Investigating Interdisciplinary Communication Strategies Used by Artists and Engineers in the 3D Animation Industry

Presenter(s)

Ryan Breuer

Abstract or Description

Developing excellent communication skills is essential for any job or profession, but for animation it is what will determine if a studio functions at all. Two of the largest core specialized workers inside an animation studio are 3D artists and engineers, both of which come from different backgrounds and learn disparate communication strategies, skills, and vocabularies. While previous studies have looked into how engineers collaborate with artists, none have been done in the context of the animation industry-at-large or how artists collaborate with other engineering disciplines. Through this study, we aim to identify some commonalities and differences between communication strategies used by 3D artists and engineers in working with interdisciplinary co-workers in such an environment. 

Through this study, we conducted a series of one hour interviews virtually with 3D artists, engineers, and colleagues that work with both disciplines in a variety of studios encompassing the 3D animation industries. Then, we transcribed the interviews and used thematic coding and design thinking techniques to analyze the interviews and interpret our findings. Analytics were performed and agreed upon by multiple investigators in order to remove biases of opinion.

Based on our initial results, we found that both artists and engineers find it crucial in a workplace to be able to take feedback from other coworkers well, regardless of industry. The type of feedback and how it is received or given can vary. We also discovered that many studios begin to form their own unique “language” in order for diverse teams to understand each other. By learning some interdisciplinary language from a variety of sources increases their collaboration. Finally, we found that almost all participants, regardless of position or background, agreed that the process of the animation “pipeline”, or workflow, is an unspoken necessity for communication to function in a studio.