Ally

Posted on UO U.Hall

On the heels of Cat’s post, I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words to my fellow artists who are departing.

Dave,
Man, we've been through it, haven't we? One word: Heartwood.
You and I have worked together for many years now, but I didn't really get to know you that well until you joined UO. It still amazes me how quick and versatile your skills are, not just in game development, but in life. You're one of those people that folks feel honored to have worked with, and feel damned lucky to have called friend. Our paths have converged, parted, and converged again over the years. And though our paths are now going their separate ways, I have a sneaking suspicion that someday we'll be shoulder to shoulder again - just hopefully nothing to do with "government" work again, if you catch my meaning. ;-)

Grumpy,
FYI, Grumpy is our Animation Lead on UO and has been a part of UO longer than I have (he was one of the ones who interviewed me, BTW). He's got more animation experience in his little finger than nearly any animator I've ever met in this industry. He's honest and direct, and I'm not sure he's ever had an opinion of me that he kept to himself. :-) In addition to this, he is the last of the OSI developers. He and I worked together on the character side of things in UOKR.

It's a shame that more people don't know level of contributions you've made to UO. You have been just as die-hard in trying to make UO better than anyone else on this team. The Stratics community really doesn't realize the advocate they are losing this week. The level and quality of work you've done -especially with what you've had to work with, have been phenomenal and has set the bar against which I will measure every animator I work with. Working on UO will not be quite the same for me. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather work with.

For the Stratics community, to better understand the level of work I refer to, I've put together some interesting stats about the character work for UOKR.

Some Character Asset Stats for UOKR:

Characters and Creatures:
1) Number of Creatures, Characters, and Animals: 248
2) 3,941 Individual Creature Animations
3) 218,052 Rendered Frames of Final Creature Animations
4) 13.5 GB of Disk Space Used for renders alone.

Note: The number of rendered frames of animation is the equivalent of a 2 ½- hour animated film (@ 24FPS; 2Hrs @30FPS.). Compared to:
Toy Story: 1.35 hours
Snow White: 1.38 hours
Fantasia: 2 hours

Equipment and Clothing:
1) Number if Individual pieces: 304
2) 15,716 Animations rendered
3) 928,531 Rendered Frames of Final Animations.
4) 30.5 GB of Disk Space Used for renders alone.


Note: The number of rendered frames of animation is the equivalent of over 10 ½ hours or over FIVE 2-hour animated films. (@ 24FPS; 7.3Hrs @30FPS.).
Additional Note #1: All assets were rendered at approximately one quarter film resolution.
Additional Note #2: Total Development time for art: ~ 1 year.
Additional Note #2: Total Number of Internal Character Artists: 3.


Last, but not least, our Art Director -herein referred to as "Walt"

Holy cow I don't even know where to start. I’ve spent 90% of my career working with you. I guess firstly I want to thank you for bringing me on to this team. Up to this point, UO has been the most rewarding experience of my career, and I wouldn't have been able to experience it had you not brought me in. For that, I am very grateful -not just because of the work, but for the friendships I've developed as a result of working with some of the finest people I've ever worked with. This team that you put together. In this way as well as others, you have helped keep UO going.

I've learned a lot from you. I've appreciated your wit and kindness all of these years, and I look forward to someday working with you again. Thanks Walt.

Walt, Dave, and Grumpy, to say that I will miss you guys doesn’t begin to cover it. I firmly believe that events like this open opportunities to move on to better things, I just wish the opportunities and better things included continuing development on UO with me. You guys are the best ever. But all good things must come to an end I suppose. As I look back on our time together over the last 4 years, on all the great times we had together, and all the hardships we’ve overcome. I can think of only one thing to say.

We created worlds.


Cheers mates,

-Grimm

JP "TheGrimmOmen" Harrod
Associate CG Supervisor, EA Mythic
EA Mythic

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