Maxyme (Max) Paiement

TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. So everything I do is related to producing television, videos, or graphics used in videos. As the team leader for graphics and multimedia, my day-to-day activities fall into two main categories. The first is meeting with clients and team members. Those clients can be from outside TVO or they may be from inside. For clients we have to listen to what they are thinking they would like produced, when they need the product completed, and if they have any special needs. For my team, it is mainly when we have projects in place to see what is coming up, to make sure we can meet the timelines we set, or to see if we need to develop any special 3D or concept art. Half my team are graphic designers and the other half are 3D modelers so I have to coordinate the work they do to make sure our production schedule is on time.

In the television business, you are using STEM skills and knowledge all the time. For example, we are using a brand new technology that is based on video game engine to create graphics in studio. Camera trackers, info coming from the camera lens to ensure the system works well. We use specialized software and hardware in the production of our content. One of the more interesting pieces of technology we are using are the camera trackers. A camera tracker is like a second eye on the camera to record movement. It keeps track of where the camera is recording at all times. This is important because we are shooting live with a green screen. A green screen is a common tool used in video production and it allows you to put computer created graphics in behind the actors (e.g., an erupting volcano, or an outdoor scene). But when you move the actual camera the image or graphics that will appear on the green screen have to match what the real camera is doing. We are the only production team using this technology in Canada. In fact, we were the first in the world to do this.