FX TD (Effects technical director)

Effects technical director is very specific role in a big company, they create physics-based digital effects, such as explosions, smoke and water, that the animation artists can use in their shots and sequences. They make sure the effects look believable and also consistent with the style of the animation so that they blend seamlessly with the other art assets.

What’s an FX TD good at?

• Problem-solving: think analytically to identify problems and come up with creative and efficient solutions, find ways to overcome obstacles and deliver the project
• Support: offer guidance to more junior artists, give face-to-face technical help to all animation and lighting artists, communicate well, have a positive attitude
• Knowledge of all parts of animation pipelines: have a strong understanding of all jobs within a pipeline, what these involve, the needs and challenges of the roles
• Knowledge of 3D animation programs: be adept at using relevant programs such as Maya, Houdini, Blender, Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D, MotionBuilder, Nuke, RenderMan and 3ds Max
• Programming and coding skills: have advanced knowledge of programming in Python, VEX and C++ with a very high level of technical ability

To become a good Effects technical director, you need to study computer programming and computer science because most of time, you need to focus in Houdini and create particular and some other digital effects.

TD (Assistant technical director) 

Assistant technical director is an entry level, they are responsible for data management, archiving and restoring and tracking data and converting and resizing files where needed. They help to keep the project on schedule. Along with pipeline TDs, assistant TDs will work closely with research and development teams, who design and test any new software. They alsohelp to identify and fix problems and make sure everyone in a visual effects (VFX) production pipeline has the tools they need. They have a very good understanding of how VFX pipelines work and of different VFX job roles. Their expertise also includes understanding the software used by VFX artists and the needs and limitations of different departments.

If Runner is provide services for each department, then Assistant technical director is here to help each crew and solve some basic issues.

So a good assistant TD need to be good at:

• Communication: be helpful and patient and communicate well with a variety of staff at different levels to understand their needs and assist with technical issues, work well as part of a team to develop solutions, take direction from a pipeline TD and escalate issues to them when necessary
• Problem-solving: think analytically to identify problems and come up with creative and efficient solutions, finding new ways to overcome obstacles and achieve a creative vision
• Attention to detail: have a good eye for detail when designing tools and fixing technical issues
• Knowledge of all parts of the pipeline: have a strong understanding of all jobs within the pipeline, their roles, needs, and the challenges they face
• Programming and coding skills: have advanced knowledge of programming in Python and C++ with a very high level of technical ability using a variety of relevant software used across the project such as Maya, Houdini and Nuke

To become a assistant TD, you need to be able to demonstrate good problem-solving skills as well as very strong coding and 3D software skills. Assistant TDs often have a degree in computer science, or you might be able to progress to this role through an apprenticeship scheme.

Software developer  

Software Developer as known as Research and Development programmer, they create the systems which technical directors (TDs) can use and modify to suit the specific needs of their VFX artists. They also design new digital tools and make sure they fit into existing software systems. This enables the efficient passing of assets from one VFX process to the next. Like the big movie company Pixar, theirs Software Developer created RenderMan and Blender just because of Disney movies needed.

Software Developer is a research and development role, which means that it involves working out ways to improve how well digital processes works. And they need to be good at:

• Communication and teamwork: communicate well with pipeline technical directors as well as directly with a variety of staff at different levels to understand their needs and assist with technical issues, work well as part of a team to develop solutions, present a plan to and take direction from supervisors
• Problem-solving: think analytically to come up with creative and efficient solutions, using the most up-to-date technology to find ways to overcome obstacles and achieve a creative vision
• Programming and coding skills: have advanced knowledge of programming in Python and C++ with a very high level of technical ability using a variety of relevant software used across VFX projects, such as Maya, Houdini and Nuke
• Knowledge of all parts of the pipeline: have a strong understanding of all jobs within VFX pipelines, their responsibilities and needs
• Planning: create an appropriate development plan and stick to a timescale, understand how to breakdown a project into tasks

Pipeline TD (Pipeline technical director)

Pipeline TD is a helper role in VFX company, they need to make sure the software that each artist used is suitable and efficient. They communicate with VFX artists across the team to understand their needs. They then put things in place to ensure the project runs smoothly and the artists’ needs are met. If the project isn’t running smoothly, they identify what kind of tools need to be developed to fix this. Issues that arise might be technical ones to do with 3D art, or productivity issues. Their job involves writing or modifying code to solve problems. They also provide face-to-face technical assistance. Pipeline TDs will work closely with research and development teams, who design and test any new software.

What’s a pipeline TD good at?

• Communication: communicate well with a variety of staff at different levels to understand their needs and assist with technical issues, work well as part of a team to develop solutions and take direction from a VFX supervisor
• Problem-solving: think analytically to identify problems and come up with creative and efficient solutions, find new ways to overcome obstacles and achieve a creative vision
• Knowledge of all parts of the pipeline: have a good understanding of the jobs within the pipeline, their roles, needs and the challenges that they face
• Programming and coding skills: have advanced knowledge of programming in Python and C++ with a very high level of technical ability using a variety of relevant software used across the project such as Maya, Houdini and Nuke
• Helping others: offer guidance to more junior members of the pipeline team and give face-to-face technical assistance to staff across departments, maintain a positive attitude

 Because Pipeline TD need to communicate to call crew members and understand excalty the problems they have and solve them, so they need to know all the software using even coding. So Pipeline TD isn’t an entry level role. It requires experience of working within the industry and understanding VFX pipelines.