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Triple-A Art, Roots of Mocap, SonyPlayStation, Being a Problem Solver
Summary:  Dwayne Mason of NXA Studios talks about his current role in the company and his career and entrepreneurial aspirations going back to his teens. Hear about the computer revolution while studying to be a graphic designer. How PC Paint and Corel Draw changed his trajectory and focus toward the future. Learn about a chance encounter working as a valet being a big break. Hear how motion capture data was first used for sports analysis and working as a gofer. Learn how the hustling lead to a full-time job out in California and being the first mocap specialist ever at Biovision. How that lead to working for different sports broadcasts and visiting Industrial Light & Magic. Learn how the mocap business transitioned from sports analysis to video game platforms like the Sega Saturn. How he landed an opportunity to setup a motion capture studio for Sony Playstation San Diego in 1996. Learn how this grew into building out Sony’s central art services group over 11.5 years. Discover how setting up Domino's Pizza franchises was one of the most valuable learning experiences he’s had. Hear hard-learned advice for how to advance your career by being a problem solver. Learn what it’s like to create kontent on the Mortal Kombat series, along with Capcom games and the Assassin’s Creed games plus others. Hear how Battlefront II is his favor game right now. How bigger games and DLC’s longtail has improved his business’s stability and growth. Learn Dwayne’s thoughts on the future of automation and tech. Hear how the company started in China, grew to three studios in the country, plus Argentina. Hear thoughts on VR and what needs to happen for it to be mainstream. Learn his advice for anyone thinking about a video game career.    Quotes:  ”I remember there being a big Microsoft office but nobody knew back then what they did.” “Max Headroom on MTV looked like computer graphics but that was mostly fake.” “I knew the guys a little more and they started to teach me how to use the equipment on Sun computers.” “So this guy offered me a job and said, “move to California.”” “I have a letter somewhere from James Cameron wanting us to do pre-production for Terminator 2.” “They took me to the side and said, “how about you come work for a real company?”” “They had a mocap system but was in the same room as the testing department and the testers used the tripods to setup tents to sleep under.” “There was a little old man in a mansion and every time I delivered he came to the door in a Waffle House t-shirt.” ”Give people around you what they want, or what they need.” ”It was a bit of the Wild West, then.” “They work on this stuff for months or years and then when it comes out we setup a big party and have a tournament.” “Until maybe the Wonder Woman film I think the Injustice franchise was the best DC movies out there with their cutscenes.” “I’m a big FPS guy, so that’s my jam right there.” “The famous example is the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.” “We’ve done quite a bit of AR and VR stuff, in fact we created our own AR app in China.” “When it becomes ubiquitous it’ll really take off.” “My son’s going for 100% completion on his third play through of Red Dead 2.” “It’s been a fun ride and I wholeheartedly recommend anyone interested to get into game development.”   About My Guests:  Dwayne Mason is CoFounder and CoOwner of NXA Studios China & NXA Studios Argentina. NXA Studios is one of the leading art production services companies in the game development industry – art development and art production support for PlayStation, Xbox & PC game development is their main line of service. NXA Studios has contributed to major game franchises such as Mortal Kombat, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter – and many more. Prior to starting NXA Studios Dwayne had been a Mocap Specialist very early in his career (in fact, he was the very first full time ‘mocap tech’ in the world). Eventually that role led to a long stint at Sony PlayStation in the Software/Games division, building and running their First Party Art Services groups. After Sony he was named Studio Art Director for Midway Amusement Game’s headquarters in Chicago in 2007. Midway survived just shy of two years from that point… But that eventually led him to starting his own company – NXA Studios. NXA is now in it’s 8th year of service, and it is still growing steadily.   Resources: *NXA Studios website *NXA Studios Facebook *NXA Studios LinkedIn *NXA Studios Argentina Facebook *PCPaint Wikipedia *Corel DRAW website *Stargate Wikipedia *Georgia Tech website *Biovision’s BVH file format *Solaris Unix Wikipedia *Waffle House Wikipedia *Ion Storm PC Gamer *Mortal Kombat website *Speedtree website *Level Ex Video Games for Doctors website - and we’re hiring! *Game Dev Advice Twitter *Game Dev Advice email *Game Dev Advice website *Game Dev Advice Hotline (224) 484-7733 - give a call *And thanks to Charles Dike Production podcast editing  *Don't forget to subscribe and go to www.gamedevadvice.com for full show notes with links!
Game Dev Advice: The Game Developer's Podcast
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