Graham Qually

About me

I was born/grew up in: London Ontario and grew up in Coquitlam British Columbia

I now live in: Coquitlam B.C.

I completed my training/education at: Art Institute of Vancouver in 2007 with a diploma in Game Art and Design.

What I do at work

Currently as the President of Performance Capture for Liquid Entertainment one of my main jobs is to find locations to build Performance Capture Studios. I also oversee the purchase and improvement of existing studios around the world. Most of my time is spent connecting with people. I also spend a lot of time designing and building the required studio space. I also help design and improve the Mocap processes for the various companies that Liquid owns or is connected with. This ensures the studio is working as efficiently as possible. I also advise local school on Mocap curriculum.

My career path is

I wanted to be a game level designer and was very good in the Unreal engine (a software framework used to create video games). However, I struggled to find a job when I graduated. I ended up taking a job as a Production Assistant at Rainmaker Entertainment. I would clean up garbage, pick up lunches and coffee. Very low level stuff but it helped me by letting me see the entire production pipeline. Within a few months I was offered a few job opportunities and one was with Mocap. I really liked the Mocap team so I chose them. After 5 years of working with amazing family in Mocap, Rainmaker decided to move away from Motion Capture. I heard through an actress I had worked with several times that Ubisoft Entertainment Toronto was building a studio. I applied for a job and moved to Toronto two weeks later. After four years we had built one of the best studios in the world with one of the best teams in the world. During that time I ended up as the Capture Team Lead and Performance Capture Specialist Lead for Ubisoft Entertainment. But I wanted to do more for Canada. So I took a job with Liquid Entertainment in BC that would enable me to really help build Canada’s entertainment industry.

I am motivated by

I want to build Canada’s Video Game, Movies, VFX and Animation industry on the back of Liquid’s Performance Capture Network. My motivation comes from creating jobs by bringing companies into Canada to shoot for the video and game industry. I enjoy training the next generation of students in the latest technologies surrounding Performance Capture and Virtual Reality.

How I affect peoples’ lives

I spend much of my time connecting people so often I end of spending time with them in social situation and I often end up playing hockey with them. I often try to mentor people who want to learn about performance capture. If they want to learn something other than Mocap I will connect them with someone who is a leading professional in their desired discipline.

Outside of work I

Hockey, Lots of it, between 3-5 times a week. I also Snowboard and play most other sports casually.

My advice to others

For people looking to get into this industry, honestly is important. Just be yourself. Get in where you fit in. Find likeminded companies and join them. This means you’ll have to be good at what you do in order to make that jump. But if you’re really passionate about the craft you’ll run through thorn bushes to get there. And I learned from hiring many people that attitude is often more important than skill. If someone has a positive outlook and is determined they can learn anything. But you can’t teach someone to have a better attitude and those people can really hurt your team. Focus on Math and Science. Learn all you can and keep a good attitude and it’ll all work out. Looking back to 12 years ago I was so sad I couldn’t get a job as a level designer. Today I’m so happy I didn’t.