David Northcutt | Senior Character Artist

I am an accomplished 3D artist seeking a full-time position at a creative and professional studio.

My artistic skill and technical ability can be a great asset to your team. Qualifications include:

Highly accomplished character artist with 12 years experience on critically-acclaimed game titles and feature films.
Excellent organizational skills, outstanding record of timely project completion.
Collaborates well with others in a team environment.
Skills: High-Res and Low-Res modeling from concept, Rigging, UV Layout, Texture Creation, Cloth Simulation
Software: Maya, ZBrush, Mudbox, Photoshop, Perforce, xNormal, Silo, familiarity with 3DS MAX
Scripting: Python, PyMel, Mel, Photoshop scripting

Lead Artist / Technical Artist, Backbone Entertainment. Emeryville, California. 2010 - present.

Credits: Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon, Zombie Apocalypse 2

Lead Artist on XBLA/PSN title; rigging, modeling, VFX, level layout, tool scripting.
Raised the visual bar for the studio - worked with engineering to vastly improve lighting and rendering.
Built a universal character rig and set of tools, greatly increasing productivity when prototyping new projects.

Character TD (Rigger), ImageMovers Digital. Novato, California. 2008 - 2010.

Credits: Mars Needs Moms!, Disney's A Christmas Carol

Specialist in deformation rigging, especially the use of blend shapes and dynamics.
Managed and produced hundreds of character rigs while maintaining high quality of deformation.
Scripted rigging in Python so that new model publishes could be easily batched.
Created optimized cloth rigs for all background characters on Disney's A Christmas Carol.
Rigged the majority of secondary alien characters for Mars Needs Moms!.
Educated my department by learning cloth department tools and rolling the tech out to the rigging team.

Senior Artist, Backbone Entertainment. Emeryville, California. 2008 - 2008.

Set visual target for game demo by modeling, texturing, rigging, and animating hero character.
Evaluated and documented tools; improved animation by batching dynamics to large data sets.

Lead Character Artist, Visual Concepts / 2K Sports. Novato, California. 2007 - 2008.

Credits: NHL 2K9, NBA 2K8, All-Pro Football 2K8

Modeled and textured highly realistic next-gen character models.
Outlined and organized changes to improve existing art pipeline.
Worked closely with technical artist and engineers to improve real time shaders and overall look of the game.
Mentored and assisted junior artists, especially in the creation of next-gen textures.

Senior Character Artist, Electronic Arts. Redwood Shores, California. 2005 - 2007.

Credits: Dead Space, From Russia with Love

Modeled and textured next-gen character models, realizing the vision outlined in Production Designer's concepts.
Worked closely with rigging department to ensure character models deformed well in game.
Modeled and textured current-gen character models, vehicles, and weapons based on concept.
Took over vehicle art on Bond title, putting schedule back on track and greatly improving driving level art.
Trained junior artist in modeling, texturing, and asset organization techniques.

Character Artist / Rigger / Cut Scene Lead, Visual Concepts Entertainment. San Rafael, California. 2000 - 2005.

Credits: ESPN College Hoops 2K5, ESPN NFL 2K5, ESPN NFL Football, NBA 2K3, NFL 2K3, NBA 2K2, NFL 2K2, NBA 2K1

Modeled, textured, and rigged character models on numerous high profile game titles.
Developed art pipeline for creation of all in-game cinematics, created mel-based tools to improve efficiency.
Trained, supervised, and scheduled other artists, able to drive art production with minimal supervision.
Edited animation data and supervised motion capture shoots.

Computer Graphic Artist III, Electronic Arts Tiburon. Maitland, Florida. 1998 - 2000.

Credits: Madden 2001, Madden 2000

Led team of artists to establish and implement look of game presentation graphics.
Collaborated with programming department in development of tools which greatly enhanced game visuals.

Computer Graphic Artist (Freelance). San Francisco, California. 1997 - 1998.

Credits: Deus Volt, SKYY Vodka website, Marin Academy web site, Levi-Strauss touch-screen kiosk

Deus Volt: digital matte painting for promotional film trailer. Modeled architectural elements.

Associate Producer, PlayNet Technologies, Inc. San Francisco, California. 1996 - 1997.

Credits: PlayNet Web arcade system

Set Decorator / Prop Assistant, Film Production (Freelance). Chicago, IL. 1993 - 1996.

Credits: The Prodigy, Sam Hill (pilot), Compensation, numerous television commercials

M.F.A. School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Filmmaking. 1993.

B.A. Trinity University: Fine Arts. 1991.