Carl A Schell 2544 Ambling Cir · Crofton, MD 21114 · (410) 570-5788 · carl@boxmail.us Portfolio: http://www.cschell.com/portfolio/ PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY Experienced Technical Art Director with a strong deadline, quality, and results driven focus. Accomplished game artist in the full life cycle of multi-platform game definition, prototyping, proof of concept, design, implementation, testing and development. Strong leadership and mentoring skills. Solid track record of consistently meeting and exceeding company goals, objectives and expectations. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2003 – 2009 - Blue Omega Entertainment – Annapolis, MD Technical Art Director / Production Director on 3rd person platformer/shooter Damnation for the Xbox 360, PS3, PC. * Fluent in the Unreal 3 Engine, including all world building tools, Kismet, Animation Tools, Material Editor, Matinee as well as a working understanding of UnrealScript. * Created pipelines, guidelines and documentation for external teams working on many aspects of the game development process including Art, World Building, Scripting, Cinematics, Audio and Programming. * Worked closely with outsourced partners to facilitate communication between our different external teams. * Documented and facilitated the technical implementation entire gameplay systems including, tools, weapons, player abilities, vehicles, AI, camera, and scripting. * Modeled and textured ‘keystone’ assets that would set the visual and technical goal for our outsourced partners. This included creation of gameplay models from start to finish including the 3d Model, Normal Model, and Textures. * Designed and laid out entire gameplay areas and worlds (approx. 5-8 hours of gameplay) to guide the art teams when filling in the art for the areas. * Created and maintained the technical requirements and restrictions for the worlds and characters, animations, sound and cinematics. * Created and maintained tools using MaxScript and Visual Basic. * Debugged and fixed problems with memory, framerate, etc. for the Xbox360 and Playstation3. 1999 – 2003 - Vicarious Visions, Inc. – Albany, NY Senior/Lead 3d Artist involved with the management and mentoring of other artists as well as production work. Assess customer needs and develop plans for meeting and surpassing their needs while communicating forward progress. * Develop self motivated strategy which consistently helps to surpass expectations and meet all deadlines and milestones. * Directly responsible for the creation and implementation of real time 3D art and graphics for today’s top video game engines including the Playstation, Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Gameboy Advance. * Lead and coordinate small and large art teams; maintain schedules and technical requirements. * Selected to train and coordinate other teams in US and Russia on new technology. * Design and communicate ideas for tracks and levels which follow design requirements and regulations. * Mentor other artists in order to maintain the quality expected for visual art and engine performance. * Utilize R&D skills in order to create impressive and convincing prototypes. 1998 – 1999 - IcePick Games – Phoenix, AZ (Child Company of FuturePace Technologies) Lead artist who worked under constant deadlines to meet various milestones while maintaining quality work. Responsible for managing, modeling and full creation of 3D cut scenes for cutting-edge gaming projects. * Designed and textured high-resolution 3D human characters as well as multiple levels and scenes from 1st person perspective. * Designed and created Low Polygon models for use in the “Unreal Engine”. * Responsible for full development of photo-realistic scenes depicting real-life situations. Created textures for use in games as well as skin textures for In-Game characters. * Assisted other artists with complex design projects in 3d Studio Max and Adobe Photoshop 1998 – 1998 - FuturePace Technologies – Phoenix, AZ Responsible for modeling and creating 3D scenes for use on the World Wide Web. Worked with a team of four designers to create Photo-realistic 3D sites, developed in 3D Studio Max, Adobe Photoshop and HTML. 1990 – 1997 - Keats, Connelly & Assoc. Inc. – Phoenix, AZ Information Services Manager responsible for network administration as well as workstation maintenance and employee software training. Created and maintained corporate web site. Configured client databases to manage sales contact data, direct mailings, and newsletter processing. Involved in various forms of graphic design for promotional materials and was cross-trained in aspects of MIS and administrative duties. EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING * Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Arizona State University with an emphasis on Interactive computer graphics, Information Technology and Management Skills. 1997 * Project Management Training Workshop – Hudson Valley Community College. 2001 * Facilitation Training Workshop – Hudson Valley Community College. 2002 PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS * Member IGDA (International Game Developers Organization) http://www.igda.org/ * Member AIAS (Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences) http://www.interactive.org/ TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE Programming Languages: MaxScript, Perl, PHP, ASP.NET, HTML, Visual Basic, C# Software: 3d Studio Max, Lightwave 3d, Basic Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe illustrator, Character Studio, Alchemy Game Engine, Unreal Engine 3 (Familiar with UnrealScript), Torque Game Builder (iTGB). Platforms: PC, PSOne, Gameboy Advance, Playstation Portable, PlayStation2, Xbox, Gamecube, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, iPhone Game History Polaris Snocross (Playstation) Position: 3d Artist * Created and conceptualized paper designs for unique and fun snowmobile tracks. * Responsible for creation of tracks from start to completion including Modeling, UV Mapping, Vertex Component Lighting, and Collision Geometry. * Worked closely with 2d Artist to coordinate the artistic needs with the technical needs of the tracks. Spider-Man2; Enter: Electro (Playstation) Position: Lead Artist * Created and conceptualized paper designs for unique adventure game levels. * Traveled to California to learn the engine we used to train other artists on the team. * Responsible for creation of levels from start to completion including Modeling, UV Mapping, Vertex Component Lighting, and Collision Geometry. * Worked closely with 2d Artist to coordinate the artistic needs with the technical needs of the levels. * Lead and mentored other artists in the game development process. Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (Gameboy Advance) Position: Support Artist * Created still images for use in story telling cut-scenes. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 (Playstation) Position: Lead Artist * Created and conceptualized paper designs for unique and fun skateboarding levels. * Responsible for creation of levels from start to completion including Modelling, UV Texturing, Vertex Component Lighting, and Collision Geometry. * Responsible for maintaining the extreme gameplay the Tony Hawk series is known for. * Worked closely with 2d Artist to coordinate the artistic needs with the technical needs of the levels. * Lead and mentored other artists in the game development process. Star Wars Jedi Knight (Xbox, Gamecube) Position: Prototype/Proof of Concept Artist * Prototyped Art for Proof of Concept in Intrinsic Alchemy game Engine. Whiteout (Playstation2, Xbox) Position: 3d Artist * Prototyped UI and functional art interface for in game menus. Need For Speed: Underground (Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC) Position: Project Lead (Car Parts Contract) * Managed and Scheduled car part workflow for entire team. * Managed and Integrated Schedule and assets for external foreign team in Russia. * Modeled Wide Body Kits, Hoods and Roofs for some cars. * UV Mapped and Surface Tagged all parts for use in game. * Responsible for submitting weekly and bi-weekly milestones to EA Blackbox Crash Nitro Kart (Playstation 2, Xbox and Gamecube) Position: Lead 3d Artist * Created and conceptualized paper designs for unique and fun tracks. * Responsible for technical direction of tracks from start to completion including Design Modeling, UV Texturing, Vertex Component Lighting, and Collision Geometry. * Created art for power-ups and weapons used by characters as well as special effects used in game. * Worked closely with 2d Artist to coordinate the artistic needs with the technical needs of the tracks. UT2K4 Mod Damnation (PC) Position: Lead Technical Artist * Created and Textured Weapons, Characters and Objects. * Art/Framerate Optimization and Testing. * AI Scripting and Dialog Setup. Damnation (Xbox360, Playstation 3, PC) Position: Technical Art Director / Production Director * Created pipelines, guidelines and documentation for external teams working on many aspects of the game development process including Art, World Building, Scripting, Cinematics, Audio and Programming. * Documented and facilitated the technical implementation entire gameplay systems including, tools, weapons, player abilities, vehicles, AI, camera, and scripting. * Modeled and textured ‘keystone’ assets that would set the visual and technical goal for our outsourced partners. This included creation of gameplay models from start to finish including the 3d Model, Normal Model, and Textures. * Designed and laid out entire gameplay areas and worlds (approx. 5-8 hours of gameplay) to guide the art teams when filling in the art for the areas. * Created and maintained the technical requirements and restrictions for the worlds and characters, animations, sound and cinematics. * Created and maintained tools using MaxScript and Visual Basic. * Debugged and fixed problems with memory, framerate, etc. for the Xbox360 and Playstation3. Attack of the Dust Bunnies (iPhone) Position: Technical Art Director / Production Director * Learned and documented the Torque Game Builder iPhone Engine (iTGB) and created pipelines, guidelines and documentation for internal teams working on many aspects of the game development process including Art, World Building, Scripting, Cinematics, Audio and Programming. * Documented and facilitated the technical implementation entire gameplay systems including, tools, weapons, player abilities, vehicles, AI, camera, and scripting. * Created and maintained the technical requirements and restrictions for the worlds and characters, animations, sound and cinematics. * Created and maintained tools using C#. * Debugged and fixed problems with memory, framerate, etc. for the iPhone. * Created and implemented UI Frontend.