My name is Zack and I'm a compulsive problem solver and life-long interdisciplinary artist. I'm passionate about the possibilities of the many emerging fields of interactive media, in the form of games, installations, XR experiences, and the many pieces of the toolkit that make it all happen. I love working on dynamic teams where I can take on multiple roles, whether that's creating pipeline tools for artists to optimize and make their works come to life on mobile devices and HMDs, to writing shaders to optimize and streamline special effects, to building one-of-a-kind frameworks for XR experiences.
I am a skilled programmer and 3D artist with a strong background in traditional media as a video editor and producer. I've trained and managed teams of artists and programmers, and love working at the crossroads of these two disciplines, with one foot in each world. My strengths lie in creative problem solving, harnessing the technical possibilities of a given framework to achieve the emotional goals of a project, all with an eye on pipeline processes and performance.
As a programmer, I'm an expert in JS and WebGL experiences particularly using THREEjs, AFrame and 8thWall. I also have extensive experience working in C# in Unity on XR experiences for Oculus Quest and Vive HMDs, as well as Niantic's AR SDK. I've worked for many years at a partner firm with Meta creating experiences for mobile using SparkAR, Unity's presence SDK, as well as Lens Studio for creating viral social media filters and effects. As a technical artist, I have developed GLSL shaders for a variety of platforms, as well as tools for optimization and pipeline flow using Python including scripting tools for Blender utility scripts, texture compression tools, and other utility purposes.
As a 3D artist, I'm an expert with Blender for modelling, rigging and animation. For texturing and materials, I'm an experienced Substance Designer / Painter user, and have experience creating export pipelines for specialized mobile OS rendering pipelines. I also am an expert with Photoshop, Illustrator, and all of the Adobe CC suite.
My background in multimedia installations has exposed me to many other niche realtime frameworks such as Touchdesigner, VVVV, Max/MSP, PureData. I also have experience designing large-scale installations and projection mapping projects, working with physical hardware and fabrication, including Arduino microcontrollers, Autocad Fusion360 for 3D printing and installation planning, Soldering and Circuit design, woodworking and basic fabrication techniques.
My history as a freelance Programmer/Animator/Video Editor has provided me with excellent soft skills in project management, working directly with clients, designers and programmers to achieve multi-faceted budgetary and creative goals. My broad experience across multiple disciplines allows me to speak knowledgably and to translate between technicians and artists in many fields, and my passion for storytelling and creating emotion-driven experiences sets me apart from my technical peers.
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