SEGA CORPORATION

SENIOR EMPLOYEE

Senior Employee Interviews

Artist Mobile Titles
Technical Artist
Shinichi Muraoka

Technical artists work to create new solutions from their own perspectives.

As a "technical artist", I try to improve efficiency from a technical perspective and propose new visual expressions.
The work of creating the tremendous amount of design data used in a game involves labor with attention to detail and checks by artists, so I make tools that can simplify these work processes.
For example, if you assume that there are 100 characters or backgrounds that will appear in a game, then it is possible to save a lot of time by automating some of the processes that would otherwise require people to repeat tasks 100 times by hand. That improves efficiency. We make the tools for this at the request of artists or on our own initiative. Also, there are very few programmers who can handle art and visual aspects, so technical artists like us are in charge of a technical element essential to creating visuals, known as shaders. We bridge the gap between artists and programmers.
Sometimes, I make a sample myself and propose that manner of expression to an artist. Other times, I work with programmers to lighten the huge amount of data created by artists while maintaining the quality of the visuals. Some aspects of programming languages ​​and rules are difficult to convey to artists. I think the best part of my job and what is really expected of technical artists is the skill to understand the peculiarities of both the technical and creative sides, and find new solutions that balance both perspectives.

It's an easy place to work because my position is clear.

So many people have smartphones these days, meaning that a lot of people casually download and play smartphone games. In my previous job, I was involved in the development of console games, and I see smartphone games as being more limited in performance in comparison to console games. However, I find it very interesting to think of ways to achieve artistic expression within those limitations. Smartphones are evolving quickly, thanks to high demand, and I'm eager to apply what I have learned in the development of consumer games to the development of smartphone games.

I was in the same position as a technical artist when I was making console games, but when I was working on a huge console game, my involvement was just a small part of the project and the scope of my responsibilities was ambiguous. Now that I'm at SEGA, my position as a technical artist in the project is much more clearly defined than it was at my previous job. There is a solid foundation to build on since technical artists are widely known throughout the company, so it's an easy place to work. That means my responsibilities have grown much larger, but I find this to be very rewarding.

Pursuing my curiosity about the nature of play.

SEGA has a corporate culture of delegating jobs to the people who want to do them. Our company values state that “creation is life”. I have a strong sense of curiosity towards play, and I was drawn in by the company's attitude on pursuing ideas that they think would be fun to try. There are also a lot of opportunities to express myself in projects using my experiences at other companies and what I have learned so far. If you are thinking about changing jobs and believe that your current company does not give you the opportunity to express what you want to do, then let me tell you that at SEGA you are likely to be blessed with such an opportunity. I would be happy to work with people looking for the chance to express themselves.

SCHEDULE

10:00 I get to the office. First, I check my tasks.

10:30 Shader creation.

11:30 Efficiency tool creation.

12:30 Lunch break.

13:30 Meeting to reach consensus on art in the game.

15:00 Meeting with artists.

16:00 Shader creation.

17:00 Meeting with related parties.

18:00 Efficiency tool creation.

19:00 I go home.