James Gu
5332 Bond St., Apt. 316
Irving, TX 75038
972.358.9540

Objectives:

To be involved in creative and fun projects that challenge both my technical and artistic abilities. 

Relevant Experience:
DNA Productions, Irving, TX	(1.2005 - present )
Role: CharacterTD / Rigging Tech Lead / ShotScrubber 
Projects: The Ant Bully, Polar Bear PSA
Notable Highlights:
	- Demonstrated rigging and skinning abilities by tackling typically difficult characters to rig 
	  (i.e. the circumferentially challenged or "fat" characters). 
	- Tackled technical challenges such as writing a hair rigging tool in MEL for a proprietary hair system 
	  along with implementing and maintaining various rigging tools.
	- Actively involved in internal quality control process (tripleCheck process). 

ReelFX, Dallas, TX	(11.2003 - late 12.2004 )
Role: Senior CharacterTD / 3D Effects / Simulation
Projects: G.I.Joe Valor vs. Venom, Ninja Battles, Action Man
Notable Highlights:
	- Devised a destructible character rig for the B.A.T character which provided additional functionality 
	  beyond the standard animation controls. This allowed animation from the standard B.A.T. characters 
	  to be transferred to this custom rig without having to re-animate characters.
	- CGI Effects Lead for "G.I.Joe Valor vs. Venom"  where I created and supervised numerous 3D effects 
	  (200+ out of 500+).
	- Established various methods for completing desired effects on a very tight schedule.
	- Assigned effects to artists and tracked their progress, ensuring a constant flow of effects through the
	  production pipeline.	
	- Assessed which effects should be 2D solutions and which should be 3D in order to be able to complete 
	  desired visual effects within time frame of schedule.
	- Developed and implemented a cloth (Syflex) simulation pipeline as well as carrying out all cloth needs 
	  for "Action Man" project.
	
Jaleco Entertainment, Inc, Boulder, CO	( 1.2003 - 11.2003 )
Role: Technical Artist 
Projects: Goblin Commander: Unleash The Horde (PS2, Game Cube, XBox), Werewolf (unreleased)
Notable Highlights:
	- Co-authored an asset management tool in MEL that interfaced with VSS for environment artists. 
	- Wrote scripts for proprietary game engine to deal with localization, particle FX, various UI elements, build
 	  and damage transitions, clanshrine upgrades as well as created art assets for these elements.
  
Clever Image, Fairview, NJ	( 2000 - 2003 )
Role: 3D/Computer Artist, Senior Character Animator, Technical Director 
Projects: The Making of The Storyteller Cafˇ (CBN), The Storyteller Cafˇ: The Storm (CBN), The Storyteller Cafˇ: The Battle (CBN), 
The Storyteller Cafˇ: Jonah (CBN), The Witness (CBN), SciFi Santathon 2k1(SciFi Channel), Legend of the Rangers Promotion (SciFi Channel), 
The Fly/OneCubed (CBN), Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (3D6-Gameboy game), Courage (CBN), Cricket (in-house project)
Notable Highlights:
	- Served as senior character animator and rigger through various projects.
	- Re-rigged ~15 primary characters in 2 weeks from the initial Storyteller Cafˇ episode which were used 
	  in subsequent episodes without need for modification.
	- Built and supported rigs that were used in studios in Brazil and Taiwan for the project, "Courage".
	- Performed camera matching on projects requiring integration of 3D CG elements with live action plates.
	
	
Education:
School Of Visual Arts, New York, NY
B.F.A. Computer Art, May 1999

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
B.S. Science (Life Science option), May 1994


Awards/Other:
2005 3December(Dallas) Presenter: Facial Rigging and Advanced Character Rigging
1999 NY Regional Student Showcase for 3-D Animation
1999 School of Visual Arts Computer Art Department Senior Showcase
1999 The School of Visual Arts Rhodes Family Award for Outstanding Achievement in Computer Art

Technical Expertise:
2D Software:				3D Software:
Adobe After Effects 			Autodesk (formerly Alias/Wavefront) Maya
Adobe Illustrator 			Alias/Wavefront PowerAnimator
Adobe ImageReady 			Amazon 3D Paint
Adobe Photoshop 			Autodesk 3DStudioMax
Adobe Premiere 				Comet Muscle System (Maya)
Alias/Wavefront Composer 		Newtek Lightwave
Alias/Wavefront Zapit 			Pixar MTOR and PhotoRealistic RenderMan
Equilibrium Debabelizer 		Pixar Renderman for Maya
Apple Final Cut Pro 			SideEffects Houdini
Apple (formerly Nothing Real) Shake 	Syflex (Maya)
Discreet Combustion 	 
Macromedia Director 			Other Software:
Macromedia Dreamweaver 			MS Excel
QuarkXpress 				MS Word
ToonBoom USAnimation 			Open Office
  	 
Programming/Scripting Languages: 	Operating Systems:
MEL, HTML, C, some C++/Maya API 	*nix(Linux, Irix, OSX), Mac, Windows

References:
Available upon request.