<cassidy at otherthings dot com>
<cassidy at otherthings dot com>
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY | ||
| 2000-present | PDI/DREAMWORKS Redwood City, CA |
Character Animator (Senior since July 2004) |
I am currently a senior character animator at PDI, working on the feature film Bee Movie. Before that I worked on Shrek the Third, Over the Hedge, Madagascar, Shrek 2, Sinbad, related promotional projects (short films, commercials, DVD extras, etc.) and other films in development. The job entails animating main characters, making choices at every level from acting to locomotion, using our proprietary keyframe animation system. My other duties include communicating animators' needs to the character TDs, teaching basic animation classes and mentoring new animators. | ||
| 1998-2000 | PDI/DREAMWORKS Palo Alto, CA |
Character TD |
As a character TD I set up characters for PDI's second feature film, Shrek. This included setting up skeletons, designing easy-to-use animator controls, and surface deformations. I was the primary developer of a system for non-dynamic clothing wrinkles, which was used on the upper bodies of all of the main characters. During this period I also created a watercolor look for David Gainey's short film Fishing, which won Best Computer Animated Short at Ottawa 2000. | ||
| 1996-1998 | UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Seattle, WA |
Researcher, Instructor |
I came to UW to do research in non-photorealistic rendering. My first project, to simulate the artistic effects of watercolor painting, was presented as a paper at SIGGRAPH 1997. I also taught a computer animation class for undergraduates in art, music, and computer science, designed to closely aproximate a real production environment. Each year, the class culminated in a group short film project, which I coordinated and directed. The Art of Survival, the film produced by the 1998 class, won the audience award for Best CG Animation at Anima Mundi 1999 in Rio. | ||
| 1994-1996 | PACIFIC DATA IMAGES Palo Alto, CA |
Technical Director, Animator |
As a TD, I planned and directed the execution of animation sequences, supervised live action shoots, and coordinated teams of up to nine animators. But mostly I wrote scripts in C-shell or one of PDI's proprietary languages. To better understand the rest of the production process, I took on various other roles including effects animation, character animation, and shader writing. On the side, I taught classes on the principles and use of PDI's software as part of the animator training program. I also completed my first short film, Brick-a-Brac, which has since appeared in several animation festivals including SIGGRAPH 1995. | ||
| 1992-1994 | XAOS, INC. San Francisco, CA |
Production Programmer, Animator |
As production programmer, my job was to develop new, experimental animation software, and to support the animators who used it. My main code contributions were a physically based particle system and extensive image processing libraries. I developed techniques for motion blur, non-photorealistic rendering, and simulating natural substances including ink, paint, mercury, smoke, fog, and gaseous explosions. Shifting into the role of animator, I used these techniques to create special effects for broadcast, commercials, film, and independent projects. | ||
| Summers, 1990-1991 |
R/GREENBERG ASSOCIATES New York, NY |
Animator and Programmer |
In my first internship, I helped create special effects for television commercials, and high-resolution print ads. I used SoftImage and R/GA's largely script-based proprietary software. The following summer I also wrote non-photorealistic rendering code to simulate the style of 19th Century engravings. | ||
| 1991-1992 | BROWN UNIVERSITY Providence, RI |
Research and Teaching Assistant, Illustrator |
While still a student I helped rewrite a 3-D visualization tool that was being used by students of multivariable calculus, extending it for use in a differential geometry class. As a TA for that and other classes (including computer graphics) I led lab sessions and acted as mentor for independent student projects. I also used the visualization tool to create a series of chapter opening illustrations for a calculus textbook. | ||
BROWN UNIVERSITY, Providence, R.I.
B.A. in Mathematics, May, 1992
Relevant Coursework:
FILMOGRAPHY | ||
| FEATURES and SHORT FILMS | ||
| indie | "Word Wars" (documentary, 2004) | Motion Graphics Designer |
| PDI | "Shrek the Third" (2007) | Character Animator | "Over the Hedge" (2006) | Character Animator | "Madagascar" (2005) | Character Animator |
| "Shrek 2" (2004) | Character Animator | |
| "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" (2003) | Character Animator | |
| "Shrek" (2001) | Character TD | "Fishing" (1999) (screenings) | Look Developer | "Brick-a-Brac" (1995) (screenings) | Director / TD / Animator |
| UW | "The Art of Survival" (screenings) | Director |
| "Whose Hat is That?" (video) (screenings) | Director | |
| Xaos | "The Pagemaster" (1994) | Programmer / Animator |
| BROADCAST and COMMERCIALS | ||
| PDI | Kraft "Franky's Noodle" | TD / Character Animator |
| Mercedes | TD / Effects Animator | |
| Halls Penguins "Airport" | TD | |
| Toyota "Disclosure" | Effects Animator | |
| Listerine "Power of Prevention" | Effects Animator | |
| Xaos | MTV's Top 20 Video Countdown | Designer / Programmer / Animator |
| Capri Sun "Liquid Cool" | Programmer / Animator | |
| Sci-Fi Channel "Expedition" | Programmer / Animator | |
| SIGGRAPH '93 Anijam | Programmer / Animator | |
| R/GA | Kodak "Let the Memories Begin" | Animator |
| Panasonic "Prism" | Animator / Lighting | |
Word Wars:
Fishing:
The Art of Survival:
Whose Hat Is That?:
Brick-a-Brac:
Appearances in print:
Halls Penguins "Airport":
