About me
As a kid I was always into drawing, usually little cartoons or tracing comics. I loved designing sportswear & futuristic trainers ( I'll have to dig out some of those designs, that'd be a laugh).
I was really into football & two of my favourite comics were Roy of the rovers & Match which had a 'design your own kit' competition. I remember getting someone to photocopy the blank kit template and would spend hours coming up with ideas for all kinds of teams. I loved animation in all forms and would get my mom to set the VCR & record all the late night animations on Channel 4. Occasionally they would play Luxo Jnr or Reds Dream.
I'd like to say that by the time I left school, I knew I wanted to be an animator, but that would be a lie. I knew I wanted to do something creative, that was for sure. I'd won a design award at school for some company & been taken to Germany to see their headquarters. So I went to Art college and trained in all areas including fine art, photography, illustration, product design & even textiles.
By the time I hit University I was starting to get interested in Animation, but it didn't seem like a feasible career path. It just seemed way too difficult to break into, too small a field & way too complicated. There was no youtube at this point either, no online courses, no help available.
Instead, I selected graphic design, thinking it was the kind of thing I could get a job in when I graduated, which was very grown up of me I think. Little did I know how much I'd hate it, how the lack of creativity would leave me unsatisfied with my work. Having a teacher who clearly didn't want to actually teach just cemented it for me in the end.
At this point Toy Story 2 had recently been released & it re-kindled my interest in the medium. I became an avid reader of CGI magazine. It also made me think I had just as much chance of doing animation for a living, as being a bad graphic designer. In truth, at that point, I was naive enough to think I could do anything. Hay, I even thought my band would get signed at some point.
Unfortunately, my University did not have the teaching skills to help me in 3d. My animation lecturer was a video editor/puppeteer. There was a set of silicon graphics machines in the middle of the IT suite that literally no one knew how to use, or even turn on (I kid you not). So I got my first and only student loan and spent most of it on a crash course in 3DS Max, down in London. The rest went on a new pc that could run max, a trip to New York, and a fair amount of Guinness. The course in London was not exhaustive by any means, but it was enough for me to return to Uni, & blag to my lecturers that I was now an expert. I convinced them it was now perfectly safe to let me do my final degree project completely in 3d.
After graduating It took me about 2 years to actually get into the industry. I wrote hundreds of letters & e-mails. I applied for anything that used animation....games, architecture firms, TV, educational, and car manufacturers. Over that time I did some soulless jobs but they all helped me to spur myself on, get a better reel together & get noticed. Even now those jobs give me a fresh perspective on how fortunate I am to be doing what I love for a living.
I initially got a six-month contract at Blitz games studios as a level editor. The pay was peanuts, but it was more peanuts than I was currently earning delivering sofas. Over the 6 months, I was hungry to learn everything and just attacked every challenge because I loved making games. I pestered them to the point they gave me a full-time contract & a junior animator position. From there I learned most of my skills ( from other more talented animators) & progressed through junior, regular, senior & finally Lead animator. That was the position I held until the dark day blitz abruptly shut its doors.
Still, what seemed like a blow at the time turned out to be a blessing. It just so happened Garry & facepunch studios were starting to build a team. I joined a week before RUST was released, and it continues to be in active development, recently hitting its 10-year milestone.
It has now sold over 16 million units, grossed over 200 million dollars, and raised over 1.7 million for charity.
As of 2024 the studio has expanded to 70+ ( I think I'm the 3rd longest-serving uk dev member now haha). We have moved to big shiny offices at 103 colmore row B'ham, and we continue to grow and break new ground.
I was really into football & two of my favourite comics were Roy of the rovers & Match which had a 'design your own kit' competition. I remember getting someone to photocopy the blank kit template and would spend hours coming up with ideas for all kinds of teams. I loved animation in all forms and would get my mom to set the VCR & record all the late night animations on Channel 4. Occasionally they would play Luxo Jnr or Reds Dream.
I'd like to say that by the time I left school, I knew I wanted to be an animator, but that would be a lie. I knew I wanted to do something creative, that was for sure. I'd won a design award at school for some company & been taken to Germany to see their headquarters. So I went to Art college and trained in all areas including fine art, photography, illustration, product design & even textiles.
By the time I hit University I was starting to get interested in Animation, but it didn't seem like a feasible career path. It just seemed way too difficult to break into, too small a field & way too complicated. There was no youtube at this point either, no online courses, no help available.
Instead, I selected graphic design, thinking it was the kind of thing I could get a job in when I graduated, which was very grown up of me I think. Little did I know how much I'd hate it, how the lack of creativity would leave me unsatisfied with my work. Having a teacher who clearly didn't want to actually teach just cemented it for me in the end.
At this point Toy Story 2 had recently been released & it re-kindled my interest in the medium. I became an avid reader of CGI magazine. It also made me think I had just as much chance of doing animation for a living, as being a bad graphic designer. In truth, at that point, I was naive enough to think I could do anything. Hay, I even thought my band would get signed at some point.
Unfortunately, my University did not have the teaching skills to help me in 3d. My animation lecturer was a video editor/puppeteer. There was a set of silicon graphics machines in the middle of the IT suite that literally no one knew how to use, or even turn on (I kid you not). So I got my first and only student loan and spent most of it on a crash course in 3DS Max, down in London. The rest went on a new pc that could run max, a trip to New York, and a fair amount of Guinness. The course in London was not exhaustive by any means, but it was enough for me to return to Uni, & blag to my lecturers that I was now an expert. I convinced them it was now perfectly safe to let me do my final degree project completely in 3d.
After graduating It took me about 2 years to actually get into the industry. I wrote hundreds of letters & e-mails. I applied for anything that used animation....games, architecture firms, TV, educational, and car manufacturers. Over that time I did some soulless jobs but they all helped me to spur myself on, get a better reel together & get noticed. Even now those jobs give me a fresh perspective on how fortunate I am to be doing what I love for a living.
I initially got a six-month contract at Blitz games studios as a level editor. The pay was peanuts, but it was more peanuts than I was currently earning delivering sofas. Over the 6 months, I was hungry to learn everything and just attacked every challenge because I loved making games. I pestered them to the point they gave me a full-time contract & a junior animator position. From there I learned most of my skills ( from other more talented animators) & progressed through junior, regular, senior & finally Lead animator. That was the position I held until the dark day blitz abruptly shut its doors.
Still, what seemed like a blow at the time turned out to be a blessing. It just so happened Garry & facepunch studios were starting to build a team. I joined a week before RUST was released, and it continues to be in active development, recently hitting its 10-year milestone.
It has now sold over 16 million units, grossed over 200 million dollars, and raised over 1.7 million for charity.
As of 2024 the studio has expanded to 70+ ( I think I'm the 3rd longest-serving uk dev member now haha). We have moved to big shiny offices at 103 colmore row B'ham, and we continue to grow and break new ground.
