach every person and problem with my ears and mind open.”

I am going to say the extension to person would make it slightly more “humble” in some sense, as that would imply this is not merely a creed for work-habits, but life. Ok, maybe I am being a little ostentatious with that idea.

That line reminds me of the Bene Jesuit matra from Dune for some reason.

AND, so… the last line of that same stanza just doesn’t feel powerful enough. I do my job (hopefully!) to raise up those artists even more to make a kick ass product.

Perhaps more along the lines of…

“I will do my job to strengthen those with talent.” ??

Spit-balling here.

The first line fo each, “I am a Tech Artist”, is the goal to provide brevity there?

I only ask because, I wouldn’t say something like “I am a soft programmer” or “I am pipe engineer” when describing myself; the eyebrows for those two statements are already raising =)

Just wondering if the full Technical Artist is too much, or if there is some other rationale for it.

Cheers.