Full Sail Stories

For video game developer, artist, educator, musician, and songwriter Natalie Asport, 创造力很难集中在一种兴趣上. 在Full Sail学习电脑动画时以全班第一名的成绩毕业, 娜塔莉继续致力于电子游戏系列，包括 Mortal Kombat and Just Cause, 作为纽约大学游戏中心的兼职游戏设计教授, and perform as an independent musician, singer, and songwriter.

“我发现我只是不断地寻找灵感来源，”她说. “当我和其他艺术家在一起时，当我和其他艺术在一起时，它就会自然而然地留在我身边. As I'm watching a movie, playing a game, listening to music, 我一直在思考这个创作过程.”

纳塔利对艺术的兴趣始于童年，因为她酷爱创作. In elementary school, 一堂艺术课让她看到了她在科学和数学学习中还没有看到的东西:激情. Propelled by her new interest, Natalie would continue to hone her skills, 她为自己的艺术才华所带来的“酷”因素感到自豪.

“Growing up, 当谈到体育和传统的受欢迎程度时，我不一定是一个很酷的孩子, but when it came to art, I was sort of that kid,” she jokes.

In high school, playing Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 开启了对艺术的新兴趣，但这次是电子游戏背后的艺术. 作为当时最具视觉吸引力的游戏之一， Uncharted 2 boasted rich environments, stunning landscapes, and award-winning gameplay, and for Natalie, a catalyst to her future career.

她回忆道:“我开始研究这款游戏的方方面面. “我看到了一个幕后视频，他们在谈论如何制作这款游戏. It showed pictures of, I believe it was Maya, 这些开发人员只是在他们的电脑上工作. And I never saw that before. 这时我恍然大悟:“这是专家做的, 有特定技能的特定的人，他们真的很开心.’

“I was like, ‘That's what I want to do.’”

Set on a career in game art, Natalie enrolled at Full Sail, 学习电脑动画，为未来的职业生涯做准备. “When I was at Full Sail, 这是我在学校里第一次真正做我想做的事,” she says. “感觉我喜欢的一切都集中在一个地方……(还有学生们), they're here because they're like you. 他们想追求艺术，这对他们来说是非常严肃的. And you feed off of that.”

Excelling in her studies, 娜塔莉毕业后将继续追求她对创造力的热情, 在Avalanche工作室找到了一份工作，这是AAA级游戏开发商 Just Cause series, RAGE, and Contraband.

最初对角色美术工作感兴趣, Natalie found herself working as an environment, vehicles, and weapons artist during her time at the studio. “我很早就投入到环境和车辆领域. 我真的很喜欢做那些可以分解的东西. Characters are one thing, 但能够重现人们在现实世界中所做的事情，并尝试以3D方式创造它们是另一回事.”

Natalie, 终于建立起了她年轻时所着迷的那种世界, didn’t cease on her need to share, learn, and create. As if designing games weren’t enough, 2018年，娜塔莉还参与设计了纽约大学游戏中心的3D建模游戏课程, which she now teaches as an adjunct professor.

“我非常喜欢它，我从学生身上学到了很多东西. It's really helped me be more well-rounded, I think, as an artist, too, 因为我可以把它带回到我的日常工作中. [My students] are aspiring and they have dreams. And I see that and it inspires me so much.”

全职工作给了她动力，兼职工作也给了她灵感, 娜塔莉仍然有时间以其他方式追求她对创作的热爱, specifically, music. An independent singer and songwriter, 这位热爱游戏的毕业生也是纽约乐队Chaos Pixie的吉他手和主唱. Natalie, keeping a constant pulse on her creativity, 她把在不同兴趣间的跳跃当作自己的治疗方式.

“我会完成工作，然后出去演出，”她说. “If I'm working from home and stuck, 我会拿起我的吉他，开始演奏一首歌，然后把它从我的系统中释放出来. 所以我觉得当我做这件事的时候，它会让我更有动力去做其他事情.”