Kyle Horwood - Material Artist Q&A

Kyle has worked on huge titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man and The Division 2. In this Q&A we discuss Kyle’s journey into game development, his experiences with freelance and in-house work and the differences between them, tips and tricks for people new to Substance Designer, and ways to boost your portfolio if you are looking to land a Material Artist position.

Kyle, could you please introduce yourself to us? Where do you come from and how did you get into the world of 3D? What was the first game you ever played?

Hi! I’m Kyle Horwood and I am currently living in lovely Scotland! I got into 3D because my Dad used to have an interest in computers and video games, and he even got into 3D modelling a little bit and then my brother began to try it and liked it, then he tried his best to get me into it. At first I wasn’t interested at all but then I found my love for it over time. During most of my childhood I wanted to be a film director and was aiming towards that goal but during college while I was making a small TV/Web series with some friends, the actors would rarely turn up so I thought to myself ‘what is something else I can do that requires Narrative and Storytelling’. This is then when I moved into games and began to learn how to model and program my own games. I’m not really sure what my first ever game I ever played was, my Dad used to have an Atari 2600 and Commodore 64 and I’m sure I played stuff on those but I don’t remember the game names. One game I really remember playing a lot when I was young was Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. Nowadays I’m working as a Freelance Material Artist while developing my own games with my indie studio known as Cloud Colony Games.

Without breaking any NDA’s what is it like doing freelance material work? Can you talk about your experiences with this?

Freelance Material work is a tough but rewarding job. It’s really important that you understand how to manage your time well, more so if you’re working with a few clients. Time and scheduling is really an important part of freelance as it’s all about respecting one another and if you’re not respecting your clients and end up overbooking yourself and focus too much on one client you could see that the other client might not want to work with you again. It’s important to remember that you yourself are a business and if you’re hired, you’re expected to do that job the best you can do. One of the things I really enjoy about working freelance is the ability to work with many clients on different projects. One of the major challenges with Freelance Material work is that sometimes if you’re working with clients that have different time zones, it could take some time to get feedback on something so it’s essential that you try and have a few things to do at once so you’re not slowing down any of the work to the clients. My experiences with working freelance has always been great, a few times I’ve had some questionable offers but normally with experience it becomes easier to weed out the offers that either aren't legit or those who aren’t going to pay you.

When creating a material that needs to have possible iteration, how do you plan the parameters you wish to expose? Is this considered from the beginning or do you add them after you complete the project?

If you’re planning on having a material with exposed parameters I think it’s important to think about how you will implement these from the beginning. In the past I have done a few materials where I’ve created them fully and then tried to do some exposed parameters at the end. The issue with doing this is then you spend a lot of time going back and forth. The reason is because you spent all your time focused on looking at the material in 1 state, so if you change something it could mess up layers and such and then you have to debug a lot more. So it’s highly recommended thinking about it at the start.

How do you collaborate with your clients such as Spider-Man and The Division 2? What is it like to work on such big projects but freelancing (if you did freelance)?

Spider-Man was my last freelance work back before I started my first in-house job with Ubisoft Annecy. With Insomniac Games they approached me about doing some materials for the game and from there we worked together. Once I had done a material I would send it off for any feedback as I needed to make sure it matched with what they required. After getting the feedback I would then send off the final files to them and start on the next material. With the Division 2 it was very different because it was in-house so I had more responsibilities and I even had to go to the Level Artists to talk with them if they wanted a certain material. Once we had a big list of materials it was about picking out some and getting to work on them and after getting feedback from work colleagues. I really enjoy working on big games like these as I am also a fan of these games as well. I’m always on the lookout to help with other projects as well.

Did your workflow change when working on a freelance project vs just creating a portfolio material?

Not really no, the only major difference is relying on my own computer, and if it breaks it’s up to me to fix it as quickly as possible. Whereas in an in-house job if the PC breaks you just ask I.T for help. In terms of development of materials it tends to stay the same. If I have developed nodes at home to help with materials I’ll use them on my freelance work and even bring them into work to help my materials at work also.

What are some tips or tricks for people starting to use Substance Designer?

When it comes to ‘where should I start learning Substance Designer so I know how to use it’, I would recommend just looking at the Substance YouTube channel, as they have fantastic beginner tutorials on how to use the software and how to make certain materials. Then I would also recommend also giving Daniel Thiger’s fundamentals a look at as well as he covers Substance Designer very well. One tip I highly recommend as well when it comes to making materials in Substance Designer, is sometimes spend some days NOT making a material. Go into Substance Designer and just start dropping down nodes, don’t think just mash stuff together and see what you get. From this I’ve come up with cool and interesting ways of making certain materials and sometimes you can even use them to create nodes that you can then add into materials you do end up creating. Think of it like you’re a mad scientist just throwing together different liquids. Go wild and enjoy exploring.

How did you start learning Substance Designer? Is there anything you wish you knew when you started learning Substance Designer?

I learnt Substance Designer at the start by watching the tutorials the Substance guys released on their YouTube and I also remember learning from Rogelio Olguin from his tutorials he began to share on Vimeo and then I noticed Josh Lynch was learning and sharing, so then I reached out to him. I was really lucky in the fact that Josh actually agreed to mentor me and help me develop my skills as a Material Artist whilst trying to pursue this as a career. His mentoring was amazing and really pushed me. The fact that Josh is now running mentoring with others under the name ‘The Mentor Coalition’ is really inspiring to see artists developing materials from being mentored and seeing them push themselves is something I enjoy seeing.

How do you ensure a good level of quality across your materials?

I think to make sure you’re keeping a good level of quality you really need to think about your materials in a more modular way. When making materials I would normally at the end go over my materials and see what section of nodes I could rip out and create a node that I can re-use in other graphics. It’s a lot like how functions work in programming. If you’re going to use a functionality a lot you’re going to want to make it a function that you can then call to each time.

In production, how do you balance looks vs performance on materials with very strong height maps that would otherwise look very flat and boring without tessellation or parallax? Do you get told that the material will have these features and you should keep the height subdued or are there certain rules to help you decide? (EXP Community Question)

Most of these rules are set up by the Material Artists and Tech Artists (from my personal experience, most studios might work differently). When I was working on The Division 2 for the terrain materials we had some form of tessellation I believe that helped add some height displacement and we had some form of parallaxing for some materials that needed it as well. You can find more information about how the materials in The Division 2 worked on this Substance Division 2 Materials Video.

Can you share your experience with Substance Source? How does it differ to working in-house or on a video game?

Working on the Substance Source was so fun and rewarding. Personally I would say that there wasn’t much of a difference between working in house or on a video game because my role was still to develop materials that can be used in production. However, the major differences are as follows. 1. Working with tighter limitations. When creating the materials for Substance Source the limitations were more tighter. When creating materials one of my favourites and go to nodes to use is the Tile Sampler. The thing with the Tile Sampler is that it has a lot of functionality which means it is more expensive to use. I had to learn to love more nodes for this work, and the replacement for the Tile Sampler was the Tile Generator which has similar functionality to the Tile Sampler but had less functions so it was cheaper to use. Another challenge was making sure that the material works both with GPU & CPU processors. There was the odd node that sometimes changed. When I made some cracks for the roof material in the CPU the cracks were wider and it happened because of the number that was set on. From this I had to change out the Slope Blur for a low level blur going into a warp to tighten up the cracks. 2. I was able to choose what materials to develop and what the pack would be. When I am working in-house or freelance I am given a list of materials to make and I make them. Sometimes I get the chance to choose out of a list on which materials I want to create, more so when it comes to working in-house. When working on The Division 2 we had a very large list of materials that would need to be done and I would just pick out ones I wanted to create for the game and get on with them. With Substance Source I had the choice of what theme the pack would be and I bounced around with several ideas and then the one I liked more I pitched to the Substance guys who then said they really liked the pack idea so we went ahead with it.

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere! Going out and taking photographs. Watching Movies and TV shows. Talking with other artists. Reading books, playing D&D. My mind is always thinking about how something will look and feel.

Where do you seek feedback?

When it comes to gathering feedback I mostly will go ahead and use Discord channels that are super active as it is an easy way to get quick feedback. I also have friends in the industry on whom I would normally approach with what I’ve made to see what they think of it also. If you’re looking to getting feedback yourself I would highly recommend both the DiNusty Empire and the Experience Points Discord channels. The best part about these channels is that it’s also a great place to make friends and most of the time it really feels like a family.

What can we be on the lookout from you in the future?

Right now I'm working on a few projects from freelance to my own studio Cloud Colony Games. This year we released our first title called 'Escape: The Cabin' which is available on Android Devices. We are now working on our second IP. If you're interested in seeing what I'm doing I tend to share on Twitter if I have something to announce or you can find me around the Experience Points Discord

Do you have any additional tips or advice to share with our readers?

If you’re a student and have a Wix site, use that for the university models (because most lecturers want to see them) but when it comes to applying for jobs I highly recommend using Artstation. HR and the people in the studio looking at your portfolio will appreciate it a lot. Also, don’t be afraid to try different things, if you’re unsure what you want to do in the industry, try not to be too hard on yourself. Many people in the industry change from role to role, it’s one of the best things about this industry. Just learn and enjoy the process.

What skills do you find most frequently lacking for artists trying to get their first job? How can they improve or learn these skills?

I’m starting to see a lot of people really want to get into Material/Texture Art which is fantastic but a lot of these people aren’t modelling or learning how to texture inside of ZBrush. If you’re looking at becoming a Material Artist, I highly recommend you learn how to model assets, texture them and get them into a game engine, rather than just place them on a plane or ball (and yes I know my portfolio is full of this but if my textures are in game I will show it in context as well). Show us context! It will help you stick out more as a Material Artist and be much more hire-able. Also texel density! Learn it! As a Material Artist it is super important to understand this.

If you were starting your career over today, what would you do?

It’s funny you say this, personally I feel I am already starting my career over. Rather than trying to get into Material Art, I’m trying to develop a games studio. With this my role has changed a lot and I’ve got many more responsibilities and I’m also doing a variety of different roles right now.

When working with a team what are the most common mistakes new artists make? How could these be avoided or improved?

The most common mistakes I’ve seen in new artists as well as some artists who have been in the industry for a while, is rather than thinking about the bigger picture with the game, they just think ‘portfolio piece’. Another is even if you’re a junior artist, don’t think you have 0 right to bring ideas or workflow techniques to the table, if you think they will help, tell your team. You are hired for a reason.

What are some of the common pitfalls other artists fall into when creating materials?

Thinking that 4k or 8k textures equals better looking materials. All of my materials on my portfolio are no higher than 2048, and some of them are only 1024. This comes back to learning about texel density. Rather than making all materials high resolutions, even if it is only for a portfolio piece, think about the size of your character. After that fit the resolution dependant on that size. Don’t make a 2k texture if it’s the size of a shoe to the player character. Of course this is what I think right now, one day games will most likely use these higher resolutions.

Do you have any advice on those that are looking to improve their portfolio? How to best make it stand out?

If you are wanting to be a Material Artist make a variety of materials, from hard surface sci-fi, to organic plant life. If you can show flexibility in your range of materials then you will stick out. Another thing to help make you stand out is (and I’m going to sound like a broken record here) to learn Substance Painter, ZBrush and learn to model and get things into engine.

When working with a team what do you find the most helpful traits for junior to mid level artists?

A really important trait is someone who can take feedback well and do something with it. It’s still common to find people that let their ego’s get in the way and it really doesn’t help. If you can get a thick skin and take feedback, that is a super important trait to have.

What tips do you have for newly graduated/junior artists trying to land their first job in the Industry, or even getting the first interview?

Keep yourself being active online. Share your work on Discord, Facebook, Twitter and even Twitch. Back before I got an industry job I was doing live streaming on Twitch during lunch times doing ‘Lunch Time Doodles’ Series for 2 weeks in total and because I was sharing those pieces a lot during the 2 weeks it helped people finding me and in time helped me get a job. Do not be afraid to apply for jobs that don’t have junior in the name. Most studios still won’t post when they have junior roles going. In the past I’ve applied for mid-level jobs as well as senior level jobs and had interviews for them. It’s about taking that leap. Lastly, don’t try and follow someone else's path into the industry. I’ve seen a lot of talks when I was in college and University of how people got into the industry and even myself have tried following exactly how these people did it, and it never worked. My path is completely different to someone else’s, you all will make your own path, just be patient and enjoy the learning.

Do you have any key presentation tips to make a portfolio shine and stand out?

I highly recommend making the lighting as best as possible. Many times I’ve seen people share work but the lighting isn’t great and it makes it harder to see what the piece of work is showing. And if possible, show the material in context, I know spheres and such are the go to but showing materials in context shows you understand texel density and understand how to work together in a scene will make you more hire-able. A book that was recommended to me by Bradford Smith was this on lighting and it really was great. ‘Light for Visual Artists Second Edition: Understanding and Using Light in Art & Design’

What would you want to see in a Material Artists portfolio? What would make a Material Artist stand out?

If you’re looking at applying for a Material Artist role, it is important to again as mentioned before, show your materials in context, show that you understand the limitations and how texel density works. I think it is also important to show a variety of different types of materials from hard surface to organics. A lot of material portfolio’s lack mostly organic materials. I think it is key to also use more then just Substance Designer, though Substance Designer is powerful software a lot of studios still rather a material artist who can model and use ZBrush. Being able to use these makes you stick out rather than just only ever using Substance.

Outro

Never feel bad if you feel like you’ve got a lot to learn, that is one of the fun parts about game development. Keep your chin up and you’ll get to where you need to be. I still to this today where I’m unsure where I’m going to be in the next few years but I’m going to keep at it and keep learning. Hope to see you all around in the Discord channels. I wish you all the best of luck. Keep being awesome and I look forward to seeing your materials!