Alex Spellman joined d3t on 22/05/2017 as a Junior Games Programmer. Alex tells us more about himself and why he wanted to work at d3t.
Experience and Career Background
I gained a Computer Games Programming degree from Teeside University and went on to work at ZeroLight as an Associate software engineer.
Why d3t?
d3t offers great opportunities to learn within multiple disciplines, there’s a good-sized team, in a great location, and an exciting range of popular products both past and future to work on.
What was the recruitment process like?
The test that was needed to secure an interview was practical and fun, it was the kind of thing that would be useful in a programming job and offered a choice in how to demonstrate your skills. The interview was very relaxed.
Tell us an interesting facts about yourself
I’m also a museum geek. So I find ColliderCase, the Forever Project and all d3t’s heritage sector projects particularly interesting!
Want to join our award-winning team? Check out our vacancies.[vc_single_image image=”2963″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”]
The brand new Charlie and Lola game, completed in conjunction with the BBC and CBeebies, is now live on the CBeebies website and we hope everyone has as much fun playing it as we did creating it.
The Charlie and Lola series is aimed at pre-school children and imaginatively encourages creativity in youngsters.
The project is the latest we have completed in conjunction with the BBC / CBeebies and we’re very proud of this one.
The assets and direction were supplied by the BBC with d3t providing the animation and technical aspects of this project.
See our Case Study for more information about how we delivered it.
The 2017 Digital Dragons developer conference held in the historic city of Krakow was a fantastic event that highlighted the well-established games development talent in Poland.
The event took place at the highly impressive ICE congress centre which was packed full of enthusiastic games industry personnel from around the world.
d3t’s Lyndon Jones and Alex Rodgers went along and here’s what they said about the event:
The quality of the presentations we attended was excellent and personal highlights include “GPU-Based Run-Time Procedural Placement in ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’” by Guerilla Games, “Rendering of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” by Activision and “A Transformative Approach to Game Engine Development” by Creative Assembly.
From global illumination methods to engine development; what was evident is that there are many industry professionals implementing similar technology to ourselves and it’s fascinating to hear how others in the industry are going about solving the same problems we are.
You can view the Digital Dragons presentations on their YouTube channel.
Ben Sparrow joined the d3t team on 24th April 2017 as Junior Artist. Find out more about Ben…
Where did you study and work prior to d3t?
After graduating with a First Class Honours in Digital Arts, I worked as a Graphic Designer at The Design & Print Co. in Manchester for 2 years. Since then I’ve also taken on freelance work for Sofology as a 3D Artist, helping them in creating assets for their online experiences.
Why d3t?
This has been the greatest opportunity for me to begin my career in the Games Industry. Being surrounded by industry veterans with a wealth of knowledge and experience creates an exciting and invaluable environment to work in.
The wide range of projects that d3t take on will allow me to use all of my skill sets, whilst aiding in my continual development as an artist. This is a rare opportunity which I’m thrilled to be a part of.
What was the recruitment process like?
The Art Test was definitely challenging but the brief permitted creative freedom which made the whole experience extremely fun!
What was also different was having the chance to meet one of the artists and have a relaxed discussion separately to the interview. It gave me a lot of insight into the friendly and passionate culture at d3t.
Tell us some interesting facts about yourself.
When I’m not behind a computer I enjoy boxing. I competed and won my second fight in late December 2016. Since then I’ve taken a break to focus on my career but I’d love to pick it up again! The training is always challenging, fun and helps balance a lifestyle spent working hard at my desk.
If you want to join our talented team, why not check out our vacancies?
The Forever Project has been Highly Commended at the Museum and Heritage Awards 2017.
d3t is very proud to have provided the software solution to Bright White Ltd in creating this moving and unique installation for the National Holocaust Centre, Nottinghamshire.
Special thanks are extended to the survivors who shared their time and incredible experiences, making this project possible.
The installation uses advanced interactive digital technologies to create life sized holographic images of the survivors. Visitors wear 3D glasses to enable them to watch and listen to holocaust survivors tell their remarkable stories. The audience then has the opportunity to ask questions and, using video material recording survivors’ responses to around 900 questions, the technology enables the holographic images of survivors to respond to those questions.
The Forever Project creates a lasting legacy that will forever preserve the voice of holocaust survivors.
Congratulations to all Museum and Heritage Awards 2017 winners.
We are proud to announce that d3t has won the Halton Business Awards 2017 for Innovation in Health and Wellbeing.
This important award demonstrates that d3t practices what it preaches. d3t’s strength is d3t’s team and the wellbeing and welfare of our staff is paramount.
The win was announced at the gala dinner held at the Select Security Stadium in Widnes on Friday 12th May and takes its place alongside d3t’s industry excellence Develop Award for Creative Outsourcer and Cheshire Business Award for Business of the Year.
d3t was founded by Jamie Campbell and Steve Powell in 2011. Both veterans of the games industry, they had experienced cyclical employment and redundancy, undue pressure and had seen projects fold as releases were pulled, sometimes after years of work.
They decided there had to be a better business model and developed the purely Work for Hire strategy, enabling diverse client projects to run simultaneously. Along with an anti-crunch mentality and a supportive team environment, d3t has cultivated a work environment that values its team, their creativity and their commitment.Innovations that were particularly lauded include:
Anti-crunch work ethos
Project diversity to encourage sharing of knowledge and creativity
Collaborative approach to problem solving
Company benefits: Healthcare and Pension contributions
Lunchtime workouts provided by Body UK
The d3t Running Club
Free healthy snacks in the breakout area
Regular breaks with access to the latest in gaming technology
Show and Tell sessions
Regular team building away days
Engagement in initiatives to further wellbeing within the local community
And fun! d3t has a dedicated Fun Committee ensuring a good time is had away from the serious business of delivering world class projects for world class clients.
General Manager Richard Badger said,
We are truly proud to win this award. It demonstrates that we offer a fantastic working environment for our talented team and that is really important to us as a company. It rounds off a great 12 months that has seen us win a Develop Award for our technical ability and a Cheshire Business Award for our sound infrastructure and business strategy. Winning an award that demonstrates we really do care about our team is the icing on the cake.”
d3t is currently recruiting. If you are talented, enthusiastic and want to work for a company that genuinely values its team, please check out our vacancies. We look forward to hearing from you.
Daniel Hutchinson joined the d3t team as a Junior Artist on 10th April 2017. Daniel tells us a bit more about himself.
Where did you work prior to d3t?
Previously I was working as an apprentice game artist on a year long course at PlaygroundSquad UK, increasing my knowledge of Maya and Photoshop and the various aspects of game art. This course was designed to give me a hands-on experience and prepare me for a real industry role.
Why d3t?
I chose d3t due to the wide variety of projects they are responsible for as well as the kind and warm atmosphere, that I’ve now got the opportunity to be a part of! Also, they’ve been involved with numerous big names within the creative industry and the team is made up of many professionals and I felt this would be the perfect place to start my career.
What was the recruitment process like?
The recruitment process was very straight forward and relaxing despite my nerves, my interviewers as well as other staff were extremely friendly and helped me settle quite quickly.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
I’ve been an avid scuba diver since I was 8 years old, diving all over the world, through shipwrecks and around coral reefs.
Bethany Smallman joined the d3t team as a Junior Artist on 3rd April 2017. Bethany tells us a bit more about herself…
Where did you work prior to d3t?
I graduated from Bolton University in 2015 with BSc Hons (1st) Visual Effects for Film and TV. Following that, I worked as a freelance CG Generalist around the north west and my roles included modelling, texturing, environments and game engine (Asura).
Why d3t?
One of the main attractions was the diversity of projects. d3t offers services in multiple areas including Games, Interactive Experiences, Art and Apps & Business Software.
And what an amazing team to work with. Friendly and helpful, hard-working and extremely talented. I’ve learned so much in a short space of time and I’m really looking forward to developing my skills further.
d3t is also a successful company with a great range of projects in its portfolio.
What was the recruitment process like?
I really enjoyed the process, as I was asked to build a 3D model of my own choosing, including a description of why I chose the model. Based on this, I was invited to an interview. The following week, I was asked if I could do a second interview, this time with directors, Jamie Campbell and Steve Powell who founded the company.
It was a great introduction to the company and I was delighted to be the offered the job. I started a week later.
Tell us some interesting facts about yourself.
I’m a huge Harry Potter fan!
My favourite books and magazines are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Cinefex and SFX magazine. My favourite directors are James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus. My favourite music and artists are John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine and Immediate Music.
Whilst at University I had the opportunity to interview SFX/VFX god, Phil Tippett.
I have also flown a plane and have done indoor sky diving!
If you want to join our talented team, why not check out our vacancies?
We are excited to announce that our latest BBC interactive project is now live on the CBeebies website.
The d3t team has created an interactive motion comic adventure themed around the live action CBeebies TV show “Jamillah and Aladdin”, working in collaboration with the talented guys at Kindle Entertainment and BBC Children’s interactive.
d3t undertook the following:
Character Design & Illustration
Scene Design & Direction
Scene Artwork
Scripting and Animation
And we have to admit – we are very delighted with the outcome. It’s beautiful! Congratulations to our team for all their hard work, dedication and creativity!
“Travel with Jamillah, Aladdin and Genie as they journey to a mysterious cave and find some ancient treasure, however, when Aladdin touches a magic crown he activates a booby trap and they are chased by a mysterious monster…!”
