Ten Ton Hammer - Thanks for chatting with us! Could you tell us you’re a little about your past experience in this line of work and describe your artistic involvement with Irth Online?

Thomas Gale, Artist, Irth Online - I started at Magic Hat a few years ago and I am involved with most aspects of art for the MMORPG: Irth Online. I began working nearly 10 years ago as an artist in the computer game industry developing mostly PC games in various genres over the years.

Ten Ton Hammer - What kind of formal training does it take to become a game artist? Are the tools you use proprietary, or can anyone begin learning the rudiments?

Gale - Formal training isn’t necessary but it looks good on a resume and may help a lot for those who want some structure. What’s more important is your portfolio, your ability to work with a team, and the limits of your own ambitions. Persistence pays off. It may also help when starting out to specialize in one particular field that you most enjoy (modeling, animation, environment, textures, concept etc). Most of my dev time is spent with 3DStudioMax for 3D and Adobe Photoshop for 2D. There are lots of other great apps and tools but those two are my standards. We also use some special licensed tools: EmotionFX for animation and SpeedTree for foliage. But I’ve only used those for this particular project, whereas I’ve used Max and Photoshop on every game project I’ve ever worked on.