The rise of rapid technology and how it challenges outsourcing and visual development

Do you believe generative technologies, like Gen AI, are a threat to this industry?

“Don’t get me wrong, I love new technology, but my concerns are more around the way and speed these AI tools are being introduced. In the past, new art processes and pipeline tools have taken years to be absorbed and for people to learn the skills before becoming mainstream content creation tools. We haven’t allowed ourselves time to define the impact of Gen AI, let alone how it is changing the games industry.

If AI is here to stay, then we need to determine how it could be used as a tool, and not by replacing artists or designers, or tacking it onto existing workflows without R&D. It takes time to explore new ways of incorporating brand-new tech before even considering how it could benefit client projects.”

Have you seen a direct impact of automated tech in the day-to-day at the studio?

“We are concerningly seeing some clients refer to AI-generated materials in briefs as new benchmarks, believing that these targets will drive efficiency while keeping a high standard of work. These tools are coming fast into our industry for content creation, manipulation, and challenging not just the creative process of an artist, but at a cost, speed and time that is faster than any tech change I’ve seen in my 27-year career.

Some issues with embracing more AI-generated materials come down to inconsistency in design quality and legal concerns around where the AI models pull its data from. This leads to an ongoing concern around ethical and legal content creation. There are certain tools that allow for closed data sets, allowing the user to keep their created materials away from opensource data models, but the fundamental issue remains is: what is the data the original model was trained on to begin with? It is true that technological advancements can offer solutions and opportunities to improve, grow and innovate the ways we approach our craft, but new tech should not be ham-fisted into workflows due to false promises of cost reductions and higher efficiency.

As visual development experts, we as a studio must be able to actively pursue research and the discovery of new technology and tools which could lead to new and interesting ways to develop the intriguing, high-quality work our clients rely upon. Just as we had before, when we introduced workflows like photobashing, 2D to 3D, and in-engine concepting.”

What new tech and tools has Atomhawk been introducing to improve workflows?

“For the last three years, we have been using Unreal Engine to explore in-engine content creation. Previously, I would create the concept art and pass it off to the engineering folk to make my art ‘show up’ in game. Now, our designers can jump right into Unreal and produce stunning previsualisation vertical slices.

This type of early exploration is redefining the way we consider concepting and speeding up the pre-visualisation process to gamedev. We can validate art styles and move around in game space before there is even a game. We get a feel for what clients want to build at a fraction of the cost of a traditional vertical slice.

Not only have these tools improved our workflows, but they also allow for cross-disciplinary collaboration, new business opportunities, and cross-industry growth with transmedia content creation. We’ve been calling this method Concept 2.0–the introduction of in-engine content for our client projects. A way to speed up the content creation process with the use of more technology-focused workflows and artist empowering tools.

Additionally, our technical artists can develop more custom and bespoke tools that help speed up and improve in-engine concepting. Not limited to concepting, we’ve been building tools that enhance our animators’ abilities, adding more flexibility for creating better cinematics. Our cross-disciplinary teams are now working more closely in far more iterative workflows, which in return fuels better creativity, creative results, and reduced costs and timelines for our clients.”

Can you show any examples of what you mean by Concept 2.0?

“We have Project Loki, Rainfall and Nakatomi, each showing on different aspects of what Concept 2.0 can offer. Loki focuses on gameplay, Rainfall on narrative development and Nakatomi on the visual quality and fidelity we expect in AAA games.

Concept 2.0 isn’t just redefining our way of working, it’s a philosophy on how to approach commercial creativity through the lens of discovery, a consultative service mindset and solving client needs on each project with unique sets of artists, tools and pipeline.

Internal R&D not only benefits our clients as a service, but it also gives our team the opportunity to collaborate, grow their craft and explore personal career aspirations.”

How does Concept 2.0 work in day-to-day practice with a client?

“Our clients don’t get an ‘off the shelf’ solution. Each engagement is unique and custom to a client’s project needs. We want to take stress away from clients who may not have that time or money to sink into visual development R&D. We have already done that work. Clients can trust in our innovative thinking and the use of researched and approved tools and technology which adhere to security due diligence and protect precious client IP.

Ongoing internal R&D initiatives means that we continue to explore new and improved ways. We don’t want to be stagnant in our creativity. We share our knowledge with our clients and the community at large, and we proudly continue Atomhawk’s mission since 2009: quality over quantity without compromising on our standards or ethics.”

Thought Leadership at Atomhawk, brought to you by the Canopy initiative.