Krome Studios Gets Maya For New Game Pipeline
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2004 7:17 am
Krome Studios Switches to Maya to Power New Game Pipeline
Next Generation gaming drives the move to Maya
Brisbane, Australia – Alias announced today that Australia’s largest game developer Krome Studios, is moving its entire game development pipeline to Maya® after extensive research of the industry’s top game development tools. Krome Studios has chosen Maya, an Academy Award® winning software, as a complete pipeline solution combining world-class support, Learning Tools and custom training. With over 130 employees, Krome Studios is Australia’s most successful independent developer. The company has created games for all platforms, with titles including Sunny Garcia Surfing, Extremely Goofy Skateboarding, Barbie Beach Vacation, Jimmy Neutron: Jet Fusion, the TY the Tasmanian Tiger™ series and King Arthur, based on the film from Touchstone Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films.
The Choice For Forward-Looking Talent
Recognising the growing importance of Maya to the 3D game development community, Krome began to evaluate their pipeline tools and talent pool. “A lot of guys have trained on Maya and they see Maya as the big, cool package that is used in films and they want to be using that,†explains Steve Stamatiadis, Creative Director for Krome Studios. “We found Maya is THE package that best caters to animators and since most 2D guys or TV/film people are exposed to Maya, it makes sense to speak their languageâ€.
Stamatiadis is well aware that the artists are Krome’s most valuable assets. “Maya was the best choice for forward-looking talent and our business is all about the animators and how they work in software. At the end of the day you can't make the game without them. If you get good people working on the project you are always going to have a better game, so switching to Maya rapidly became the logical choice.â€
The Convergence of Games with Broadcast and Film industries
With King Arthur and TY the Tasmanian Tigerâ„¢ 2 : Bush Rescueâ„¢ published this year, Krome Studios is at the forefront of the cross-pollination trend that is seeing entertainment properties being developed for both games and screen media.
“This convergence has meant that we regularly need to work with assets created in Maya, as well as send our own work back for approval to the same companies,†explains Robert Walsh, Krome Studios CEO. “As this becomes much more prevalent, it makes more sense to work in the same format as them. With the upcoming TV series based on TY the Tasmanian Tiger we are looking at reversing the trend by providing the assets in Maya to the series production team.â€
This development occurred in July this year when Krome Studios announced that it had joined forces with DPS Film Roman, an IDT Entertainment Company known for its animation work on the hit shows The Simpsons and King of The Hill. The strategic alliance will see the companies partner to create television and DVD productions featuring the characters from the best-selling videogame TY the Tasmanian Tiger. The videogame series has sold well in excess of one million units worldwide.
“Krome Studios is a world leader in working with the convergence of assets between the broadcast film and games industries,†says Geoff Foulds, global industry manager for games at Alias. “Their success and innovation in the marketplace makes them a sought after developer and Alias is thrilled to collaborate with them.
Custom Training Provides An Easy Transition
Krome staff had a week-long, on-site training window with a Maya expert to kick off their learning and are planning more in the coming months. "Whether you need to fast track your people into becoming fully functional with our tools, or need to integrate workflow with other applications, we have solutions that are proven to get you the results you’re looking for, " explains Geoff Foulds. "
"The experience our expert had in helping people to swap programmes was invaluable in ensuring a smooth training transition. The guys who went through it found it invaluable. In particular when we did the modelling training, everyone wanted to be there!†says Stamatiadis.
Extensibility, stability and pipelinability
The greatest return Krome has experienced to date is the speedy implementation of Maya into its existing pipeline. Maya's high end extensibility is designed to integrate a comprehensive range of features and put them at the fingertips of users. " Usually the biggest issue for us is time. We have a saying at Krome that 'you can't shift Christmas', declares Walsh. " Maya will streamline our development process. We're anticipating a much higher quality of finished product along with substantial productivity increases. Which all translates into games that look better and are more fun to play".
Krome Studios expects to release its first all Maya game in 2005.
[url=\"http://www.alias.com/eng/press/press_releases/20041014_krome_studios_switches_to_maya.shtml\"]Alias Software Press Room[/url]
Next Generation gaming drives the move to Maya
Brisbane, Australia – Alias announced today that Australia’s largest game developer Krome Studios, is moving its entire game development pipeline to Maya® after extensive research of the industry’s top game development tools. Krome Studios has chosen Maya, an Academy Award® winning software, as a complete pipeline solution combining world-class support, Learning Tools and custom training. With over 130 employees, Krome Studios is Australia’s most successful independent developer. The company has created games for all platforms, with titles including Sunny Garcia Surfing, Extremely Goofy Skateboarding, Barbie Beach Vacation, Jimmy Neutron: Jet Fusion, the TY the Tasmanian Tiger™ series and King Arthur, based on the film from Touchstone Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films.
The Choice For Forward-Looking Talent
Recognising the growing importance of Maya to the 3D game development community, Krome began to evaluate their pipeline tools and talent pool. “A lot of guys have trained on Maya and they see Maya as the big, cool package that is used in films and they want to be using that,†explains Steve Stamatiadis, Creative Director for Krome Studios. “We found Maya is THE package that best caters to animators and since most 2D guys or TV/film people are exposed to Maya, it makes sense to speak their languageâ€.
Stamatiadis is well aware that the artists are Krome’s most valuable assets. “Maya was the best choice for forward-looking talent and our business is all about the animators and how they work in software. At the end of the day you can't make the game without them. If you get good people working on the project you are always going to have a better game, so switching to Maya rapidly became the logical choice.â€
The Convergence of Games with Broadcast and Film industries
With King Arthur and TY the Tasmanian Tigerâ„¢ 2 : Bush Rescueâ„¢ published this year, Krome Studios is at the forefront of the cross-pollination trend that is seeing entertainment properties being developed for both games and screen media.
“This convergence has meant that we regularly need to work with assets created in Maya, as well as send our own work back for approval to the same companies,†explains Robert Walsh, Krome Studios CEO. “As this becomes much more prevalent, it makes more sense to work in the same format as them. With the upcoming TV series based on TY the Tasmanian Tiger we are looking at reversing the trend by providing the assets in Maya to the series production team.â€
This development occurred in July this year when Krome Studios announced that it had joined forces with DPS Film Roman, an IDT Entertainment Company known for its animation work on the hit shows The Simpsons and King of The Hill. The strategic alliance will see the companies partner to create television and DVD productions featuring the characters from the best-selling videogame TY the Tasmanian Tiger. The videogame series has sold well in excess of one million units worldwide.
“Krome Studios is a world leader in working with the convergence of assets between the broadcast film and games industries,†says Geoff Foulds, global industry manager for games at Alias. “Their success and innovation in the marketplace makes them a sought after developer and Alias is thrilled to collaborate with them.
Custom Training Provides An Easy Transition
Krome staff had a week-long, on-site training window with a Maya expert to kick off their learning and are planning more in the coming months. "Whether you need to fast track your people into becoming fully functional with our tools, or need to integrate workflow with other applications, we have solutions that are proven to get you the results you’re looking for, " explains Geoff Foulds. "
"The experience our expert had in helping people to swap programmes was invaluable in ensuring a smooth training transition. The guys who went through it found it invaluable. In particular when we did the modelling training, everyone wanted to be there!†says Stamatiadis.
Extensibility, stability and pipelinability
The greatest return Krome has experienced to date is the speedy implementation of Maya into its existing pipeline. Maya's high end extensibility is designed to integrate a comprehensive range of features and put them at the fingertips of users. " Usually the biggest issue for us is time. We have a saying at Krome that 'you can't shift Christmas', declares Walsh. " Maya will streamline our development process. We're anticipating a much higher quality of finished product along with substantial productivity increases. Which all translates into games that look better and are more fun to play".
Krome Studios expects to release its first all Maya game in 2005.
[url=\"http://www.alias.com/eng/press/press_releases/20041014_krome_studios_switches_to_maya.shtml\"]Alias Software Press Room[/url]