Experience

Hi. I’m Alex and I’m a Los Angeles based Senior Technical Artist, Pipeline Engineer and Tools Developer with a broad range of skills within Game, CG and VFX fields.

Video is better than the thousand words, so video below is one of my development demos. It demonstrates the range of effects/deformers/other C++ plug-ins I developed for some projects. Everything in this demo was created by me, rendered in Redshift and composed in After Effects. For instance, “crawling wires” on the title sequence is actually another Maya procedural C++ mesh generator I wrote.

I have professional experience with:

  1. DCCs: Autodesk Maya, SideFX Houdini, C4D, Blender, Nuke, Adobe Suite, Substance tools, and other apps.
  2. Rendering engines: Renderman, Arnold, V-Ray, Redshift, Blender Cycles
  3. Real-time engines like Unreal Engine 5 and Unity, 3D math and engine internals, well familiar with Nanite, Lumen, Control Rigs, Chaos, VSM and Python API, and the general gamedev pipeline in details.
  4. Python, C++ and Qt for cross-platform DCC and pipeline tools development
  5. VFX Pipeline setup and maintenance using Shotgrid / Ftrack: customization and API development.
  6. Asset publishing pipelines: Pyblish-based modular VFX publishers, custom file formats and metadata support
  7. Pipeline package management using rez / custom packagers
  8. Synthetic Asset management: from planning to specific implementation in Python
  9. Other projects: Python C++ extensions/tools, OpenGL widgets
  10. CI/CD automation setup experience on Github / Gitlab

My personal experience includes:

  1. More than 20 years (since 1999) of Maya as a technical artist, and tools developer.
    Multiple projects and Maya tools shipped over the last decade.
  2. Extensive knowledge of Houdini, digital assets and VEX/Python scripting, particle effects and crowd simulation pipeline
  3. Extensive knowledge of VFX pipeline tracking systems like Shotgrid, Ftrack Connect.
  4. Nuke C++ plug-ins development and scripting.
  5. Production experience with almost every other DCC on market: Adobe Suite, 3dsmax, Cinema4D, 3DE, PFtrack, Syntheyes, Blender, Rhinoceros3D, Fusion360.
  6. Author of a few Maya/Houdini toolset, plug-ins, material libraries developed over the years.


Employment history:

ScanlineVFX, Senior Pipeline Engineer:
(Jan.2024 – Mar.2024)

  • Development in area of Maya Bifrost USD and USD pipelines, Python / C++

Contract at Apple: R&D Graphics Technical Artist:
(Feb.2023 – March.2024)

  • 3D Asset prototyping, development of asset management tools (PySide6/Python) and pipeline research work
  • Implementation of a modular publishing system with multiple custom data formats and metadata
  • Issue analysis, debugging and recommendations on extension of pre-existing pipeline system
  • Implementation of multiple GUI tools (Maya/Python/Qt)
  • Creation and support of documentation (Sphinx)

    Pixomondo: Pipeline Engineer, Tools Developer
    (May.2020 – Nov.2022)

    • General PXO LA branch pipeline support
    • Global pipeline tools development
    • Show support for titles like “The Orville”, “Station11”, “Lost in Space”, “Ghosted”, “Dayshift “, “Love and Death”, “Perry Mason”, “NEOM”.
    • Provide technical expertise and resolve wide range of everyday technical tasks: supporting new builds of DCC C++ plug-ins, adding new packages to the pipeline for all branches, updating and fixing existing pipeline tools
    • Cross-platform (Windows / Linux) pipeline tools development following best industry development practices and strict studio standards
    • Remote collaboration with a distributed across multiple continents engineering team, AGILE workflows.

      EightVFX: Pipeline Engineer, Lead Pipeline Developer
      (Nov-2017 – Dec-2019)

      • Development of a new modular VFX software launch system (SLS in future) with AWS S3 integration to allow rapid studio deployments. Architecture and implementation, starting from low end filesystem emulation, Python modules, GUI tools, and ending with Qt installer, documenting and deployment, Github integration.
      • Shotgrid Launcher app replacement using SLS as a backend to expose apps to Shotgrid
      • New low-level Maya API implemented in Maya Python API 2.0 for lightning fast Maya scene operation in massive environments (mass operations/tagging/relinking of thousands of assets/shaders)
      • Extra Shotgrid publishers for new custom entities: extra Geometry types / Cameras / Lights, render farm publishing integration and versatile object tagging for rig/materials persistence.
      • Successful Shotgun integration for less traditional DCCs like Cinema4D / BMD Fusion / Blender.
      • Versatile DCC menu system working across different apps: Maya/Houdini/Nuke
      • Setup and deployment of more than 100 pipeline apps and plug-ins for across 3 OS’s: Windows, Linux, macOS: converting software to portable installations and making them work everywhere right out of the box.

        (May.2017 – Sep.2017): CerebroHQ, Pipeline Developer

        • Initial Development Cerebro Pipeline DCC Connectors for Maya, Houdini and Nuke.
        • Work in collaboration with the Lead Developer on initial Python implementation of DCC connectors.

        (Jun.2011 – Dec.2016): In-Visible Studio: Lead Technical Artist

        • Development and implementation of numerous projection mapping shows and events
        • Custom visual effects development with Maya and Houdini
        • Custom scene transfer tools between Maya and Nuke

        (Oct.2004 – 01.2011): CEX-1 production agency, Technical Artist, CG Generalist

        • Development and implementation of annual “Golden Gramophone” ceremony stage graphics.
        • Producing mass amount of video elements for a custom screen set every year (After Effects).
        • DCC tools development

        (Apr.2001 – Sept.2001): “Klassika” Studio, Technical Artist

        • Work on a full length rendered feature film
        • Renderman shaders development
        • Crowd control systems using Maya Particles and MEL

        (Jun.2000 – Feb.2001): NTV-Telemost, Technical Artist

        • General broadcast design for the channel (Maya, Renderman, 3Delight)
        • Work with ORAD VR Studio, produce real-time virtual studio sets (SGI Onyx2, Softimage 3D)
        • Development of custom Maya VR set bake tools (mental ray) to allow lit geometry transfer from Maya to Softimage to meet hardware requirements

        (May.1999 – May.2000): R-Style, NewMediaGeneration, Technical Artist

        • Quake-style game “Hired Team: Trial”, went gold 2001
        • Character modeling, rigging and animation, exporting baked animations to the game engine.
        • Custom game engine mesh, animation and texture exporters and character pipeline
        • Participated in a level design as a Doom/Quake player (QuakeEd)

        Toolset:

        Windows, PyCharm, MSVS, CLion, CMake, Git, Github/Gitlab
        Linux: Ubuntu / Redhat / Rocky / WSL
        macOS: mobile development and testing

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