It's what you make of it.

MDS – Matt Forsyth – Reel from Media Design School on Vimeo.

MDS Diploma of 3D Computer Animation grads working for the New Zealand arm of independent games company Mere Mortals UK have received high praise from client Ubisoft for their recent in-game cinematic work for the global games giant.

In 2008, Mere Mortals UK decided to open a New Zealand office with MDS offering great support in finding the right staff to make it happen. David Jeffries, one of the company’s directors now based in New Zealand says he was blown away with the Kiwi talents and can-do attitude.

“When we had 70 applicants for the five positions we were looking to fill we were blown away and when we finally took on those staff we were very pleased with them. There is a definite can do attitude here and that is a real breath of fresh air.”

The recently opened Kiwi office means Mere Mortals can run a business around the clock. The NZ-based office was primarily set to provide support to the UK office of the company however the creative ability from the local team is such that they have now started on a two-month in-house project.

Still from Matt Forsyth graduate reel

“MDS graduates are a credit to the school, they are very well skilled upon graduation, come to us nearly industry ready, and are eager to know more,” David continues.

MDS Diploma of 3D Computer Animation grad Matt Forsyth, now project lead for Mere Mortals NZ, feels the MDS experience was crucial for where he is now.
“You need a wide range of skills, all of which were covered to some degree on the course. We’re doing concept art, storyboarding, cinematics, game environment design and modeling/texturing, character costumes, animation (from people to turtles) for Wii titles. The feedback from our Art Director in the UK is that our standards were very high.”

The teams hard work has led to them taking on board more and more of the artistic direction of some of the games and getting total control over four in-game cinematics on one particular title.

Matt reveals “our cinematics have been given high praise by Ubisoft.” That’s quite an achievement for newly graduates.