J. Alejandro Rodriguez

OBJECTIVE

Seeking a position as a Senior or Lead 3D Animator.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Jam City Games, San Francisco, CA
Senior Tech Artist, October 2018 – Current
· Character and Creature rigging for Harry Potter: Hogwarts mystery
· Maintain and improve the rigging and tool pipeline for animation and design
· Develop Python Tools to aid in the everyday process of the character and animation teams
· Provide feedback to the character outsource team to ensure the correct implementation of assets.

Wavedash Games, Oakland, CA
Lead Animator, October 2017 – October 2018
· Lead a team of four animators in the creation of unique character motions in a platformer fighting game
· Develop the animation pipeline and implement process improvements
· Character Integration in Unity / Mechanim
· Provide feedback and guidance to younger team members
· Program tools in Python and PyQT
· Supervise and provide feedback to animation outsource team to ensure style consistency across assets

Funplus, San Francisco, CA
Lead Animator, October 2016 – September 2017
· Identify and enforce requirements of character animations for a turn-based brawlermobile game
· Create character and creature rigging that adhere to established technical constraints
· Integrate characters into Unity / Mechanim, and develop all state machine alongside engineering
· Develop the animation pipeline and implement process improvements
· Program tools in Python and PyQT
· Supervise and provide feedback to animation outsource team to ensure style consistency across assets

Zynga Inc, San Francisco, CA
Principal Animator, January 2012 – September 2016
· Created character animations using Maya and 3DSMax for CastleVille, FarmVille Tropic Escape, The Ville, and two unpublished mobile titles
· Developed biped and quadruped character rigs
· Developed and planned animation pipelines
· Executed Unity asset integration and created Mechanim state machines in Unity
· Created and supported Python and MEL scripts for scene management, animation transfer, and exporting

Hi5 Networks, San Francisco, CA
Art Director, June 2011 – September 2011
· Planned and oversaw the creation of a new in-game avatar system
· Ensured consistency across assets developed by outsourcing contractors by creating style guides, supervising work and providing daily feedback
· Developed low poly character models for avatar prototypes
· Created character and facial rigs
· Created character animations for social interactions
· Worked with a programmer to create an asset processing pipeline from Maya to Flash

Electronic Arts, Redwood City, CA
Animator, April 2010 – May 2011
· Acted as character animator for The Sims Medieval game, TV spots and online promos
· Created and maintained state graphs for asset integration
· Performed character rigging and skinning for The Sims Medieval game

RedBana US, San Francisco, CA
Lead Animator, August 2008 – February 2010
· Acted as character animator for Hellgate: London, and an unannounced project
· Restructured the Hellgate animation pipeline from 3DSMax to Maya, and created a new animation pipeline for new titles
· Directed animation dailies by coordinating daily meetings with animation team and provided feedback
· Trained animators in the use of 3DSMax CAT Animation Package
· Performed character rigging, and trained animators in rigging practices by providing mentoring and supporting documentation
· Represented the animation team in communications with the leadership team and the tech art team
· Developed animation scheduling and created animation trees
· Worked with the Design team to develop new game ideas for proposals

L5Games, San Mateo, CA
Animator, July 2008 – August 2008
· Acted as character animator for Blue Sky Studio’s Ice Age Online game
· Performed rigging for biped and quadruped characters
· Co-directed daily animation critique meetings, coordinating and providing feedback to other animators

Electronic Arts, Redwood City, CA
Animator, September 2007 – May 2008
· Acted as character animator for The Sims 2 Apartment Life and FreeTime expansion packs

Cinematico, San Francisco, CA
Animator, May 2007 – September 2007
· Acted as character animator in cut scenes for Dreamworks’ Bee Movie Game
· Performed motion capture cleanup, rigging, skinning, and texturing for Adult Swim’s Xavier, Renegade Angel

Andromeda Productions, Miami, FL
3D Graphics Artist and Animator, August 2004
· Developed an animated sequence for the film Red Bird using Camera Matching in 3D Studio Max
Office Manager and 2nd Assistant Director, July 2003 – August 2003
· Managed the pre-production and shooting budgets and schedules for the short film Red Bird
· Served as liaison and assistant for the film director and producer
· Coordinated a 20-person crew during shooting to minimize the loss of production time
· Assisted in the hiring process of talent and production team

Lyra Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Intern, June 2003 – November 2003
· Developed graphical user interfaces and textured game menus using XML for Underlight 3D

EDUCATION

Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
Master of Fine Arts in 3D Animation, May 2007

Animation Mentor, Berkeley, CA
Levels 1 through 4, 2006 - 2008

Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Cum Laude, May 2004

COMPUTER SKILLS

· Maya, 3D Studio Max, CAT Character Animation Toolkit, MoCap
· Python, MEL, C#
· Unity, Unreal Engine
· Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter

purpleorc@gmail.com
( 5 1 0 ) 6 3 7 – 8 3 2 9