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| Updated 27/1/2003 |
Unfortunately, the title of Technical Director is incredibly vague, so I'll take some time here to describe what I consider to be my role as a TD.
Basically, the TD is the person who everyone turns to for an answer when difficulties arise in getting complex 3D animation work completed. TDs are expected to have an intimate knowledge of all the software being used, and be able to come up with solutions as problems arise.
When a new job comes in, a bunch of people (often a CGI supervisor, a producer and a TD or two) get together to work out just how the job is going to get completed. Usually a bunch of the work is pretty straighforward and is easily assigned to animators, texture artists, matchmovers, etc. But a certain percentage of the work (and the more 'cutting-edge' the facility, the bigger the percentage) will require some experimentation, research and possibly the development of new tools in order to get it done. It is up to the TDs to either establish a method using existing tools or instigate the development of new tools (often writing them themselves).
TDs usually take on those aspects of the work that are too technical (or tedious) for your average animator to want to tackle themselves. For example, things such as character rigging, crowd shots, cloth, fur, particles, dynamics and procedural animation.
As well as being the problem solvers, TDs are usually responsible for the lighting, shading and rendering of the final 3D output. And with the increasingly complex rendering methods available these days (Image Based Lighting, Global Illumination, Ambient Occlusion, Caustics, etc) the task of look development and rendering has become a lot more complex. As a TD, you never stop learning new things.
Good question. All the TDs I know come from completely different backgrounds. I personally went to uni to get my piece of paper with 'Bachelor of Science in Computing Science' written on it. I then went on to work as an R&D Software Developer for Animal Logic where I learnt the ins and outs of working for a production company whilst honing my 3D skills in my spare time. After 3 years there I moved on to become a TD with Framestore CFC in London.
If you have a good mix of technical and creative skills, and are somehow involved in the visual effects industry, then you should be able to work your way into a TD position given time. If you start off in a creative position, then your technical skills will soon be noticed and appreciated, and vice versa if you start off in a purely technical role (as I did). This mix of technical/creative is a fairly rare combination, so if you have it and are interested in this kind of role, then you should be in pretty good demand in the visual effects industry.
My friend and colleague Andrew Whitehurst has an excellent article on his site with advice for students aspiring to be lighting TDs, with some great book recommendations and tips for putting your reel together.
Finally, there is a great looking site for online TD training starting up here at the TD Academy. The great thing about this is that the courses are mentored by people in the industry so you can be sure that what you're learning is totally relevant. I might be contributing some time to this as a mentor myself.
Here's a list of some good books that I think every TD should read and absorb - though some can certainly be left out if you're not interested in a particular area of course: