Animex Game day one
11 November 24
Middlesbrough Town Hall | TS1 2QJ
8:50AM
9:15AM
9:30AM
Portfolio tips and tricks for game artists
Jeff Parrott | Blizzard Entertainment
Develop a clear understanding of expectations with regards to your art portfolio as you enter the video game industry. This talk covers networking, interviewing, and working as a professional in the video game industry.
10:30AM
Designing levels with dyslexia
Raphael Kidd | Ubisoft
Raphael Kidd talks about how he designed levels with dyslexia. Covering open world design and linear level design, he discusses dyslexia and its challenges, how it can be used as a tool to your advantage and explaining his experiences and practices with VR, having worked on The Persistence (PS4 VR).
11:30AM
Lunch break
1:00PM
An insight into the role of a technical artist
Nigel Middleman | TT Games
Technical artists have become a critical part of many development studios and are often required to be able to work on animations, tools development and art creation. This talk is aimed at people who may be interested in getting into the field of technical art or for people who may not know about the role of technical artist and the types of skills that a technical artist may require. This will not be a tech talk, it will cover some of what the role and responsibilities of a technical artist is.
2:00PM
From programming to marketing – a gaming industry story
Opal Cadman | Team17 Digital
This talk shows the range of careers available in the games industry, and the journey your career can take. This talk shows how much you can grow, and how fun the publishing and marketing careers in the games industry can be.
3:00PM
Break
3:30PM
The perilous 9ft journey: taking RimWorld from desk to couch, an adventure in UI
Kevin Mann | Double Eleven
Kevin Mann delves into the details of converting a complex and much loved PC game, RimWorld, to a console game from a UI/UX perspective. The task of converting a game from PC to console is never easy, but in the case of RimWorld, it was particularly challenging. The game's complex mechanics and user interface made the transition to consoles a daunting task. During the session, Kevin will share Double Eleven’s experiences of the challenges they faced during the conversion process and how they overcame them, to receive 5 star reviews and praise from the players.
4:30PM
Designing key game moments
Daniel Arriaga | Hundred Star Games
Daniel Arriaga discusses why specific video game moments have persisted in time as iconic and memorable. You learn how the human memory works and how certain patterns and features make spaces, actions and experiences easily recallable, recognisable and relatable to your target demographic. Daniel shares insights on how game mechanics can establish a strong product identity. The talk closes with a Q&A.
5:30PM
Close
Animex Game day two
12 November 24
Middlesbrough Town Hall | TS1 2QJ
9:00AM
9:30AM
How I designed Cyberpunk 2077 levels
Max Pears | Hangar 13
Max Pears discusses the creative minds - who was involved with making the level and the team dynamics, his design process - how he approached a level when starting, working with brands, and mistakes and growth.
10:30AM
The Tanglewood Games optimisation playbook
Adam Capon | Tanglewood Games
Rodrigo Roldan-Romero | Tanglewood Games
The Tanglewood games team take a look at an introduction to game performance optimisation, efficient coding practices and algorithm optimisation, rendering and world optimisation, memory management, platform-specific optimisation, tips and best practice and finish off with a Q&A session.
11:30AM
Lunch break
1:00PM
Animating characters across the Sword Coast: cinematic challenges in Baldur's Gate 3
Adam Smith | Larian Studios
Logan Prové | Larian Studios
Adam Smith and Logan Prové highlight some of the challenges faced making animations for Larian Studio’s largest cinematic game, Baldur’s Gate 3.
2:00PM
Video game structural layers for narrative design
Eoghain Meakin | Ulster University and Can You Eat It?
Eoghain Meakin discusses the structural layers present in many video games that impose and motivate the shape of any narrative within them. By outlining and understanding these layers it should help designers create effective narratives in games.
3:00PM
Break
3:30PM
Cinematic design for games
David Pumpa | Playground Games
David Pumpa talks about what you need to consider when you’re creating and implementing cinematics into games.
4:30PM
From concept to controller: inside the game design process
Karolina Latka | Behaviour Interactive
How do you recognise a successful development cycle? What can help your game stand out? What should be at the core of your game design? In this talk, Karolina Latka dives into game design and also how it impacts the game development holistically.
5:30PM
Close
Animex AVFX day one
14 November 24
Middlesbrough Town Hall | TS1 2QJ
8:50AM
9:15AM
Welcome talk
9:30AM
A dragon ride: the texturing journey of House of the Dragon
Claudia Marvisi | Pixomondo
Join Claudia Marvisi, Head of Texturing at Pixomondo, for an immersive journey into the world of visual effects as she unveils the secrets behind bringing awe-inspiring dragons to life in HBO’s acclaimed "Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon". Claudia will dive deep into the creative process and technical wizardry that made these mythical creatures a reality and the pivotal role played by Mari Foundry in crafting intricate textures that gave the dragons their distinctive look and feel.
10:30AM
Hermit crabs to hermite curves: rigging Under the Boardwalk
Elliot Stammers | DNEG Animation
Elliot Stammers walks through the challenges of rigging on an all-singing crab cast, in Paramount's Under the Boardwalk. Elliot will cover how they approached facial expressions, translated graphic 2D notes to 3D solutions as well as the battle for rig speed. Get your claws sunk into what it was like managing the variety and complexity of a huge cast of musical crustaceans.
11:30AM
Lunch break
12:45PM
Kate Bush - "Little Shrew" screening
Little Shrew | Meet Little Shrew @ Kate Bush.com
"In 2022, with war breaking out in Ukraine, I decided I wanted to make an anti-war animation. In particular, I hoped to draw attention to the children caught up in war. This little shrew would take a journey on a moonlit, winter’s night through a war-torn city, initially unaware of what was going on around her in this land of the giants. She can sense that she’s being called by a kind of spiritual presence… HOPE. She starts to search for HOPE. Sometimes hope is all there is to hang on to." Kate Bush
1:00PM
A visual clash: VFX in films and games
Dee Kariyawasam | TT Games
Piotr Czternasty | TT Games
This talk looks at the differences and similarities between VFX in games and in movies to paint a picture of where the main points of divergence lie, where the difficulties lie on both sides and how they cause a transition between the industries.
2:00PM
Enter the world of a TV creator
David Neumann | NEWMATION
Whether you’re an Emmy winning TV creator or a university student, both have something in common, both must first create a TV series bible. Any TV creator with a new idea, must develop their show from scratch. Like an architect, they must blueprint their story and series into a compelling series bible which includes several preliminary elements including characters, artwork, storylines, season arcs and more. David Neumann talks about how to make your own series bible.
3:00PM
Break
3:30PM
MPC - Animation & TechAnim
Chris McKenna | MPC
Ben Krolick | MPC
In this presentation, MPC’s Head of Creative Operations Chris McKenna and Head of Animation Ben Krolick join us to discuss the various processes used at the studio in the Animation, CFX and TechAnim department. They will break down the animation work on the Lion King, the Technical animation and creature effects used in Dumbo and the creation of Digital Doubles for Ghostbusters.
4:30PM
Shelley's "Eye Candy Show" + "That Christmas"
Shelley Page | Locksmith Animation
Shelley sits on many international festival and graduation juries every year and, in the course of these events, she collects her personal favourites into a series of special screenings, known as 'The Eye Candy Show'. This personal selection represents some of the brightest young talents emerging on the international animation scene as well as award-winning work from renowned independent studios and directors around the world.
Shelley's selection is constantly evolving as she discovers wonderful new films during the year's festivals and other events.
5:45PM
Close
Animex AVFX day two
15 November 24
Middlesbrough Town Hall | TS1 2QJ
9:00AM
Registration
9:30AM
Into a new dimension
Martin Bell | Dimension Studios
The talk will go through Martins career from using an Amiga to create animations aged 11, to using a game engine to tell stories at age 15, to Teesside University and on through Hollywood previsualisation.
10:30AM
Virtual Production: Unlocking Immersive Filmmaking
Christian Frausig | Dimension Studio
Christian Frausig joins us to talk about what Virtual Production is, the underlying Technology, its Use Cases, the Benefits, Challenges and the Process Dimension Studios utilise for Realising Creative Visions.
11:30AM
Lunch break
1:00PM
Brick by Brick
Simon Brown | Passion Pictures
Simon Brown, PASSION PICTURES’ Head of CG, joins us to discuss the studio’s recent work including on trailers for Lego Horizon Adventures.
Simon will also discuss the PASSION Studio’s capabilities through lookdev, animation, FX, Lighting, render and composting. He’ll look at the challenges of implementing new technologies such as USD into the PASSION pipeline.
2:00PM
Adventures in Handcrafted Animation with BLINKINK
Bart Yates | BLINKINK
Founder & Executive Producer of London animation studio and production company Blinkink talks through the creative and production process behind a selection of their greatest hits.
3:00PM
Break
3:30PM
VFX and the World of Fallout
Andreas Giesen | RISE
Join Andreas Giesen on a journey through the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Fallout TV series for an inside look at RISE Visual Effects Studios' innovative use of the USD pipeline to create large scale simulations and immersive environments. From massive explosions to the tiniest of details, get ready to discover how the visual effects team brought this iconic universe to life on the big screen.
4:30PM
The VFX of Star Wars: The Acolyte
Julian Foddy | Industrial Light & Magic
A behind the scenes look at the VFX of the show - from early concept, previsualisation and prep, through the shoot challenges, and breakdowns of the work done in post-production, followed by a Q&A.
5:30PM
Close
Animex Marketplace Seminars
13 November 24
Middlesbrough Town Hall - Main Hall
9:30AM
Charisma uniqueness motion talent: How drag directed my creative Passions
SALLY TM | LeoVegas
SALLY TM hosts a talk on how her journey in motion was rocked by creative restrictions, her passion outside of her aspirations carved a niche for unapologetically queer northern clients, and how loving yourself a little bit more opens up a world of confident client curation.
10:30AM
Gaming the science of inner experience
Charles Fernyhough | Durham University and InnerScape
The creative industries are in the business of creating experiences. In this talk, Charles will show how attending to the science of inner experience – the thoughts, memories, images and emotions that form such a large part of our mental lives – has the potential to unlock the inner worlds of game characters, and boost the power of gaming to communicate pro-social messages about mental health and neurodiversity.
3:00PM
Women in Games Roundtable
Fern Griffiths | Maverick Games
Natalie Wicks | Double Eleven
Danni Pratt | Tanglewood Games
Ellie Baldino | Frontier Developments
Andreea Rosu | Radical Forge
A roundtable composed of Women in Games ambassadors, discussing their roles and journeys in the industry. How being a woman in the industry may have impacted their career and provide advice for aspiring graduates who are still unsure of their future path.
Animex Pro Workshops
13 November 24
9:30AM
Rigging 101: from model validation to rig optimisation
Elliot Stammers | DNEG Animation
Elliot Stammers is a Rigging Technical Supervisor at DNEG Animation. He has led much of the face rigging work on some of DNEG Animation's biggest shows such as Ron's Gone Wrong and Entergalactic. Elliot's work can also be seen on Paramount's Under the Boardwalk, were he served as the Lead Facial Character TD. Join Elliot as he walks us through a variety of key rigging concepts to get your rigs running smoothly.
Book here.
9:30AM
Creating Expressive Faces for Games, VFX and Animation
Jahirul Amin | CAVE ACADEMY
Jahirul Amin of CAVE Academy introduces FACS, (Facial Action Coding System) to create expressive faces. You'll study the anatomy of the human face, the universal expressions and micro expressions. Following on from this, you work in Maya and ZBrush to take a neutral head and create a more expressive face.
Book here.
10:00AM
Bringing characters to life
Craig Caldwell | University of Utah
Whether it is animation, VFX, or immersive media… character development in storytelling is tough to get right. It can seem like an impossible task to create engaging characters that your audience can emotionally connect to. No matter what genre you prefer, fantasy, medieval, comedy, drama... the characters must be complex, knowable, and feel real. In this workshop, Craig Caldwell covers how to flesh out characters, beginning with their motivations, backstories, psychology, and external relationships.
Book here.
11:30AM
Wayfinding 101: cognitive mapping as a tool for level design
Fern Griffiths | Maverick Games
In this workshop you will explore how you can use cognitive mapping as a methodology for guiding players in a non-intrusive way. Looking at what cognitive maps are, how they are formed and the different techniques we can use to help players understand and navigate the spaces we create for them.
Book here.
12:00PM
Nanite, Lumen and PCG. Fun with rapid development in Unreal Engine 5.
Cris Robson | Epic Games
This workshop introduces you to the three systems with some easy to follow hands on sessions - you create a mega-assembly using Nanita meshes, then use instances in order to populate your level quickly. You set up Lumen and a few self illuminated meshes to bring life to your scene and will fast populate it with some handy PCG scripts. As long as you can understand the basics of using Unreal Engine 5 then come along, and if you are not sure, pop on by anyway.
Book here.
1:00PM
Benchmarking cinematic and gameplay character animation in Baldur's Gate 3
Gerry Jacobs | Larian Studios
This specialist masterclass delves into the creative process of benchmarking the character animation seen in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Interwoven in this presentation, Gerry Jacobs will speak about her career originating from a traditional background and spanning multiple industries and explain how those fundamental skills apply to her job today and how they can adapt to different job roles for a career with longevity.
Book here.
2:00PM
Things I don’t want to see in your game design portfolio
Zaid Shaikh | Firesprite
Potential employers don't have time to read through a massive game design document to understand someone's game, and would much prefer to see a voiced explanation of the game and the design process.
This workshop offers insight on how to help your portfolio stand out amidst a sea of others.
Book here.
3:00PM
X-Pitch Factor
David Neumann | NEWMATION
Welcome to X-PITCH FACTOR, a workshop to be led by Hollywood manager and producer, David Neumann. David has been on both sides of the table, a seller of projects to studios and streamers and a buyer of new projects for his own company. In this workshop, you learn how the industry works behind the scenes, and how to pitch your next big animation project.
Book here.
3:00PM
Tips and trick of how to prepare your portfolio with TT Games
Dee Kariyawasam | TT Games
Alexandra Jaeschke | TT Games
In this workshop 2 members of the team from TT Games, Dee Kariyawasam and Alexandra Jaeschke, will guide you through some tips and tricks of how to prepare your portfolio, along with covering preparation for applying for jobs all the way through to how to prepare for the interview. The workshop gives you some helpful information to land that your dream job in games development.
Book here.
3:00PM
From gameplay to cinematics: the animation of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Richard Desmond | TT Games
Explore the world of animation in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and gain an insight into the workings of the animation team at TT Games. Whether it’s creating dynamic gameplay animations, or crafting engaging cinematic sequences, discover the process of how LEGO was brought to life through both in-game animation and cutscene animation, and delve into the key similarities and differences between the two.
Book here.