Scott Peterson

Scott Peterson

Supervisor, Innovator, Developer, Artist

Senior Head of FX / 19 yrs

Mountain View, CA, United States

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Visual Effects Art Director

Crow: The Legend (2018)

Visual Effects Artist

Asteroids! (2017)

Shader

On Ice (2015)

Head of Effects (US)

Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

Co Head of Effects

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Head of Eff3cts

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)

Visual Effects Producer

Jingle All the Way (2011)

Effects Developer

Megamind (2010)

Visual Effects And Video Display Graphics

Cliffhanger (2010)

Effects Animator

Monsters vs Aliens (2009)

Effects Lead

Shrek 4-D (2009)

Head of Effects

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Lighting Artist

Shrek The Third (2007)

Co Effects Supervisor

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)

Effects Lead / Lighter

Shrek 2 (2004)

Director / Animator / Supervisor

Sprout (2002)

Digital Artist

Spy Kids (2001)

Effects Lead

Shrek (2001)

Effects Artist

Antz (1998)

Modeler

Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)

Visual Effects Producer

Down Periscope (1996)

Visual Effects Producer

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)

VIFX Special Effects Producer

Tank Girl (1995)

VIFX Crew

Timecop (1994)

Visual Effects

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Video Image Crew

Batman Returns (1992)

Video Image Crew

Patriot Games (1992)

2D Digital Effects

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

Video And Graphic Display Crew

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Video Graphics Crew Member

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Creative Director / Engineer / Artist

Shazap

Visual Effects Supervisor with 15+ years demonstrated success tackling unsolved technical challenges and leading effects teams on several projects. Known for technical innovation, aesthetic sensibility, and identifying director vision via animatics and paintings. Also brings experience forecasting labor, mentoring artists, and leading company initiatives.

Academy Award recipient for DreamWorks Animation Foliage System.
Work History

  • Senior Machine Learning Graphics Engineer

    Unity Technologies

    May 2019 - Present
    San Francisco

  • Visual Effects Art Director

    Baobab Studios

    March 2017 - April 2019
    Redwood City, CA

    Leading technical and artistic development for interactivity in VR worlds.

  • Head of Effects

    DreamWorks Animation

    October 2006 - January 2015

    Thrives at the intersection of supervision, technical development, and producing pictures. Empowers artists by identifying a clear vision, encouraging inter- and cross-department communication, and standardizing best practices.

    Responsible for leading the effects department in shows, and sometimes leading technical side-projects. Received an Academy Award for developing the studio foliage system. Foliage includes several innovations including a novel modeling tool called Bonsai, a lighting approach, and a tree representation.

  • Lighter

    DreamWorks Animation

    October 2005 - October 2006

    Shrek The Third (2007)
    * Dramatically increased lighting productivity by innovating aggregate normal tree canopy lighting technique.
    * Implemented physical lighting falloff for more more physically plausible lighting.
    * Acting lighter on dozens of shots.

  • FX Developer

    DreamWorks Animation

    July 1997 - July 2005

    Shrek The Third (2007)
    * Developed a surface-based hair modeling technique that brought unprecedented detail to hairstyles.

    Shrek 4D (2004)
    * Invented general-purpose particle processing pipeline, used by studio until 2010.
    * Co-designed and implemented set-dressing tools

    Shrek 2 (2004)
    * Innovated geometry compression algorithm to solve crowd render crisis on Shrek 2. Saved half a million dollars in network storage and infrastructure. Awarded Patent.
    * Developed turn-key Puss in Boots’ feather used in 5 subsequent movies.

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Education

  • Computer Science / Art Minor

    California Polytechnic State University-San Luis O

    January 1992 - May 1997