In this week?s Meet the Trendy Team, I spoke with Abraham Abdala about his daily life as a character rigger/technical artist, how he arrived at Trendy and what advice he would give to those on the outside looking in.
Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. First of all, who are you, and what do you do at Trendy?
Hey, I?m Abraham Abdala. Born in Panama, raised in many different countries in South America and the U.S., yet I consider myself Colombian. Why, you ask? Because my family lives there. 
I have a background in electrical engineering, B.A. in Fine Arts & Computer Animation and a Master Degree in VFX and Animation.
At Trendy, I develop all character setups and any other asset that needs to be animated. Pretty much, my job consists of facilitating the animators a clean working character rig that will deform properly meeting our technical expectations.
Is this your first job in the gaming industry?
In the game industry? yes. But I?ve been in the entertainment industry for the past four years doing stereo compositing for feature film, motion graphics, lighting and rendering, some modeling and animation. I was also an instructor at the New School of Architecture and Design in San Diego, CA.
What drew you to Trendy?
A good friend of mine told me they had a position open as a character rigger, and well, it?s kinda hard to say no to a dream job.
What?s your daily routine as a character rigger/technical artist?
As soon as I come in, I check all the animations done for the current character in the pipeline. Checking if it?s deforming correctly most of the time. If something needs to get fixed I?ll quickly get my hands on it. Now, if there is a character waiting to be rigged, that?s a bigger priority that could take my entire day, involving meetings with the animators to decide how the character will move, any limitations, rigging process and implementation. When not doing that, I?m creating tools for the animators and myself to streamline our process.
What do you love the most about your job?
As I mentioned before, this is my dream job, and I?m so blessed and thankful to have it! I love everything about it, but if I have to choose, I would say problem solving. There is a great feeling of accomplishment when you get to solve problems. Oh, and I love the people I work with! They?re all crazy. :p
What do you wish you can change about your job?
I really wish I could work less hours. But this is the price you pay to be in this industry. Although, when you love what you do, time goes by really, really fast!
What are your top five favorite games?
Man, this one is hard. So many good games, but my current top five are:
1. Assassin?s Creed Series
2. Splinter Cell Series
3. Battlefield 3
4. League of Legends
5. Super Smash Brawl (Donkey Kong FTW!) / King of Fighters / Street Fighter
Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy while you?re not working?
Absolutely! I won?t mention the obvious one. (Games? Haha!) Now that I have a little bit more time than when I was in school I?m getting back to an old hobby I had ? building realistic scale models of medieval times. I love watching TV series and going to the theater. Another field that I completely enjoy is lighting and rendering, so every now and then I?ll make a project.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the industry?
Do a lot of research, look for what companies are looking for out there, what skills sets are they asking for, and if you decide to study this, please do yourself a favor and specialize in what you feel you do best. Don?t compete with your classmates. Look at professional portfolios and try to achieve their quality. This is a very competitive industry. If you?re not literally pushing to become the best, don?t even bother. All that, and also network ? go to conferences, keep in touch with your talented friends. Remember how I got into Trendy? 
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Source: http://dungeondefenders.com/meet-the-trendy-team-abraham-abdala
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