An interview with Matt Wilson

Could you introduce yourself and give us a bit of an overview of Priestley College and your course?

My name is Matt Wilson and I am the program Leader for Game Design at Priestley College. Within the course I mainly teach 3D modelling using 3ds max, Zbrush and Unity Game Engine however my role and teaching cover the breadth of the subject area as it is my job to plan and run the projects that make up the two-year course. The course itself is a two-year level 3 course, its qualification is the equivalent to 3 A levels so for those that sign up to the course it will be their main program during their time at Priestley. The course is designed to give students the experience across three areas, Game Programming, Game Design and Game Art. The first year looks at all these areas, teaching students the foundations in order for them to design and make a successful game in their second year. In year two students will experience working in teams and follow their chosen pathway in the subject. During this year students will work more independently, experiencing more advanced techniques and working to an industry standard level. Students will be taught project management and learn more about their specific role in the industry. Students will complete two games during the year with the final game to Beta expectation.

How long have you been using and teaching ZBrush at Priestley?

I have been teaching Zbrush for about 3 years after a course with Glen Southern, I have successfully been teaching the software for 2 years as I included it into the program.

Why do you think it is so essential to give your students an understanding of digital sculpting?

Many of our students go on to study Game Art with a number wanting to focus on character design and animation. For these students, I want to give them a step up in using this industry standard software and teach the fundamentals of the tool. Teaching it to the whole cohort whether they follow design, programming or Art means that they have a better understanding of the advantages and limitations of the software and its processes. This makes our students more holistic when it comes to game design.

"Sculpting a model in specific scenarios such as characters or from life, is more efficient that hard-surface modelling and allows opportunity to add more detail"
- Games Design student

How did you come up with the idea of `life classes’ using Wacoms mobile studio pro line and ZBrush?

Honestly? I have little confidence teaching students the more traditional method of life drawing although we do teach this on the course. This is just as important, if not more important, for the students to experience. However, I found that when students were modelling characters, especially females they would often sculpt their interpretation of the female form regardless of references images. Therefore I wanted to teach the students to look, to study the form and model in the digital 3d space. A large part of the session is spent getting the student to look and notice the subtle differences and details in the human form. To then communicate this through a digital 3D model almost allows them to interact more with the form as opposed to a drawing. Students would develop their technique and time management through the process as once the session was finished the model was done. The Wacom Mobile Studio Pros have been hugely beneficial to the process and experience. The students are able to move around the room and get closer to the model without the constraints of a tethered PC. The working space of the tablet mimics that of large paper allowing students to be more expressive in their work but also allowing them to work directly onto the model, thus giving them the interactive experience with the life model and their own digital model. It built confidence in the student and prevented them from shying away behind a PC and Monitor.

"It gave me a better understanding of realistic human anatomy and scaling body parts and modelling from a real life reference"
- Games Design student

What benefit is it to the student to learn to sculpt in that way?

As mentioned before it's more about reference, study and observation. Rather than looking at images students get to see all angles of the model and are able to experiences the natural human form rather than someone else's perception. It is about first-hand life experiences and confidence building.

"very beneficial to experience this type of software, as it gives us a great advantage while entering the games industry at higher levels"
- Games Design student

Give me three of Mats top tips to succeed in this industry?

Commitment, an open mind and above all resilience.

What’s next for the Warriors?

We're are running new internships with TT Games this year which is huge and we are about to start something Unique for the north west. Giving our students more industry opportunities than just the University route. All our students have the first choice university places and we are now becoming sort after by the top game design courses around the country due to the quality and skill level of our students. Something that continues to increase and develop year on year.

"I would love the opportunity to use the Wacom tablets more as well as studying the human form more with life sculpting, I feel the two experiences combined really helped me to widen my abilities"
- Games Design student