3D Character Artist Living the Gamer’s Dream

Being part of a huge gaming company like Riot Games - the developer of renowned games such as League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, and the creator of Arcane, is an opportunity that animators could only dream of. However, for 26-year-old Teo Rui-Rou, this dream became her reality. Now based in Los Angeles, California, she works as a 3D Character Artist for one of the world's most popular video games, VALORANT. Her vital role requires her to create digital 3D models of characters based on drawings which will then be brought to life.  

Before her successful career, it all began with her love for animated series and old shows from the TV channel, Cartoon Network. From that point on, it sparked her interest in animation which continues to serve as her inspiration to this day. In high school, she was introduced to the game Ratchet & Clank by a friend. Her love for the creature designs and art style, made her look up the artists online. That was one of the first few instances where she thought an art career was possible.

“I was about to pursue a career in science, but I couldn’t see myself doing that long term and I didn’t think I would be happy,” said Teo. She was more convinced that she was made for the creative field after winning first place in The One Academy’s art competition for secondary school students, the Malaysia Top 10 Young Artists Awards. From there, she heard about their programmes and decided to enrol at the college.

Despite having made such a bold choice, she was happy with her decision as long as it meant pursuing a career she was passionate about. Teo talked about how the Digital Animation course at The One Academy was good at introducing foundational skills from 3D modelling to animation, and exposing students to industry-standard software. “It gave me a good head start when I decided to further my studies overseas,” shared the Kuala Lumpur native. 

In her final year of study, she worked in a team for the student animated short film project. It was one of her most memorable experiences during college as it put her technical and soft skills to the test. As the art director of the project, Teo had to make sure everyone on her team understood how to execute the art style they agreed on perfectly. Their project, Guan Gong & Cat, later won numerous awards such as the Kancil Awards, DigiCon6 Asia and The Rookies Excellence Award. It truly was a proud moment for Teo and her team as it was worth all the hard work and skills they picked up throughout their studies.

After graduating, Teo went all out to gain as much experience as possible and make a name for herself as a young emerging artist. She joined Lemon Sky Studios for a few months, where she worked as a junior artist on Warcraft III: Reforged. After that, she worked at a mobile game studio based in San Francisco called nWay Inc.. Over time, Teo's dedication to gaining experience and pushing herself in the game industry played a huge role in taking the next big step of her career.

“I started playing VALORANT, Riot’s tactical shooter game, a year after it came out and immediately fell in love with the gameplay and art style.” When asked how the opportunity to work at Riot Games came about, she mentioned her love for the game and described how everything fell into place perfectly. She stumbled upon a 3D Character Art internship opening for VALORANT and decided to go the extra mile by creating a portfolio piece that showcased a character in the game's distinctive style. From that pivotal moment onwards, her dream came true when she was offered a full-time position upon completing her internship with them. As part of the team, she now hopes to develop a new character for the game with a large fan base.

Her advice for aspiring artists was to constantly evolve with new tech and talents. “With how collaborative our work gets, it is important that artists familiarise themselves with what is happening throughout the production pipeline,” said Teo. She emphasises on the importance of staying up-to-date with this lucrative, ever-evolving industry’s news and events which will eventually lead to artists being able to stand out from the rest. The animation world is the best place to learn as it is constantly searching for new talents who carry with them fresh creative ideas, skills and visions. There is no doubt that aspiring artists from all over Malaysia are able to achieve the same dream as Teo Rui-Rou.

The One Academy is committed to providing the best art education programmes and continues to nurture its students passionately through its “Masters Train Masters” coaching philosophy, which has been practised for over 30 years, by providing diploma and degree courses in Advertising & Graphic Design, Digital Animation, Digital Media Design, Film Visual Effects, Interior Architecture & Design, Illustration, Fine Arts, Paris Fashion Design & Pattern Making, Game Design & Computer Science. For more information on The One Academy, visit www.toa.edu.my or call +603-7875 5510 or e-mail your enquiries to [email protected].