Ryo Takahashi

Born in Nigata, Japan in 1976, Ryo Takahashi began to learn CG in 1994, and went on to develop plug-ins for a variety of applications, in addition to providing CG and technical support at a CG production company. In 2000, Ryo Takahashi joined Namco as an engineer and is involved in creating the Maya plug-ins needed for game development, in addition to providing technical support. His latest accomplishment is that of the development of TEKKEN'S NINA WILLIAMS IN: DEATH BY DEGREES, an action adventure game for PS2.

By fully customizing the workflow in Maya to create the data needed for the game, such as character design, stage modeling, lighting, event sequence, motion editing and level design, he was able to enhance the quality of the title and reduced development time. Namco now uses these plug-ins internally for development in a variety of products.

Q. How did you get involved in the 3D computer graphics industry?
A. Ever since I was a child, I have always loved special effects movies. In my mid-teens, I was very inspired by the many films which used computer graphics, such as Back to the Future, Terminator 2 - Judgment Day and Jurassic Park. (As for Star Wars, I was a lot younger so I didn't understand or remember it entirely, but I like it now.) After graduating from high school, I came to Tokyo and started studying computer graphics. That was the first time I used a computer. I nonetheless met many good teachers and friends and now my career is based on computer graphics (CG). I work for a game company because I have a fascination with the power and interactivity of console games.

Q. How do you use Maya software?
A. I use Maya to create almost all the data for game development. I create a level editor in Maya to adjust the game balance as well as characters, maps and props. By creating a plug-in in Maya as opposed to making an application from scratch, I believe we can develop highly functional tools and reduce costs. It is especially valuable in that I can use the MEL command that includes all Maya functions, and I really like the reusability of plug-ins. The designers and programmers I work with use Maya because we can use it like the UNIX commands for batch rendering and its GUI has a user-friendly operation.

Q. What projects have you worked on?
A. I was involved in CG at a production company before I joined Namco. I worked on a variety of projects, such as commercial movies, game movies, CG cuts for feature films and so on. I was in charge of plug-in development for 3DCG applications, technical support and was a system administration engineer. I joined Namco and worked on a PS2 game called "DEATH BY DEGREES ". I am responsible for developing plug-ins and providing technical support. I am now working on the next project.

Q. What makes this industry so exciting to you?
A. It's possible to achieve a variety of expression by incorporating art and technology, human sense and automatic computation from the very beginning. This industry is attractive because the technology is evolving very fast. New technology is developing from day-to-day, so it's easy to get out-of-date if you're not paying attention. I feel particularly stimulated when I manage to develop a piece of technology that no one has developed before. Technological evolution is endless, so I don't think that I will be getting bored in my job.

Q. Where do you see the industry going in the next five years?
A. I feel that the disparity between 3D professionals and non-professionals is rapidly shrinking these days. 3D enthusiasts will be able to express what they want freely by using their computers at home. Therefore, professionals will soon be required to have a higher level of technical capability and knowledge.

Q. What words of wisdom do you have for anyone interested in entering the world of 3D computer graphics?
A. When I first became interested in CG, applications were very expensive. As we all know, SGI machines running these applications were very expensive and most people couldn't afford to purchase them for personal use. As I had CG training only at school, I remembered staying late and training after school with enthusiasm.

The situation is different nowadays, and we can now purchase applications that run on our personal computers at reasonable prices. We can also pretty much say that there are no more hindrances in setting up our work environment, so I hope that CG creators spend as much time as they can to learn CG and absorb as much knowledge and as many techniques as possible. I believe that we can't approach success without failure, so I hope that they put their heart into CG creation without thinking of immediate profit. I would also like to advise them to cherish their friendships!