Special Page for Effects Artists!
- 2021.12.14(Tue)
Welcome to BANDAI NAMCO Studios’ (BNS) special page for Effects Artists!
We are currently hiring Effects Artists! This special page was created so everyone can get to know the Studio’s current Effects Artists✨
Look forward to stories from our internal artists in this space!
🖊 The appeal and advantages of being a BNS Effects Artist
🖊 Just how much thought goes into our work?
🖊 We asked a mid-career hire about their experience with us!
The appeal and advantages of being a BNS Effects Artist
BANDAI NAMCO Studios has a variety of projects in concurrent development; projects that use famous IPs, unannounced projects nobody knows of, and ones whose team size varies from several members to over a hundred people.
Each project also has its own artistic style, from photorealistic to cartoon, and everything in between.
One of the greatest advantages of being an Effects Artist at BANDAI NAMCO is having access to an environment where you can work with a variety of artistic styles; working in this environment gives you many chances to grow as an artist.
Our Effects Artists get to exercise their skills in a number of ways, from creating the effects data necessary to achieve a visual concept, creating effect shaders and experimental data, R&D of new technologies and proposals for how to use them, and more. They can also choose to take on a leader position and focus on project direction.
We have fully developed employee evaluation frameworks for all kinds of career paths, whether that’s frontline, on-the-floor development work, or project management, so you can leverage your skills knowing that they will be properly assessed.
Being able to set your own career path in accordance with your current skills and aspirations is also an appealing part of the job, as artists can discuss what projects they want to involve themselves in with their managers.
Lastly, the studio has regular information sharing sessions for artists to present their knowledge to the rest of the studio.
We provide many other opportunities to refine your skills, like by studying pages on our intranet that contain knowledge gained from our various projects, or participating in workshops and external seminars. We hope that anyone who joins BNS will make good use of these opportunities.
Just how much thought goes into our work?
When making the effects in Tales of ARISE, we placed heavy emphasis on achieving a good visual tempo.
We worked hard to adjust their tempo frame by frame over many iterations, all of which was done in hopes of maximizing the player’s experience as they play through the game.
The Tales of series also has its signature flashy in-battle effects, but just having flashy effects will negatively impact visibility and the overall game experience. This is why our Effects Artists teamed up with the shader manager and programmers to create a system that was flashy, but did not hinder gameplay.
Another note on artistic style is that the effects use a shader that creates stylized silhouettes and reduces the number of colors in order to prevent it from looking inconsistent with the characters and environments.
My wish is that players see the effects used in Tales of ARISE as one of the many enjoyable parts of the game.
―Takeshi Kojima, Tales of ARISE
Work on effects art in “ACE COMBAT7” started with placing volumetric clouds within the vast skies of each stage.
This meant that all effects needed to feel three dimensional, instead of just flat.
We also worked to achieve explosion and smoke effects that were low-load but had shadows to show depth. This allowed us to create battlefields that fit the look of the ”ACE COMBAT” series, with large numbers of airplanes flying in the sky.
Futuristic weapons also show up in this game, such as lasers and force fields. It was critical to achieve a balance with these effects to make it look like as if they could exist in the real world.
You can say that the effects in “ACE COMBAT7” play an important role in visually representing the world the game is set in.
―Masato Kanno, ACE COMBAT7: SKIES UNKNOWN
We strove to incorporate “everything” in the effects in TEKKEN7.
As TEKKEN7 is a 3D fighting game, it needs to meet many requirements that are not immediately visible, such as a constant 60 FPS, artwork that is consistent no matter how much you rotate the camera around the characters, super slow motion support, and more.
We also put great care in adjusting our effects to maintain a fine line between visual quality and game feel for players, such as the balance between having detailed effects that look good in a fighting game and using the effects as visual cues for players.
Why don’t you join us in doing work that ignites your passion?
―Fuminori Tsuchiya, TEKKEN7
We asked a mid-career hire about their experience with us!
Why did you join BNS?
I always liked to play NAMCO games when I was a kid. I’ve been an Ace Combat fan for 25 years!
I majored in CG video production when I was in school, and that landed me a job with a CG production company. After I while, I stopped and wondered if I could leverage my experience in CG technology to make video games. That’s when I applied.
― Yuki Tozuka, Effects Artist
When I was hunting for a new job, I looked for companies that:
・Make high-quality effects for their games
・Use Houdini as part of their development
The only choices that fit these requirements were BNS and one other company, and I had trouble deciding since the employment conditions were pretty much the same. But I ended up choosing BNS as the hiring interview gave me a very good impression of the studio. Of course, the interview itself was very serious, but after the interview was over, everyone seemed to have fun chatting with each other regardless of their professional rank. This cemented my choice as the environment was nice and it seemed like it would be fun to work these people.
― Hitomi Umehara, Effects Artist
What was the best part after you joined?
Technological research is a constant at the studio, and I get to come into contact with the latest tech. It’s all very interesting.
The past few years have seen significant advances in effects, and daily research is important to stay up to date with what’s new.
I felt glad to have joined the studio when I saw with my own eyes how much people in the studio treasure the technology that we work with.
Not only that, I get to work with the creators who made the games I used to play for hours on end, as well as other highly skilled people. Every day is a learning experience for me.
One more thing I’m glad about is that I could balance my work and private life, meaning I have more time to spend with my kids!
― Yuki Tozuka, Effects Artist
Although I didn’t have any experience making effects for games, I was given time to onboard after joining, so it was nice that I was not suddenly thrown into the deep end.
Also, even though the entire team is serious in trying to make a good game, we also take time to chat, and the overall environment is lively and easy to work in. Of course, nobody in the office is at each other’s throats.
― Hitomi Umehara, Effects Artist
What felt different before and after you joined?
I used to mostly make effects for prerenders, so my transition to the game industry was smooth, as the methodologies and parameters for effects used in prerenders were similar to those used in games.
Working on real-time effects in a game engine was even more interesting than I imagined.
― Yuki Tozuka, Effects Artist
There wasn’t much difference before and after I joined the company. I changed industries from video production to game development, so I felt that any changes in workflow were a matter of fact.
― Hitomi Umehara, Effects Artist
A tip from HR !
You can ask us questions and get advice before you start working with us so you get matched with the right position!
We want you to join the studio with all of your questions answered and worry-free, to prevent major deviations from what you expected and what you actually experience ✨✨
Is there anything you would like to try in the future?
It’s a simple goal, but I want to pursue real-time effects. I want to make effects that look pre-rendered, but are actually in real time, or effects so beautiful they capture the hearts of those who look at them.
I also think that technology and entertainment are inseparable from each other. As technology progresses more interactive effects will become possible, and it might be interesting if new content would come out this.
― Yuki Tozuka, Effects Artist
BNS develops games from all kinds of genres, so I would like to broaden my horizons and try my hand at projects in genres I have yet to experience, in addition to the project I’m currently working on.
― Hitomi Umehara, Effects Artist
Click HERE to apply for Effects Artist Position!
