I am a CG Artist with over 12 years of professional work experience ranging from film and television to real time console systems. My primary focus is Visual Effects, but I have an abundance of experience in simulation, modeling, surfacing, lighting, rendering, and team leadership.

Technical Art Director @ - Research and develop cutting edge techniques, pipelines and tools for current and future projects - Evaluate new technology and tools for integration into existing pipelines - Work with the Art director to establish the goals and visual identity of the project - Oversee the creative and technical execution of key visual sequences, from concept to completion. - Provide high quality assets through modeling, simulation, shaders and compositing techniques. - Work with the production staff to ensure short term and long term schedule is on track, while providing mitigation plans - Train artists and designers on in-house tools while maintaining best practices and procedures - Provide mentorship, training and documentation to new team members From August 2013 to Present (2 years 3 months) Redwood CityPrincipal Visual Effects Artist @ - Provide high quality assets through modeling, simulation, shaders and compositing techniques. - Work within the game engine to preview, iterate, optimize and polish game assets to a quality bar and visual direction as set by the Art Director. - Research and develop new techniques to create cutting edge and innovative visual effects - Provide artistic supervision and mentorship to the effects team while helping guide the artistic vision of the project. - Work with engineers to develop current and future effects pipelines and tools. - Provide feedback to designers, artists and engineers to help develop the best possible workflow. From June 2012 to Present (3 years 5 months) Redwood City, CaliforniaVisual Development Lead @ - Responsible for developing the look and feel of FX and UI, through conceptualization to the final product. - Focus on the visual and technical development of the game and ensure the team has clear visual direction while maintaining a solid understanding of the aesthetic, technical and design goals set by the art director. - Work closely with the production staff, creative director and leads to ensure the project quality meets or exceeds expectations and pushes the boundaries of competitive visual quality. - Demonstrate excellent technical and aesthetic abilities in all aspects of presentation and creation. From April 2010 to June 2012 (2 years 3 months) Sr VFX Artist @ - Sr Visual Effects artist on next gen console/pc games - Pre-rendered Marketing asset creation (box art/posters/magazines) - Pre-rendered R&D to help visualize game concepts From November 2006 to October 2010 (4 years) 3D Director / Lead VFX Artist @ - Directed the overall look and feel of each job to ensure the highest quality possible. - Responsible for the creation of visual effects for each commercial spot and lighting/rendering for each job - Worked directly with clients/agency to help visualize their goals, in a manageable and realistic timeline - Managed a small team of artists From October 2000 to November 2006 (6 years 2 months) Contract VFX Artist / Animator @ - Contract position as a VFX/Animator to help complete the cut scenes for the game Cel Damage on the XBox. From June 2001 to August 2001 (3 months) VFX Artist / Character Modeling @ - Character modeling / rigging / VFX artist for the television series Angela Anaconda From April 2000 to June 2001 (1 year 3 months)

C++ Programming for Video Games @ Game Institute From 2008 to 2010 Diploma, Digital Media Arts (Technical Illustration) @ Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology From 1999 to 2000 Classical Animation @ Sheridan College From 1997 to 1999 Diploma, Art Fundamentals @ Sheridan College From 1996 to 1997 Mike Oliver is skilled in: Maya, Texturing, Mental Ray, Unreal Engine, MEL, C++, After Effects, Particle Effects, Lighting, Mudbox, 3D Studio Max, Visual Effects, Video Games, Game Development, Xbox 360, Level Design, Cinematics, Animation, Compositing, Computer Animation, Shaders, 3D, Storyboarding, Rigging