Robert Chen

Work History

• 

  Effects Lead - Story Studio

  Oculus VR

  March 2015 - Present
• 

  Lead VFX Rendering & Export Developer

  DreamWorks Animation

  2012 - January 2015

  - Envisioned the rendering & export workflow and met regularly with the Heads of FX to make decisions on the FX pipeline for all DreamWorks Animation productions
  - Developed and maintained various plugins & shaders that increased artists’ work efficiency up to 300%
  - As the lead developer, delegated and managed developers to build a fast and user-friendly pipeline to further improve artists’ workflows and efficiency
  - Taught classes on Houdini and Mantra to help transition the FX team to a more modern software platform
• 

  Senior Effects Artist - Penguins of Madagascar

  DreamWorks Animation

  2014 - 2014

  - Finished several FX shots well under bid time, helping to meet very tight deadlines
  - Quickly learned, modified, and optimized the system for the “pink energy,” one of the major FX, then lead a small team of artists to use the optimized system to complete all the close-up shots in two weeks
• 

  Effects System Lead - Mr. Peabody & Sherman

  DreamWorks Animation

  2012 - 2014

  - Developed the original look and visuals for the time travel effects, one of the major FX in the film
  - Designed the memory-efficient time travel FX system and pipeline used in multiple shots, which allowed artists to quickly simulate, export, and render hundreds of millions of particles
  - Taught artists the system, oversaw all the time travel shots, troubleshot problems, and gave notes
  - Developed the look and the system for the close-up black hole shots, one of the other major FX
  - Optimized the black hole system to make simulating and rendering vast amounts of data possible
  - Collaborated with animation, layout, and lighting departments to ensure all FX were seamlessly
  integrated
• 

  Junior Effects Artist - Puss in Boots

  DreamWorks Animation

  2010 - 2012

  - Iterated on the slow motion milk splash shots to meet the director’s vision for this highly complicated FX
  - Developed the vine destruction FX by using RBD constraints to simulate soft bodies, bending, and snapping
• 

  Entry Effects Artist - Megamind, How to Train Your Dragons

  DreamWorks Animation

  January 2009 - 2010

  - Developed an innovative method to quickly simulate multiple fast moving fires over long distances, reducing turn-around time by ~200-300%
• 

  Architectural Assistant

  Foster and Partners

  2008 - 2009

  - Created digital concept models and photorealistic renderings to help bring architecture ideas to reality
  - Transformed 3D digital designs into physical models through laser-cutting and 3D printing