Nathania Sum
Animation Lead, Mighty Eyes
Bachelor of Art and Design (Honours)
Bachelor of Design in Digital Design
What she enjoys most about her career in digital design is working on such a range of different projects, says Nathania Sum who now works at Mighty Eyes, which focuses on defining the next generation of VR games and adventures.
“As the animation lead, I'm in charge of overseeing our motion capture shoots, animating and cleaning up our performance capture, and overseeing our other animators. We're also currently working on a remake of VR time travel adventure game Wanderer, called Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, which is coming to PSVR2, PCVR, and Quest headsets.”
“What I love about this role is how it's highly collaborative and my work is different every day. There's a lot of difficult problem solving in game development, but the best part is often coming together with my coworkers to find solutions.”
Finding her path
Nathania says it was a friend that first got her interested in digital design.
“After high school I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to go into a creative field. My friend suggested taking a look at the digital design degree and it ticked a lot of boxes for me. I was really interested in learning more about animation at that point.”
It's a decision she hasn’t regretted and she still fondly remembers her time at AUT.
“The highlight for me were the connections and friendships I made, as well as being able to experiment and learn about a wide range of things in film, animation, visual effects and interactive design. I’m also proud of being on the Dean’s Honours List for my Bachelor of Art and Design (Honours).”
Advice for other students
After graduating from AUT at the end of 2016, Nathania has some great advice for other students who are just at the start of their university journey.
“My advice is simple; try not to pigeonhole yourself and your skillset.
“When you’re studying at university, it’s the perfect time to try new things and experiment to see where your passions lie.”
*The Digital Design major has been replaced by the Animation, Visual Effects and Game Design major. The Bachelor of Design is now known as Te Tohu Paetahi mō te Hoahoa - Bachelor of Design. The Bachelor of Art and Design (Honours) is no longer being offered.
