In my 10+ years of professional experience, I have helped in many aspects to streamline production and integrate art assets into game engines for a number of titles. I have also established and managed technical art departments, developed character pipelines and conducted classes to mentor artists on technical art procedures & practices. I am knowledgeable in many high-end software applications, engines / dev tools, various technical procedures, as well as programming languages with proficiency in creating toolsets. In addition to my qualifications & accomplishments, I feel my skills are best utilized where I am able to help others by finding solutions to speed up & ease their workflow. I also value open communication in a team oriented work environment.
- Known as a committed team player, uniquely apt in formulating innovative concepts and solutions
- Ability to shift focus quickly; easily approachable with good communication skills
- ‘Can-do’ or ‘Will-find-a-way’ attitude and approach to work
- Natural brainstormer, excellent problem-solver
- Preparedness and confidence in goal-directed actions
- Self motivated / Self Starter, takes initiative; apt in managing own time and prioritizing tasks
- Personally responsible with strong ethics
- Comfortably take lead if needed and applicable
- Always open to new ideas and aggressively seek them, fast learner
Sr. Technical Artist - Character & Pipeline TD
Freelance: OmniZed interactive |
March 2010 - Present
Las Vegas, NV |
- Character Rigging for CG Animated Film, The Gondolier’s Dog
- Custom Scripts & Toolset development in both MEL & MXS for various phases of production.
Lead Technical Artist - Character TD
Petroglyph Games: Mytheon (MMORPG), End of Nations (MMORTS) |
December 2008 – March 2010
Las Vegas, NV |
- Manage small technical art team; ensuring workflow and pipeline tools are maintained and improved for efficiency, while fulfilling and maintaining multi-departmental needs and requirements from Art assets.
- Initiate & lead collaboration efforts involved with pre-production planning of future tech issues.
- Work with the programming and tools teams to develop and improve pipeline procedures.
- Create / maintain documentation and tutorials of technical requirements, protocols, discoveries, updates, procedures, tools and technical art direction.
- Conduct classes and mentor artists on technical aspects of tools and processes.
- Identify the technical road blocks and looking at new, sometimes unconventional, techniques to achieve artists' intended vision while adhering to technical requirements for game functionality.
- Setup scripting/tools pipeline and conventions for exporting and asset management.
- Develop character pipeline with animation sharing and customization for various character combinations
- Establish rigging conventions to better enable and assist in the conversion between Art and Programming.
- Automate complexities of, but not limited to, skeletal hierarchies & rig creation, debris/lighting/effects setup & various handy tools (within the OZ toolbox UI) to assist artists & streamline production.
- Solve and streamline technical production issues across multiple Art disciplines, including but not limited to; Shaders, Levels/Environments, Modeling, Texturing, Rigging, Skinning, Setup, Implementation, etc.
Character TD - Animator / Rigger
Project
Stealth (Indie): Unreal Engine 3 / UDK |
July 2007 – July 2008
Austin
,
TX
|
- Develop pipeline for rigging & animating
in-game characters. Network tree & blend animations.
- Custom MEL creation to streamline and support
exporter, rigging & animating.
- Contingency planning for overall efficiency of
workflow and streamlined procedures.
TD / Character & Weapon Dev
W.L.Jenkins: Unreal
Engine 3 |
May
2007 – June 2008
Austin, TX |
- Responsible for leading team of artists &
animators in the development and correct implementation of game art; more
specifically, but not limited to, Player and Weapon Development.
- Research & Development: art-asset creation
procedures, practices & implementation in the engine.
- Create and maintain documentation of discoveries,
procedures, milestones and Production Outline.
- Work closely with Project Manager & Lead
Programmer for effective implementation of game art.
Game Artist – Animator / Generalist
Pixel Mine Games:Fireteam Reloaded, Ashen Empires, BlackSite, Turok, Damnation |
October 2007 – May 2008
Austin, TX |
- Creation of many art assets from concept to completion, for a range of titles, including Fireteam Reloaded, Ashen Empires (expansion package), & for prototyping new technology.
- Provided support of any Art needs for Engineering within the Unreal Editor.
- Rigging / Animating Characters
- Character Design & Modeling, as well as environment / dynamic prop modeling
- UV mapping / Texture & Procedural Shader creation
- Dynamic Effects & Particles for cloth and explosions
- Art and icons for UI
Sr. Modeler, Generalist, Technical Artist
Kashat Productions: Absalom Rebel Child (feature) & Story of Judith (feature) |
Mar 2005 - Mar 2006
Sugarland
,
TX
|
- Worked with a team animators and graphic artists in the production of two animated feature films.
- Built rigs for mechanical weapons / catapults.
- Human Character & Animal Modeling, Blend Shape Animations
- Architectural, Landscape & Environment Modeling of many fairly complex environments.
- Mechanical & Industrial Design Modeling; Prop / Accessory / Garment Modeling
- UV mapping, Procedural texture / shader creation. Processing bitmap textures in Photoshop.
- Dynamic Effects & Particles utilized during the creation of fire, smoke, hair and plants.
Sr. Animator, Visual FX Artist
TechnoMedia International |
2004,
Apr – June 2006
Houston
,
TX
|
- Worked with a small team of animators on the development of training modules used to educate Petroleum Engineers on technology and procedures involved in Heavy Oil Extraction.
- Responsible for various phases of production, concept to completion, including but not limited to;
- Mechanical & Industrial Modeling of the many detailed, working components of oil field equipment, specific to meeting the needs and standards set for the Oil & Gas Industry.
- Texture Mapping – creation & application of procedural textures & digitally painted textures, Photoshop.
- Fluids & gasses, used in the chemical treatment of wells, the oil reservoirs, and the bitumen itself; were achieved through the use of both dynamic particles, & effects applied during post, in After Effects.
- Other duties or responsibilities include, but not limited to; Compositing the Trailer for API University, which was featured at the 2006 OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) of Houston.
- Flash Design and Action Scripting for proprietary software promoting Oil Field Safety.
Technical Animator, Modeler
Freelance: Safety Management Services |
Apr - June 2002
Lafayette
,
LA
|
- Computer generated accident reconstruction for
courtroom exhibit.
- Modeled & Animated industrial objects to the
precise specifications set forth by the expert witness.
3D Modeler
Freelance: CMOS Productions |
Jan – Feb 2007
Ft.
Lauderdale
/
Miami
,
FL
|
- 3D Model for product development and patent,
adhering to precise specifications.
Modeler / Animator, Interactive Designer
Freelance: EWAnimation |
July 2004 - Sept 2006
Houston, TX |
- Aided and assisted in modeling needs and
technical issues on various projects.
Character Artist, Puppeteer / Animator
Freelance:
Miami
Dolphins |
July
- Sept 2002
Miami
,
FL
|
- Modeled, Textured, Rigged, Animated character & composited.
Character Artist, VFX Artist
Freelance: Fall of Lucifer (Musical) |
Sept 2003 – Mar 2005
Houston
,
TX
|
- Characters, props & scene models. Shading &
Texturing. Hair & Cloth Dynamics.
Vehicle Modeler, Texture Artist
Freelance: ATC (All-Terrain Chariot) |
Dec 2002 - Feb 2003
Flora
,
LA
|
- Product Demonstration: recreated and animated
functionality of ATV accessory.
VFX Artist, Interactive Designer (Flash, FLV, AS)
Freelance: Carvajal Creative |
March 2007
Austin /
Houston
,
TX
|
- From concept to completion, 3-4 minute video
composites featuring builders and homes of Lakeshore.
Interactive Designer (Flash / Action Scripting)
Freelance: Terry Productions |
Sept 2003 – Oct 2004
Houston, TX |
- Developed & Designed complex interactive flash
applications.
Lead Graphic Designer, Modeler
Wellspring Technologies |
Aug 2001 – Mar 2003
Miami, FL |
- Design, composite and model assets for packaging
and labeling of company products and client orders.
| Development Tools |
Maya, 3D Studio Max, FBX, Zbrush, Mudbox, CrazyBump, Hash: Animation Master |
| Engines |
Unreal3 (UDK), Source, Alamo, Panda3D, Havok, proprietary game engines & software |
| Programming |
HLSL (shader creation), MEL, MaxScript, Action Scripting (AS3+), C++, Python, XML |
| Project Management |
Perforce, JIRA |
| Animation / Rigs |
Character & Creature Rigging, knowledge of Figure & Facial Anatomy, FACS, Character kinematics, deformation, & biomechanics, Skin/Vert Weighting, SDK, Expressions, FK / IK Parent Switching, BlendShape & Bone-based Facial Animation, Picker Sheets, Animation sharing & Pose Transfer, skeletal hierarchy & proper joint orientation. |
| 3D Modeling |
Hi-res poly modeling, low-res poly modeling, Digital Scuplting, spline based modeling; mesh culling, LODs; Skeletal Mesh Characters, weapons / props, & environments. |
| Textures / Shaders |
Strong understanding of materials & shader networks (Ambient Occlusion, Normal Map, Parallax, Diffuse, Specular, Emissive, etc.), UV mapping, procedural & bitmap textures, Excellent Photoshop skills. |
| Video Compositing |
Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, |
The Art Institute of
Fort Lauderdale
- Bachelor of Science, Media Arts & Animation
The Art Institute of
Houston
- Associate of Applied Science, Computer Animation
University
of
Louisiana
at
Lafayette
- Completed course work
in Visual Arts & Art History
*References available upon request
|