Hi Everyone! For the past 8 weeks, I have been interning at Proto for SCC. I came here as a game design student who specialized in motion capture and unreal experience. Though I have had experience with both of these workflows, I have never had a job where that is what I was being paid for. Beforehand, my experience was only being a student and not working in a professional space. I also had never left the USA before, not that I can remember, so this was a lot of firsts for me.  

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Working at Sunderland Software City

My experience at Proto (Digital Catapult) has been very enlightening. Learning-wise, I have been able to touch up my skills in their OptiTrack system and their NDisplay system. It was nice to refresh myself on things I already knew and try some new things such as working with rigid bodies.

One of my takeaways from this experience is how to work in an office setting. I have worked with teams before, but it was usually comprised of students. This was my first time working with adults and having a day-to-day schedule to stick by, which was a refreshing experience, instead of rushing around how students normally do. The biggest impact is how encouraging they are, but how they also trusted in my abilities. Before this program, I was scared that I did not know anything that I needed to be able to work in a production company. But here at Proto, they were impressed by what I already knew and encouraged me to test out my abilities more and more. It has been one of my biggest concerns when it comes to the game design industry, but I have more courage to apply for things now. Working on the projects that we came up with and getting to work on them has been a dream.  

Nyah had so many great ideas and they were fun to make. The ASL video was so insightful to make as it was my first time using some of that technology. It was a learning experience that I needed and getting to work with Target 3D was a great experience. To research something that is so important for representation in virtual production and have people interested in how it goes was inspiring.

Something I was not expecting while working here was how often I would work with children. It was exciting to show them VR games and get their interest piqued for video game creation. We also had many work-study students, and they were so excited about the assignments we gave them that had to deal with virtual production and video games. It made me feel better about my career choice just seeing how excited everyone was to be a part of a video game or to play one.

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Travelling Around the UK

Since we had a four-day week we also got to travel around the UK for a bit as well. I love medieval and period dramas, so getting to see a real castle and landmarks that were in some of my favorite movies and shows was awesome! I have never traveled outside the USA before that I can remember, so getting to travel and doing it on my own was such a great experience. I got to try archery and rock climbing too, which I was new to, but I will definitely try and do it once I get back to the States. Even just looking around Gateshead and Newcastle was amazing, I found so many things to try and do.  

Final Thoughts

I do not think there is anything I would change about the program. It has gone smoothly for me. It’s been great to travel but also to learn in an environment that was exciting for me to learn and grow as well. My coworkers have been very nice and genuine, we even hang out after work! It makes me excited to go out into the workforce and hopefully create more friends with my coworkers. I will always be very grateful for this experience

If you have any questions about internship opportunities, please get in touch with the Sunderland Software City team at: info@sunderlandsoftwarecity.com

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