Tyler Esselstrom

Work History

• 

  Sr. Technical Artist

  Microsoft

  August 2015 - February 2023

  Redmond, WA · On-site

  • Hololens
  • UX Engineer
  • Xbox Hardware
  • Xbox Design System
  • XCloud Streaming

• Board Of Managers

  VES Washington Section

  January 2017 - December 2017

  Seattle

  Goals of the Washington Section
  • To continue to bring recognition to the art of visual effects, and build our community here in all arenas with the professionals who create visual work;
  • To provide education, enrichment, and value to the membership by providing networking events, educational events, and screenings;
  • To expand our local membership and foster a stronger sense of community;
  • To act as representatives of the VFX community by liaising with government, media, and industry peer groups (guilds and associations).
• 

  Freelance Lighting Technical Director

  MPC

  July 2015 - August 2015

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Did some T-Rex action with the amazing people over at MPC commercials LA. Check out the fantastic spot. "THIS IS ABOUT THIS!"
• 

  Scene Assembly

  Blur Studio

  April 2015 - June 2015

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Lit and comped multiple shots for the pre-rendered cinematic trailer for STAR WARS: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen Empire – “Sacrifice” Trailer
• 

  CG Supervisor

  ScanlineVFX

  November 2013 - March 2015

  Vancouver, Canada Area

  Working on various television and feature film projects.
• 

  Lighting TD / Generalist

  Double Negative

  July 2013 - October 2013

  London, United Kingdom

  Supported the lighting team with lighting rigs, textures, and materials. Rendered multiple shots for the following.
  
  • Thor: The Dark World.
• 

  Lighting Lead / TD

  Mirada Studios

  February 2012 - June 2013

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Assisting in the development of the lighting pipeline and completing shots for various projects.
  
  Projects Include:
  • Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim Feature Film
  • Munsters: Mockingbird Lane Pilot
  • Disney Comercials and promotional materials.
  • Colgate
  • Target
• 

  Lighting TD / Look Dev

  Logan LA

  May 2011 - March 2012

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Set the look and lighting shots on various commercial projects using Mental Ray and Maya.
• 

  Senior Lighting Artist / Generalist

  Ntropic

  November 2011 - December 2011

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Completed the FX elements in stereo for Underworld Awakening (2012).

  
• 

  Senior Look Dev / Lighting TD

  Pixomondo

  May 2011 - November 2011

  Santa Monica CA

  Hugo (2011)
  
  Initially, I was brought to Pixomondo to set the look for specific shots which would then be completed at Pixomondo studios around the globe. I was then tasked with moving Pixomondo London's Maya pipeline over to the Santa Monica office. After completing the Maya VRay pipeline, I moved onto developing proprietary tools to incorporate Massive crowd SIM data into Maya, to be rendered using VRay for Maya and VRay Standalone.
  
  I was then sent to Pixomondo London to help the lighting team with their final shots. While there, I wrote the tools to support the lighting team. In Maya Vray, I supervised the team for best practices and optimization to create better render times I worked closely with IT and IO in order to utilize the render farms in four different Pixomondo facilities in four different countries.
• 

  Digital Artist / Generalist

  Digital Domain

  February 2010 - May 2011

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  • X-Men: First Class (2011)
  For X-men: First Class, I was responsible for the look and set construction of the twelve-sided mirrored submarine interior sequence. I textured, surfaced, and lit the environment and choreographed the set layout for the best visual impact. While lighting the shots, I also aided in the technical direction for the rest of the sequence lighters.
  
  • 2011 Dodge Charger "Future of Driving" Commercial:
  I created the lighting for the holographic kitchen effects as well as environment lighting and look development.
  
  • Bulletstorm:
  Setup and maintained a Unreal Engine pipeline in order to create an E3 trailer for Epics "Bulletstorm".
  
  I was also on various bid jobs doing look development and surface work.

• Maya / Mental Ray Generalist

  Public VFX

  April 2010 - December 2010

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Provided rendered elements for the following projects:
  
  • Chevy Malibu
  • Disney Dream Cruise Line
  • Verizon Wireless
  • Lincoln Automobiles
• 

  Lighting Lead / Lighting Pipeline TD

  Flat Earth Productions

  May 2010 - August 2010

  Burbank CA

  Worked on the lighting and shading pipeline for Piranha 3D. I setup the lighting rigs and scripts for the lighting team.

  
• 

  Lighting Lead

  CafeFX

  September 2009 - March 2010

  Santa Maria CA

  Completed multiple shots for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 3D.

  
• 

  Sr. Lighting & Shading Artist

  Pendulum Studios

  March 2007 - September 2009

  Greater San Diego Area

  I was the lighting TD and look development artist for the following pre-rendered cinematics:
  
  • Red Faction: Guerrilla
  • Golden Axe: Beast Rider
  • WWE 2008
  • Stuntman: Ignition
• 

  Graphic Specialist Lvl. III

  Logistics Services International

  June 2004 - December 2006

  Jacksonville, Florida Area

  Created complex 3d models and animation for military training. Specifically, I designed an interactive maintenance course-ware for the Marine variant of the V-22 Osprey.