As part of the ongoing investment into training and upskilling of our art teams, earlier this year we were immensely fortunate to welcome Nick Orchard to Technicolor Games.
He recently joined us for a Q&A, to divulge more into his career evolution, his role as Associate Technical Art Director, and of course, the phenomenal work he does with Unreal Engine.
Can you provide a brief overview of your role at Technicolor Games?
When I initially started at Technicolor Games, my role was to host a full-time Unreal Core Concepts & Upskilling training course. During this period, we covered nearly every aspect of Unreal, including ingesting and creating playable characters, world building, animation, lighting and materials – to name just a few!
My role has since evolved, and I am now hosting more advanced training for the team, as well as taking on other various degrees of skillsets in Unreal.
Can you tell us a bit about your professional background?
My professional background comes from working with Unreal in a mixture of Media. It began back in 2011, when I started taking part in “Games Jams” as a 3D Artist using Maya. I then gained a degree in 3D Game Art from Bolton University, before quickly turning my attention to visual scripting, and learning everything I could within “Unreal Developer Kit”.
In 2015, I started a Master of Arts (MA) in Games Design Degree at UCLan in Preston, UK. By 2019, while working for Kraft-Heinz, I finished my MA with a focus on Unreal Engine. I have since created VR experiences and games, as well as helped various teams set up multiplayer projects that run through Steam.
Prior to my time at Technicolor Games, I worked in Virtual Production at MPC, where I collaborated closely with Epic Games to provide feedback and progress Unreal Engine tools. During this period, I also contributed to pre-production, on-set virtual production, and post-production feature films, all within Unreal Engine.
Why Technicolor Games?
After coming from a background of designing games using Unreal, I was very excited to join Technicolor Games and train the team.
What do you enjoy most in your role?
Working with the incredible team in India. It is surreal to be in a position to learn from such an amazing studio while being able to teach everyone Unreal Engine.
How do you keep busy outside of work?
Outside of work, I have two mini Labradoodles, Rosie and Summer. We live close to the beach in Northern England, so we enjoy going out most days and playing in the sea. My hobbies include camping and being outdoors, going bowling with friends on Wednesdays, and staying inside playing PC Games.
Final words from Paul Houlders, VP, Global Head of Art:
With his exceptional expertise, particularly in Epic’s Unreal Engine, Nick brings a deep reservoir of skill and talent that will be invaluable to our team. His leadership is already helping us elevate our technical artistry and develop the capabilities necessary to meet the demands of high-profile projects and key collaborations. We are excited to have Nick on board and look forward to seeing more of the incredible impact he will make at Technicolor Games.
Interested in learning more about what we do? Take a look at our arts services here.
