<DAZ_Biggie> ladies and gentlemen, a big welcome to Joe "shoop" Shoopack!
<Stephen S> Woooo
<DAZ_Biggie> put your hands together... :)
<DAZ_SSS> moderation is now on
<DAZ_SSS> Okay, we'd like to welcome everyone to the fifth of our Featured Chat Series
<DAZ_SSS> and extent a warm welcome to our special guest Joe Shoopack, an influential figure in the video game industry.
<DAZ_SSS> Joe is currently Studio Art Director for Sony Online Entertainment in San Diego.
<DAZ_SSS> he works with the studio's art directors and art leads on titles for PC MMO, PS3 AND PSP platforms.
<DAZ_SSS> he's also worked as a game developer since the Atari 6800 days. He's been a part of shipping over 25 titles, including: Everquest II and its expansions (MMO), Star Wars galaxies (MMO), SEGA titles such as Jurassic Park and World Series Baseball.
<shoop> Thanks for having me
<shoop> I'm looking forward to chatting with you guys about by video game and illustration experience
<shoop> I've really had two separate careers in art
<shoop> I studied illustration at BYU and graduated back in '85
<shoop> So I'm an old guy
<shoop> I'm going to post a couple of images that aren't on my gallery
<shoop> When I got out of school, I found that my pen and ink style was well received by newspapers and magazines
<shoop> I had intended to do that my whole career
<DAZ_SSS> [Moderator message: Please direct all questions to the QuestionBot by clicking on "QuestionBot" under the "People in Chat" list.]
<shoop> but I got an opportunity to work on the latest computer the Tandy 1000
<shoop> anybody ever own one of those?
<shoop> I'll go ahead and post these and we can take some questions on the pen and ink
<shoop> and then a little later I'll talk about video games
<shoop> 
<shoop> This was for the San Diego Union-Tribune
<shoop> for an editorial piece on Soviet failure to plant a man on the moon
<shoop> 
<shoop> This one was for the Chicago Tribune
<shoop> an article about wasteful meetings for a new airport
<shoop> 
<shoop> Woody Allen caricature private commission
<shoop> 
<shoop> Advertisement for tax refund service
<shoop> Anybody have any questions?
<Noltar> What do you think plays the biggest role in making inked drawings come alive?
<shoop> When I start any piece, I do a very loose pencil drawing
<shoop> and once I'm happy with that I'll pencil in a fair amount of detail
<shoop> but I never plan out where the ink strokes are going to go
<shoop> I try to keep it loose and natural
<shoop> I typical never go back and white something out
<shoop> If I feel like I've made a mistake I try to compensate in other areas. If I feel I've gone too heavy or light, I'll adjust other areas of the drawing to try and balance it out.
<shoop> I use traditional pen nib and Indian ink Pen Nib I use hunt 108 flex nib
<Noltar> Where do your draw your inspiration for you pen and ink drawings from?
<shoop> I have two favorite artists
<shoop> Brad Holland and Geoffery Moss
<shoop> I've collected tons of their Illustrations
<shoop> I love their looseness and character
<DAZ_Biggie> Do you feel that a traditional background and education is important?
<shoop> Yes, it's absolutely important
<shoop> Traditional art background will help you no matter what type of art industry you work in
<shoop> and general education exposes you to tons of different ideas which informs the kind of art you create
<luis_ram> How did you make the uncle Sam drawing, ink n watercolor or ink n computer?
<shoop> It's pen and ink on watercolor board. Watercolors were used.
<websterbd> on a private commission do you need to split the copyright with the person requesting the art?
<shoop> I retain the copy right on all of my illustrations
<shoop> What I enjoy about editorial work I'm given an article that often has an abstract idea
<shoop> and I usually get 24 to 48 hours to turn that into an illustration before it goes to print
<shoop> That makes it fun.
<Psyber Wolf> How did you get started in the gaming field and the graphics part of your career?
<shoop> My first job was in educational software
<shoop> in the early 90s
<shoop> from there, I got a job with BlueSky Software
<shoop> working on SEGA Genesis games
<shoop> I did characters, animation, backgrounds,
<shoop> after the Genesis was phased out I got a job with Sony
<shoop> working on sports titles
<shoop> since then I've worked as associate director on Star Wars Galaxies
<shoop> associate art director
<shoop> art director on EverQuest 2
<shoop> As Art Director at the studio I work with all of the creative teams
<shoop> for the Play Station 3 and the PC titles we develop
<shoop> and PSP titles also
<DAZ_SSS> [Moderator message: Please direct all questions to the QuestionBot by clicking on "QuestionBot" under the "People in Chat" list.]
<shoop> Here are some screen shots
<shoop> 
<shoop> This ones from our upcoming PS 3 title
<shoop> Untold Legends Dark Kingdom
<shoop> 
<shoop> EverQuest 2 Desert of Flames Expansion
<shoop> 
<shoop> One from EverQuest 2
<shoop> 
<shoop> EverQuest 2 Kingdom of Sky Expansion
<shoop> 
<shoop> One of my favorite NPCs, the Mushroom Man
<blondie9999> Do you have any advice for modelers who want to get into gaming?
<shoop> Get an excellent traditional art and anatomy background
<shoop> use one 3D package I'd recommend Maya
<shoop> and learn the program really well
<shoop> When presenting a portfolio, show the process by showing your underlying mesh
<shoop> as well as the final textured model
<shoop> Also, try to show groups of characters that are done in a consistent style
<Magnatude> Joe, how does a great game start off, is there a group "think-tank" that comes up with an idea or is there something out there on the web that you might happen upon and think... wow this will make a great game idea... I'll send it to the boss... In other words what actually happens to create the game?
<shoop> At Sony we develop games based on an existing Intellectual Property like Star Wars or DC Comics Universe
<shoop> When we develop a new Sony title like Dark Kingdom
<shoop> we start with something like a "think-tank"
<shoop> groups of people present a game proposal
<shoop> that includes a game play description
<shoop> concept sketches, and market analysis
<macupuncture> Once you have an idea laid out, how do you assemble the right team?
<shoop> On a new title, we always start small
<shoop> for the first six months, we have a producer, two or three artists
<shoop> designers and programmers
<shoop> we create a game prototype
<shoop> that typically includes a game character, environment, and basic game play
<shoop> this typically includes one character, one environment and some basic game play
<shoop> at this point if the company approves production, we'll staff an entire team
<macupuncture> Can you describe the order in which the team takes on the parts of the game? Design, concept art, play mechanics, story, etc?
<shoop> Game design is king
<shoop> if a game is not fun it doesn't matter how good the art is
<shoop> So first we make sure the design is well thought out and fun
<shoop> we will sometimes do a paper and pencil version of the game play
<shoop> that's the mechanics
<shoop> we want to test
<shoop> next we'll develop concept art
<shoop> to make the game design more enticing and exciting
<macupuncture> Are the character sketches done traditionally then sent to the art department for digitization?
<shoop> Every game has at least one dedicated concept artist
<shoop> so every major creature, character, or object gets a concept before it's even built
<Mystaira> What's your favorite part about your job?
<shoop> I love seeing a game develop over the course of two to three years
<shoop> from just an idea to a final box in the store.
<shoop> It's a thrill to know you directed and organized all the talented people it takes to make that happen
<Noltar> If you can narrow it down to just a few key elements, what would you say are the most important things to keep in mind for bringing a game to life visually?
<shoop> I would say the environments or settings have to have a compelling mood
<shoop> The object is to completely immerse the player.
<shoop> So the player cares about the characters and what happens to them.
<DAZ_Biggie> Are you guys hiring now? If so what kinds of people are you looking for?
<shoop> We're always looking for good people
<shoop> It's important to have some game industry experience
<shoop> If you don't have game industry experience, you need to build a portfolio that shows you understand the kind of art game companies need
<shoop> I'd recommend checking out Game Developer Magazine
<shoop> and check out the kinds of games we do at www.station.sony.com
<DAZ_SSS> Well unfortunately we now have to bring our chat to a close
<DAZ_SSS> We'd like to thank everyone for showing up and making this chat a success
<DAZ_SSS> we'd like to thank everyone for the quality questions and sorry we couldn't get to them all
<DAZ_SSS> and especially like to thank Joe for for his knowledge and inspiration that he was willing to share with us today and for just being so dang cool!
<shoop> Thanks everybody. Pleasure chatting with you.
<DAZ_SSS> we will post a log of the chat up soon
<DAZ_SSS> We will now remove moderation
<DAZ_SSS> thanks joe!!!!
<Noltar> Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Joe. :)
<luis_ram> Thanks Joe
<FireDust> Thank you Joe :)
<macupuncture> Thanks for your time.
<luis_ram> Hi Noltar
<websterbd> Thanks Joe
<DAZ_Biggie> Thanks Joe!
<Mystaira> Thanks for chatting with us Joe! ^^
<macupuncture> So, who wants to make a game? Any modelers out there?
<LeChatDesigns> Great information. Thank you for sharing.
<zipmanio> thanks for the fine job.
<DAZ_SSS> thank was great
<Thunderwave> I am currently making a game
<Sarsa> Thanks Joe!
<Stephen S> Thanks
<Noltar> I'm already involved with one too. :P
<sandman294> Thanks for all the great games you have worked on Joe!
<Thunderwave> Please talk to me, I really need help on it.\
<Stephen S> really which one
<Noltar> Though not from the art side.
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