Jonathan Bird

Work History

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  Character FX TD

  LAIKA, Inc.

  August 2022 - Present

  Hillsboro, OR
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  Pipeline TD

  Method Studios

  March 2020 - August 2022

  Los Angeles, CA
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  Junior Pipeline Technical Director

  Double Negative

  July 2015 - November 2016

  Vancouver, Canada Area

  Configured software environments on per-project/location basis. Aided in troubleshooting of problems and monitored ticket system. Scripted tools using python and proprietary libraries. Communicated project needs between artistic, production, and IT/technology departments. Contributed to documentation and knowledge-base and mentored incoming artists.
  
  #Maya #Python #PyQt #Linux #Shotgun #Houdini #Nuke #Jira #Git #Confluence #Tractor
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  Key Artist - Technical Animation

  Mill Film

  August 2019 - December 2019

  Adelaide, Australia

  Mentored junior artists. Animated and simulated characters including facial animation for fully CG characters in order to turn live-action human actors into cats. Scripted new pipeline tools using Python and PyQt.

  
• 

  Creature FX Artist

  Double Negative

  December 2016 - February 2019

  Vancouver, Canada Area

  Rigged characters and ran simulations for hair/cloth/muscles/skin and sculpted final 3D meshes for lighting and rendering. Scripted tools using Python and third-party libraries. Provided support and improvement for VFX pipeline in global environment. Worked with supervisors to design and implement new tools.
• 

  Assistant Technical Director

  Double Negative

  July 2015 - November 2015

  Vancouver, BC

  Configured software environments on per-project/location basis. Aided in troubleshooting of problems and monitored ticket system. Scripted tools using python and proprietary libraries. Communicated project needs between artistic, production, and IT/technology departments. Contributed to documentation and knowledge-base and mentored incoming artists.
• 

  Rendering Technical Director

  ScanlineVFX

  September 2013 - April 2015

  Vancouver, Canada Area

  Managed render farm with over 2,000 servers. Mentored personnel in order to meet 24/7 dedicated coverage of rendering pipeline. Beta-tested Deadline rendering software in live production environment. Developed new tools using API's, Python and native Windows scripting. Provided 24/7 on-call support for emergencies. Configured computer "images" for mass-deployment.
• 

  Render Wrangler

  Method Studios

  July 2013 - October 2012

  Santa Monica, CA

  Mentored others in rendering workflow. Scripted tools for automation of studio’s server farm. Responded to needs of IT “help desk.” Performed and managed inter-office data transfers. Prepared files for delivery to clients. Managed server farm by interfacing with Qube render management software. Provided support for technical-operations department.
• 

  Render Wrangler

  ScanlineVFX

  October 2012 - June 2013

  Los Angeles, CA

  Maintained large server farm with over 1,000 individual servers. Diagnosed and fixed physical problems and software errors on computer systems. Performed routine software roll-outs in live post-production environment. Wrote scripts to automate tasks. Assisted IT help desk. Maximized the render farm’s resources. Assembled and racked-and-stacked servers and switches and ran cable.
• 

  VFX Artist

  Identity FX

  January 2011 - December 2011

  Burbank, CA

  Beta-tested Mocha Pro and utilized planar tracking and advanced rotoscoping techniques for stereoscopic 3D conversion of films. Modeled/textured CG environments. Created particle effects and physics simulations. Trained and managed team of roto artists. Assisted in final stereo 3d approval, maintenance of studio’s workstations and software.
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  Roto & Paint Artist

  Identity FX

  November 2009 - December 2010

  Burbank, CA

  Generated high-quality rotoscoping, manual digital painting, procedural compositing, and 2d tracking output. Provided creative solutions to unique and challenging visual effects problems. Assisted stereoscopic compositors in generating stereo 3D on major motion pictures. Aided in hardware setup and maintenance, image re-touching and painting, and stereo-3D quality check.
• 

  Render Wrangler

  ScanlineVFX

  October 2008 - May 2009

  Los Angeles, CA

  Constructed and managed 900 core server farm designed for fast fluid simulations. Trained team of render wranglers to meet 24-hour coverage of rendering pipeline. Assisted CG lighters in lighting scenes. Collected and documented IT related data. Deployed, and configured servers and complex networking environment.
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  Render Wrangler

  Gradient Effects

  May 2008 - October 2008

  Culver City

  Identified, reported, and found solutions to technical rendering and composition errors. Forecasted delivery schedules for all projects. Optimized 3D scenes for faster rendering.

  
• 

  Render Wrangler

  CafeFX

  January 2008 - April 2008

  Santa Monica, CA

  Optimized Maya scenes for faster rendering on small render farm. Worked with artists and producers in order to forecast reasonable deadlines and delivery schedules.
• 

  Technical Operations

  3ality Digital

  June 2007 - December 2007

  Burbank, CA

  Maintained facility’s servers, databases, software and storage. Operated stereoscopic 3D digital theater. Assisted in final approval of 3D images. Performed and managed inter-office data transfers. Renamed files to conform to company standards. Prepared files for delivery to clients (conforming to client delivery specifications). Administered Unix systems.