BA2 - CS Research - Contacting people in the industry

To get primary research for my essay about "Is the gap between the Games and VFX industry shrinking for 3D Artists?" I will be contacting some good friends of mine that I have known for a few years and have now ended up in various places in the industry. 

The first person I will contact is Ryan Schake, an old friend of mine who I used to work together with on a game using CryEngine. Ryan started off as a Games Art student at Full Sail and at the same time worked on various MOD and Game projects using CryEngine. He later started to work for 20th Century Fox on the new movie "Fantastic Four" as an Landscape Artist.

The specific questions I sent to Ryan was:

• What would you say are the biggest differences between working in the Visual Effects Industry rather than the Games Industry?

• What would you say are the biggest similarities between the two industries?

• Did you feel that the skills you developed for the games industry helped you when working for the VFX industry?

• Over the years, have you felt that the technological gap between games and VFX industry has become smaller?

• What's your thought about the future of the VFX/Games Industry?

• Would you see yourself working for the Games Industry or VFX Industry in the future?

• What kind of software did you use while you were working at 20 Century Fox?

As for my second person I contacted my friend Nate Broach who are now working as an Environment Artist at Firaxis Games. Creators of games such as XCOM and Civilization.

To Nate I send the following questions:

• Over the years, have you felt that the gap between the games and VFX industry has become smaller? (When it comes to tech, Software etc)

• What's your thought about the future of both the Games Industry and Movie Industry?

• What kind of software/tech have you been using over the years?

• Do you think the technological advancements in the game industry have been to rapid? (Considering glitchy games at launch starts becoming an issue)

• How often do you have to learn new techniques/software?

• How do you think the technological advancements will effect the indie scene?

The third person I will contact is also an old friend of mine I got in contact with during my modding days, His name is Joe Garth and at the time he worked at Crytek as an level\effects designer at Crytek in Frankfurt, Germany. He have now works as an Cinematic Director at Crytek.

To Joe i sent these questions:

• Over the years, have you felt that the gap between the games and VFX industry has become smaller? (When it comes to tech, Software etc)

• What's your thought about the future of VFX/Games Industry?

• What kind of software/tech have you been using when working at Crytek?

• As a cinematic director, do you see yourself changing to work in the VFX industry in the future or will you be continuing to work in the Game Industry?

• Do you think the technological advancements in the game industry have been to rapid? (Considering glitchy games at launch starts becoming an issue)

• How often do you have to learn new techniques/software?
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Since I promised in my mail not to show their answers online, I cannot upload any of the answers I received here on my blog I am afraid. I will include the e-mails at the end of my essay as Appendices.