Was the lead (and often sole) R&D developer for all core Houdini lighting and shading at the company for the last two years.
- Part of core R&D department working on rendering technology, shader library development and artist tools for Houdini and Mantra for use on all shows.
- Wrote and maintained all of the light rig and light transfer API and tools for all packages (Maya, Houdini etc) and all light shaders, tools and in-scene gizmos for Houdini lighting.
- Mentored a number of staff in various workflows and techniques for general lighting and shading pipelines and fx work (primarily fluids).
- Consulted and advised on the site HDR pipeline.
- Developed a complete shading framework for Houdini for use across all shows called ‘Cuttlefish’, comprised of a full set of cross package compatible matching materials, supporting VOP node library, two APIs, large python toolset and VOPfx menus.
- Developed a lightweight framework for managing configuration and general data at a site/show/user level (integrated into Cuttlefish).
- Developed a masking system for context and package consistent 2d/3d interchange and operations.
- Wrote multiple customised versions of the Mantra pathtracer for use on shows (Interstellar and Heart Of The Sea) and one for in house default use for all rendering with a number of added features.
Cuttlefish and previous incarnations of the materials, shading and lighting tools are used across Dneg for shows as the standard toolset, was used on ;
- Captain America : Civil War
- Fantastic Beats And Where To Find Them
- Alice Through The Looking Glass
- Geostorm
- Batman Vs Superman
- Spectre
- Ex Machina
Also provided full R&D support for all Houdini lighting and shading for all facilities at the company on top of the development work schedule.