Totally Games full time. I got to design things more than ever before, and
had a lot of freedom to devise and execute sequences however I wanted.
Consequently, the intro cinematic cut scene for X-Wing Alliance was the
best 3D work I had done to date, and it was a heck of a lot of fun. It was
great working for a small, fast-moving company, especially compared to
the 300+ employee behemoth LucasArts had become.
Q: What advice do you have for people who'd like to work at
LucasArts or ILM?
A: The most important thing is to be great at what you do. That sounds
obvious, but it wasn't always the case when I was at LucasArts. There were
so few skilled 3D artists available at the time that we sometimes had to go
with what we could find. It's not like that anymore, because the pool of 3D
talent has exploded in the last few years. Competition for jobs is much
more intense nowadays--you have to make sure your work is better than
the next guy's.
Next, be original. A lot of people seem to think that just knowing 3D and
being a Star Wars geek qualifies them for a job with LucasArts, but it
doesn't. You need to be a truly creative person, not just someone who can
re-create a vehicle or scene that someone else has already done. There's a
good chance at LucasArts that you may not work on a Star Wars game at
all, so being a walking encyclopedia on the subject won't help you.
Versatility is a crucial quality--if you are good at many different things
related to the job, you have a much better chance at staying on when times
are lean.
Also, don't be influenced by the name "Lucas." It's a company, like any
other, and their business is to produce products that make money. It's not
in business as a place for fanboys to worship. I used to review reels and rec-
ommend new hires, and you wouldn't believe the mail I used to get. People
offered to work for free, or who just wanted to sweep the floors or some-
thing, simply because it was LucasArts! Those people were always rejected,
of course. Many applicants tend to forget that as exciting as LucasArts
sounds, it's a business, and there's no room for hangers-on. Occasionally
LucasArts did accept interns, but they pulled their own weight and then
some--one college intern that was on my team turned out to be awesome
at modeling and writing shaders. Eventually, he wound up at PIXAR.
Last, don't confuse ILM with LucasArts. They are distinctly different com-
panies with different missions, methods, and resources. Do not attempt to
use a job at LucasArts to springboard into ILM. They're in contact with one
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