James Littlejohn

James Littlejohn

FX Artist, Available July 5th

Mid-level FX Artist / Mid-level Pipeline Developer / 13 yrs

San Francisco, CA

Hire Me

Effects Artist

Dear Angelica (2017)

Effects Animator

Home (2015)

Effects Animator

Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

Effects Animator

The Croods (2013)
I’m an Effects Artist/TD with experience creating effects for animated feature films, including dust, fire, rigid body destruction, and particle effects, primarily using Houdini. I'm also experienced at lighting and rendering in Mantra, and composting in nuke. I've also worked on python pipeline tools ranging from a renderfarm manager to asset management with ftrack.
Demo Reel at https://www.jameslittlejohn.com
Work History

  • VFX Artist

    Survios

    November 2016 - Present
    Culver City, CA

  • FX Artist

    Oculus Story Studio

    January 2016 - September 2016
    San Francisco, CA

    Created FX for Unreal Engine using Houdini and other tools.

  • Pipeline Developer

    MPC

    May 2015 - December 2015

    Created tools to manage exporting and rendering in Nuke, and to export textures from Mari.
    Created a tool that automated test renders of camera tracking to verify track quality.
    Worked on asset management with ftrack inside Maya, Nuke, Mari and Houdini.

    Took over FX work for firefly particle effects on Call of Duty commercial. Which required me to figure out a complicated houdini setup with no instruction from the original creator, and then deliver six shots using that setup, and do it all in only 4 days.

  • Effects Artist

    DreamWorks Animation

    September 2011 - January 2015

    Worked on effects (Dust, Particles, Fire) for animated feature films. Created complex simulations in Houdini using DOPs and proprietary solvers. Also developed tools using python, and improved a C++ plugin for Houdini.
Education

  • Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Visual Effects

    Savannah College of Art and Design

    2007 - 2011

  • Western Guilford Highschool

    2003 - 2007