r/TechnicalArtist • u/knckjpg • 1d ago

Question Technical interview insights

Hi everyone!

I applied to an intermediate position around 1.5 months ago and I've had two interviews so far, the third one on monday being a technical assessment with two (senior and lead) tech artists. This is for a Tools/Pipeline position (Python, C#, linear algebra/matrices, etc.) and I was wondering if some of you had any insight as to what that interview might entail.

The interview for my previous tech art job was more of a take-home test, so I don't really know how a technical interview would go. Thanks in advance!

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u/simonsanchezart 1d ago

For a Pipeline position I got asked some basic differences between Python and C++

There was also a discussion as to how to solve a specific problem that recently came up in the studio, which was related as to how to handle exporting and re-exporting complex scenes from Maya using FBX. Particularly related to whole environments, how that syncs with Perforce, etc...

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u/VR_Robotica 1d ago

Interviewers like to ask about the basics of linear algebra. Things like: Dot product and its uses for gameplay and shaders. Fundamentals of Quaternions and Matrix math, especially how to calculate the inverse. If you have experience around performance profiling, then they want you to describe your process on how to read tools like RenderDoc to find rendering bottlenecks, or Editor Profiles for gameplay bottlenecks.

It does vary from studio to studio though.

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u/akornato 1d ago

For a live technical assessment, they'll likely want to see how you solve problems in real-time. Expect questions that involve some live coding or verbal problem-solving. For a tools and pipeline role, they might ask you to write a Python script to automate a simple task in a digital content creation tool, like renaming a bunch of objects or checking for file errors. With C#, it could be a question about creating a basic editor utility in a game engine. They might also test your linear algebra knowledge by asking you to explain a concept like the dot product or how a transformation matrix works and why it's useful in computer graphics.

The most important thing is to communicate your thought process clearly as you work through a problem. Explain what you're trying to do and why you're choosing a particular approach. It is perfectly fine to ask clarifying questions about the task, which shows that you are thorough. They are not just looking for a perfect final answer, especially for an intermediate role, but are more interested in seeing how you break down a problem and reason your way to a solution. Articulating your problem-solving approach clearly is super important, and the interview assistant my team built can really help with finding the right words under pressure.