Skills
Lighting
Environment lighting for real-time games using direct and indirect lighting techniques, including image based lighting.
Shot-based lighting for animation and stills using direct lighting and global illumination.
Creating LDR and HDR maps for image-based lighting.
Real-world studio lighting techniques for products and people using strobe flash kits.
Lighting tools and process development.
Rendering & Compositing
Multi-pass, multi-layer rendering for stills, animations and lightmaps.
Global illumination, direct light and effects rendering optimization.
Multi-pass, multi-layer render element and layer compositing.
Materials, Textures & Mapping
Material/look development for pre-rendered scenes.
Texture map creation for 3D models based on photographic reference and hand-painting.
UVW unwrapping for texturing and lighting.
Cameras & Photography
Animated cameras for CGI cinematic sequences.
In-depth knowledge of 35mm still photography.
Reference photography for humans and environments.
Modeling & Scene Management
Hard-surface modeling for architecture, urban environments, terrain, props and vehicles.
Assembly and management of large scale scenes requiring multiple render layers/geometry states.
Work History
World Builder at FXVille (contract) · 02/2010 - current
Translated Call of Duty: Black Ops Xbox 360 environments from high detail and HDR lighting to variable levels of detail and LDR lighting for the Wii.
Documented development processes, established guidelines for HDR to LDR lighting translation.
Lighting Artist at Microsoft (contract) · 09/2008 - 09/2009
Created lighting scenarios for Forza Motorsport 3.
Defined render settings for multi-pass lighting.
Composited multi-layered lighting textures using proprietary tools.
Managed render job submission and troubleshooting.
Documented proper production practices and lighting tools.
3D Artist/Animator/Compositor at NC3D · 10/2006 - 08/2008
Lead small teams in creating massive, high-end 3d visualizations for architecture, transit, planning and urban design.
Designed lighting rigs to balance realism and render times.
Optimized render settings and set-up render layers.
Composited rendered animation layers into finished sequences.
3D Artist III at Microsoft (contracts) · 02/2003 - 06/2006
Created 3d environment models, textures and UVW sheets for Forza Motorsport 1 & 2.
Developed and disseminated efficient practices for creating art assets.
3D Artist (Freelance) · 2002 - 2003
Consulted as an environment artist in the planning stages of a 3d MMO.
Created 3d environment art assets.
Lead Environment Artist at Zombie, Inc · 02/2000 - 02/2001
Researched game engine technology, produced example assets, created schedules and set standards for art production.
Modeled, mapped and lit environments for several projects.
Lead Environment Artist at Sierra Online · 09/1997 - 01/2000
Modeled, mapped, textured and lit real-time 3d environments for Gabriel Knight 3.
Directed environment art team, assisted heavily in art tools and process design.