Hi, I’m Maisie, a CGI artist on a work placement in the Image & Motion team here at Fluid. While working here I’ve been given incredible opportunities to work on a range of different projects, expand my skills and learn new software.
Monday
My first tasks on a Monday are to catch up on any messages and emails, followed by our weekly Monday catch-up call with the rest of the Image & Motion team. As well as ensuring all jobs are on track, these meetings are a great opportunity to hear about the projects other members of the I&M team work on – with such a wide variety of skills and talents, there is always something new and exciting happening, such as photography, CGI and video editing.
After the morning’s call, I jump onto a project for Aggregate Industries – a building materials manufacturer and supplier needing CGI renders of their patio paving slabs. This presented an exciting opportunity, as the CGI team has been using an incredible technology called photogrammetry to create 3D models of Aggregate’s paving slabs. To do this, the CGI team took several photographs of the products from different angles and processed them through the software, which then allows us to create amazingly realistic 3D models from the photographs. Being able to work on this project has been incredibly exciting, and has helped me to learn a new software and further my understanding of photogrammetry.
Tuesday
Tuesday has been an exciting day. During my time at Fluid, I’ve been able to do my own research and learn new software. Currently, I’m researching Unreal Engine 5 – a game engine I spent a lot of time learning at university, which at times can branch out into coding, as well as CGI visuals, to create an interactive environment. I’ve been learning new code to create a 3D scene which can be navigated around and interacted with. This has been tricky at times, but I enjoy challenging myself and get great satisfaction when my problem solving eventually leads to a solution to any issues.
The independent research time at Fluid has allowed me to further my knowledge on Unreal Engine 5, which the CGI team could hopefully be able to use for future projects.
Wednesday
Work is always varied at Fluid, and no two projects are the same – and today was no exception! I have been working on a CGI render for The Cambridge Building Society. I always enjoy working on TCBS projects, the art style for their branding is incredibly fun and playful, and their CGI characters almost look as though they have been made of plasticine!
This kind of work usually sees me making environments and props for the characters to interact with. I then get to pose them, creating fun little scenes full of storytelling and visual interest.
Working on this project has allowed me to use many of my animation and design skills learnt at university – skills which I love using. As well as exercising current skills, like the many other projects at Fluid, this one allows me to learn new software and broaden my knowledge.
During my time at university, I used 3D modelling software called Maya. However, upon arriving at Fluid, I soon started to learn 3DS Max instead – Fluid’s choice of modelling software. This presented a great opportunity to learn a new software I had never touched prior. I found myself soon picking 3DS Max up and learning the similarities and differences between it and Maya. Now I am confident with 3DS Max and am happy to have added a new software to my list of skills.
Thursday
Thursday was a busy yet interesting day. I started off by watching a live tutorial on editing software, Premiere Pro, done by fellow colleague and CGI artist, Steve. A few others and I picked up several interesting tips and tricks to improve our skills in Premiere Pro – a software I am quite new to.
However, the guidance and support from Fluid has been incredibly helpful, allowing me to further my skills and learn a wide range of different software.
Later in the day, I have the fun opportunity to do some photoshoot modelling. The studio was visited by the University of Nottingham, who came for a photoshoot of their graduation gowns. I was asked to model for a few of the shots, which was a fun and interesting new experience. No two days are the same at Fluid, there’s always new opportunities and today was no exception!
Friday
Every Friday here at Fluid we have our ‘chit-chat’ call, where everyone from each team comes together to reflect on the week and share any exciting news. I always enjoy these calls as it creates a great opportunity to see what other teams are working on and learn more about the company. It is also interesting to see how the different teams can collaborate – different skills and views coming together to work on a variety of different projects.
The Image & Motion team clocked off early today – in the evening we had an I&M social outing! This was a great chance to get to know colleagues by spending time together outside of work. We headed to Nottingham, where we started off with a fun round of bowling followed by crazy pool. I was quite proud of my strike and hole in one!
There was some fun competition and some very skilled players. In the end, fellow CGI artists Ed O and Steve were the winners of bowling and crazy pool respectively. After that, we headed to a nearby restaurant for more laughs and some tasty food. This was a fun way to end another busy yet exciting week at Fluid. I’m really enjoying my time here and am keen to broaden my skills further.