Tag Archives: Maya

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Alen Esmaelian

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Alen Esmaelian and I work as a Background, Prop, and Character designer at Rough Draft Studios.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve been working in this industry for 6 years and prior to that, I used work for Pizza Hut as a customer service representative (fancy way of saying that I used to take customer orders over the phone).

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Without a doubt, my proudest moment was working on Futurama alongside the very talented crew at Rough Draft Studios. I was particularly proud to see my finished designs for Bender’s robot monastery on episode nine of this current season.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born in Tehran, Iran but I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area (San Fernando Valley) since I was two. I started to exhibit a love for animation and design at the tender age of 5, when I used to Continue reading

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Will Kistler

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Will Kistler and I’m currently a character animator.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
For a while I was a tour guide at Mammoth Cave National Park, where I led tours through the cave.  I also did a brief stint as a substitute teacher.  Turns out, 9th and 10 graders are not especially keen to learn algebra.  After college I spent a year teaching English in Japan.  That was a great time, since it let me travel for an extended period.  I was doing animation school online at the time, and I hate to admit it, but my studies suffered.  When faced with the option of animating all day, or going to check out a temple I might never get to see again, I wasn’t going to NOT go see the temple.  I tried to do both, but the animation got ignored a little more than it should have.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
My most recently released project was Life of Pi.  I was extremely happy with how that came out.  We spent a lot of time making sure the tiger moved as realistically as possible, which meant a big part of my day was getting to watch and study videos of tigers.  That makes for a pretty great work day.  I’ve also gotten to work on the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies.  Realistic tigers are great, but there’s a different kind of fun in getting to animate more anthropomorphic animals singing and dancing.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Kentucky originally.  My break into animation was being accepted into Continue reading

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Ben Rosales

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Ben Rosales – Animation Instructor

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Full-time missionary in the Canada Calgary Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (The “white shirt & tie” guys on bikes)

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Open Season III

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
Texas – My first animation job was at a small studio in Houston called Illusion Studio, Inc. Then Continue reading

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Nickelodeon Creates Original Movie In-House with Dell Workstations

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82vRWa5rXi0

Did you spend as much time watching television over the holidays as I did? If so, then you might have caught Nickelodeon’s first original animated TV movie, Albert. In the film, Bobby Moynihan (from “Saturday Night Live”) is the voice of a little Douglas fir tree named Albert who wants to become the Empire City tree.

A Nickelodeon employee works on the Albert movie using Dell Precision workstation and Dell monitors

Albert’s 3.1 million total viewers in Live+7 (which in TV ratings talk means the number of viewers within seven days of first showing) helped Nickelodeon finish 2016 as the number-one kid’s network for the year, according to numbers released last week.

Even if you were one of those millions of viewers, I bet you likely missed the story about how Dell Precision 5810 workstations helped them bring their first 45-minute movie to life, though.

“Using the Dell Precision with NVIDIA Quadro M6000 graphics cards has allowed us to stay competitive with overseas studios because we’re able to turn around results much faster and we’re able to keep a smaller team longer and be more efficient,” said Jason Meier, animation director at Nickelodeon, in the video below.

And if you missed it, or just want to hold on to that Christmas spirit and watch it again, the full Albert movie is available on Nick.com!

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Texture Artist-DreamWorks TV

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Title: Texture Artist, TV

Department:   Texture

Reports To: Line Producer, TV  / Art Director, TV/VFX Supervisor

Apply HERE.

Summary:

The Texture Artist will primarily paint 2D line art in Photoshop to give the characters, locations and props the final CG look of the show. In addition, they will specifically describe the texture, color and material properties for the surface of the asset.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Utilize Photoshop to paint 2D line art to give the characters, locations and props the final CG look of the show. It would be beneficial to have some experience painting CG models in Mari.
  • Able to align with style of the show and utilize specific styles to texture characters, props, and sets.
  • Collaborate with the Art Director and VFX Supervisor to help create the textures for our CG assets.
Required Skills
Requirements:

 

  • Minimum 2 years’ experience in the television, feature film or gaming industries.
  • Strong background in texture painting, color theory and application.
  • Able to paint, texture and demonstrate strong artistic skills.
  • Experience creating high quality texture maps, including all supporting maps (transparency, specular, bump, etc).
  • Understanding of the CG pipeline, UV layout and principles.
  • Mari, Maya and UV unwrapping skills a plus, but are not required.
  • Flexible to changes, able to multitask, prioritize and follow through on requests.
Job Location
Glendale , California, United States
Position Type
Full-Time/Regular
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Character Modeler-DreamWorks TV

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DreamWorks Animation

Apply HERE.

Title:               Character Modeler, TV

Department:   TV Production HUB

Reports To:    Production Supervisor, TV

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Responsible for creating models during prebuild including characters, character blend shapes, and character UV unwraps.

  • Ensure that character assets are of high quality while staying within the production’s parameters, pipeline and schedule detailed and adaptable to various styles.
  • Generate overview notes for the designs in order to meet the requirements for the production.
  • Responsible for ensuring all deliverables are completed on time and according to production standards.
  • Ensure that creative and technical Modeling standards are adhered to by partner studio within the confines of the production schedule.
  • Provide recommendation and suggestions for designs and animatics while ensuring timelines are met.
  • Document workflows and processes using Camtasia video and Publisher software.
  • Review & note assets submitted by our Partner Studios.
  • Serve as character modeling point person in show specific meetings and reviews.
  • Complete all tasks within a timely manner.
Required Skills
Requirements:

  • Ideally 2-4 years of industry experience in film, broadcast, and/or games
  • Advanced knowledge of hard surface characters and organic models.
  • Intricate understanding of Maya’s referencing system and ability to organize complex hierarchies.
  • Solid modeling and rigging skills.
  • Prior experience working in a fast paced production environment.
  • Creative problem solving skills and adaptability skills.
Job Location
Glendale, California, United States
Position Type
Full-Time/Regular