Summary
JESSE BURCH
ONLINE PORTFOLIO https:// jesseart.artstation.com
(416) 420-2420
jessewburch@yahoo.ca
Art Director
3D/2D Animator
UI/UX Designer
VFX Artist
Illustrator
Technical Director
Motion Graphic Designer
Web Developer
Software Applications: Unity, Blueprints, Adobe Creative Cloud, (Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash), ZBrush, Maya, 3D Studios Max, Nuke, Sketch, Mental Ray
Programming Languages:
HTML/ HTML5, CSS, Python, C++, C#, JAVA, JavaScript, MEL Scripting, SharePoint, .NET frameworks, wireframes
DESIGN PROFICIENCY
Gameplay Design
3D Animation (Character and Environment)
Graphic Design
UI/UX Designer (3D, Motion Graphics, Gaming)
Layout Artist
Environment Artist
Mobile Game Development
Visual Effects Artist
3D Lighting/Texture and Modeling
Web Development and Programming
Illustration and Concept art
Flash Animation
Working under tight deadlines
EXPERIENCE
Art Director and Lead Game Artist at Marble Media August 2016 – January 2017
- Concept Artist
- Project Manger
- Lead Artist (character sprites, environments and assets)
- 2D Animator
- UI/UX Designer
- Gameplay Designer
- HTML5 Developer
Responsibilities:
- I was the Art Director and Lead Artist on 3 mobile games based on the Opie’s Home TV show. Opie’s Home is a mix of live action and puppetry. Opie is 5-year-old Muppet attending kindergarten created by the world famous Jim Henson studios. The series is produced by Marble Media and TVO and is a sequel to Hey Opie. Season one is available on Netflix and TVO this summer. https://jesseart.artstation.com/projects/mgOLv
- As Lead Artist I was given the great opportunity and challenge to design an animated version of the Opie Muppet for the mobile games. This was a primary concern of the producers as they were unhappy with the previous versions of the animated Opie. I also had to work with the limitation of Spine* the animation software used for the project. Spine is primarily designed for more simple game sprite animation, such as walk cycles and attack moves. However, after a few experiments we utilized Spine for classical 2D character animation with dialogue (A level of expression I have yet to see in any other HTML5 game on the market). My background in 3D animation rigging was an asset because Spine software essential “rigs” 2D artwork in a process similar to 3D workflows. For example, the final Opie Sprite was painted in Photoshop, exported in pieces as png’s, then rigged and animated in Spine. My primary goal when painting the animated Opie was recreating the texture and luminosity of the special felt fabric used to create Muppets. I also had to walk a balance between realism and stylization. The younger audience had to recognize him as the Opie puppet, however the design had to be stylized enough to function for animation. In the end, I received the most positive feedback during the project for my Opie design. Not only from my producers, (who are huge Muppet fans) but from the Jim Henson puppeteers working on the Opie’s Home TV production. http://marblemedia.com/whatwedo/project.php?name=hiopie
- As Art Director on the production I worked directly with a team of animators, programmers, game designers and junior artists. I was responsible for maintaining the workflow of the 3 Opie videos games being produced simultaneously. My duties included:
o Scheduling and delegating artwork and animation to junior artists based on game design docs
o Maintain a high level of quality, and overall aesthetic
o Rigging artwork in Spine for the animation team
o Working directly with the Lead programmer to develop an animation pipeline in Spine/Unity for HTML 5 games
o As a Lead Artist, I personally creating environments, assets and characters.
o Developing animation prototypes, concept art, and storyboards for producers at Marble Media and TVO
o Maintaining a working pipeline; making sure the artists, animators and programmers all had something to work on and were meeting their personal deadline. If artists feel behind making assets, the animators had to wait, which in turn meant the programmers would be delayed making the next build.
- As UI/UX artist I had the opportunity to work directly with Marble Media’s Creative Director Johnny Kalangis. The theme of the TV show Opie’s Home was all about classmates and friends coming to visit the 6-year-old Muppet Opie at his house for a playdate. Johnny’s primary direction was that this theme should be inherit in the User Interface of the game as well; the player should feel like a friend being invited over to Opie’s house to play. It was a great idea and led to an excellent creative process working with Johnny. We developed a visual intriguing animated and interactive User experience that complimented the show’s themes perfectly. I researched other HTML5 mobile games and was surprised with how simple they all were, even from huge studios like Lucasarts, EA and Rovio. I believe we created something truly unique in the genre.
The User interface to access the three Opie video games (Space game, Cooking game and Office game) is setup like navigating rooms in Opie’s house. The aesthetic is intentionally more like a grade school storybook; flat stylized spaces and real world textures like a collage. This creates a separation between the real world and “imagination land” where the video games take place. For example, to access the Space Game the player navigates to Opie’s Bedroom where the player interacts with toys. When the player selects the Rocketship toy it triggers a special animation then launches into the video game. Furthermore, the UX was developed with an educational consultant from TVO. The game had to be accessible to a younger audience still learning to read, so we had to use as little text as possible. This led to some interesting creative solutions such as having an animated Opie literally walk players through decisions and navigations. The text and age limitation made an emphasis on clear, visually expressive menu design and intuitive navigation even more important. If I ever teach a class on UX design my final project would be to ask student to design for preschoolers.
Programs: Spine, Unity, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Edge Animate SDK, Adobe Media Encoders,
Code Languages: HTML 5, C#, JavaScript, Unity Script, Unity Blueprints
Art Director of Gaming at Swiss VBS May 2015 - June 2016
- Lead Designer
- 2D Animator
- UI/UX Designer
- Project Manager
- Lead Illustrator
- Gameplay Designer
- HTML5 and FLASH Developer
Responsibilities:
- I was Lead Designer on the Digitalization project for Allianz. I worked closely with SwissVBS and Allianz producers to create a unique and visual stunning Interactive Learning Website. The project consisted of 5 animated learning modules with short tests at the end. Allianz provided a script based on the founders of Allianz in late 1800’s Germany: Wilhelm and Carl. In the story, the two characters’ stumble across a Time Warp that transports them to a futuristic Allianz Headquarters in 2030. The five learning modules teach the user how Allianz is incorporating new technology such as Apps and online banking. The User Interface was designed to look like the console of a science fiction time- elevator. https://jesseart.artstation.com/projects/r01ra
- I led a team of three Junior Programmers and four Junior Animators during the Digitalization project.
I maintained a production quality level of animation and helped develop an intuitive User Interface design.
- I was not only pivotal in the graphic design, but also the programming and User Interface design of the project’s learning modules. The modules were developed using a combination of JavaScript and HTML. The Flash modules we’re designed specifically to function within the Allianz Group Intranet (GIN) [.NET]
- I edited, compressed and rendered promotional videos used to advertise the Digitalization project online using Adobe After Effects.
- I was Art Director of an online commercial for SwissVBS’s new App called SwissVBS SET. I personally animated and edited the video in After Effects, then rendered the video for online streaming. http://swissvbs.com/en/sales-enablement/
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Edge Animate SDK, Edge Code, Adobe Media Encoders, .NET framework
Code Languages: HTML, HTML 5, JavaScript, Visual basic [.NET], Visual C
Freelancer contract at Starr Furniture January 2015- April 2015
3D animation and Web Development:
I created 3D models of furniture based on the Starr Furniture catalogue for an interactive website using Autodesk Maya and Photoshop. https://jesseart.artstation.com/portfolio/maya-furniture
I developed a method for clients to view and rotate the 3d assets in real-time on the Starr website using Unity and SketchFab*: https://sketchfab.com/
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Unity, Autodesk Maya, NUKE, SketchFab, Dreamweaver
Code: HTML, MEL scripting (MAYA), Blueprints (UNITY)
Art Director of Mobile Video Game for Canadian Tire November 2013– December 2014
Concept Artist: I was responsible for the artistic design of the “CTville” video game. I designed the backgrounds, character sprites, and all other visual assets for CTville.
Video production: I created and edited promotional videos about CTville for corporate events.
Animator: I was responsible for all character animation and special effects seen in-game using a workflow of Flash, Illustrator and After Effects. https://jesseart.artstation.com/portfolio/canadian- tire-mobile-game-2014-art-director
UI/UX design: I was the Lead Graphic Designer of the User Interface (buttons, menus, loading screen, etc.)
Game Designer: I developed the overall gameplay and multiplayer features of CTville.
Brand Design: I created logos and Branding for CTville.
Lead Programmer of Isometric game engine and Intranet architecture development.
Responsibilities:
- Project Manager: I met weekly with a board of Canadian Tire Vice Presidents to create an immersive and fun “Gamification” learning solution based on their ideas. The corporate hierarchy of Canadian Tire is such that each VP is also a Manager of a Canadian Tire Store. Therefore, they provided a wealth of information on the daily operations of a real store. The board was also responsible for early beta-testing of CTville with a select number of employees from each board member’s store.
- Lead Programmer and Game Designer: I directed the overall game design on the project. I led a team of 8 programmers borrowed from Canadian Tire’s Web Development department. The team’s background was primarily web design, not gaming, therefore I had to educate the crew in isometric game programming and direct the workflow of the entire production. The board of VP’s had a general idea of what type of video game they wanted, however I was responsible for articulating the actual method of programming and overall game design.
- Art Director: I personally designed the characters, products, backgrounds, and menu elements (User Experience and User Interface Designs). I also animated the walk cycles of the game-sprites and any other special effects seen in-game.
- Intranet Programmer: My team developed the method for programming a video game within Canadian Tire’s existing corporate .NET Intranet framework. For example, Store Managers would be able to monitor the level of their employee’s activity in-game with the same program they used to monitor the previous generation of learning modules.
Programs: Unity, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Adobe Media Encoders, Flash, .NET framework
Code Languages: Blueprints, HTML, JavaScript, Visual basic [.NET], C++
Multimedia Specialist at Durham District School Board September 2012 - September 2013
- Intranet Programmer: Maintained and updated the DDSB Portal, Intranet and various secondary websites used by thousands of employees.
- Art Director: Oversaw Graphic Design and in-house publishing of posters, handbooks, etc.
- Video editing and streaming content: Created multimedia video presentations for DVD and streaming web content
Responsibilities:
- In 2012, DDSB commissioned their Intranet to be upgraded and expanded. During the transition I was promoted to assist Jason Canavan, (the lead programmer), developing the upgrade.
- I created various educational websites for departments within the DDSB. An example, would be the Creative Services website commissioned by department head Sheryl Pearson. The CS website has an online shopping application, the first of its kind on the DDSB intranet. The CS website allows teachers in DDSB and TDSB to view all existing educational content (posters, handbooks, brochures, etc.) then order prints online. A pdf invoice is then automatically e-mailed to Creative Services.
- I also continued to act as Desktop Publisher. I was lead designer in charge of creating visual learning content in the form of large scale posters, handbooks, basic websites, and multimedia presentations used in both the Durham and Toronto School Boards.
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Adobe Media Encoders, Premiere Pro, Flash, [.NET] /SharePoint architecture.
Code Languages: HTML, JavaScript, Visual basic [.NET], C++, SharePoint Server 2010
Desktop Publisher at Durham District School Board June 2010 – September 2012
- Oversaw graphic design and in-house publishing of posters, handbooks, etc.
- Created multimedia video presentations for DVD and Streaming Web content
- Created Websites for DDSB
- Performed regular content updates on the DDSB intranet and Portal.
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Adobe Media Encoders, Premiere Pro, Flash, [.NET] /SharePoint architecture.
Code Languages: HTML, JavaScript, Visual basic [.NET], C++, SharePoint Server 2007
2D Animator at Fantasy Prone Studios (Los Angeles) October 2007 - May 2008
Animator, Lead Background Artist and Technical Director on Mel Brooks Spaceballs: the animated series.
Responsibilities:
- I started as a Character Animator on the pilot episode of the series. When the show was picked up by Spike TV and G4 network, I was promoted to Lead Background Artist. In this position, I was responsible for designing the main set-pieces of each episode based on my director’s concept art in Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Flash. I personally created the primary background art then led a team of 3-5 junior animators to complete the remaining background assets and props. I was responsible for maintaining the quality of background art and continuity throughout the episode.
- For the final 3 episodes of the series I was promoted to Technical Director. I was responsible for layout, which is basically the setup of each scene for the animators in Flash. After animation was complete, I oversaw the rendering of each animated scene into video. I was personally responsible for maintaining production quality final animation for television broadcast. Working as Technical Director requires a mix of creativity and the programming skills to produce the high quality Flash animation. Furthermore, in 2007 Flash was still in it’s infancy of development. For example, animation tools such as “Character Rigging” (The process where character artwork is bound with a virtual-skeleton so it can be animated) we’re not yet available. Programs such as Toon Boom were still years away. Therefore, I had to code Rigging tools from scratch in JavaScript.
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Macromedia Flash
Code Languages: HTML, JavaScript, C++,
Freelance 3D Animator at Rune Entertainment (Toronto) August 2006 – September 2007
Highlights:
- Layout Artist and 2D/3D Animator on the motion picture 3:19 directed by Danny Saadia (2007). I worked as animator on 2D and 3D characters created in Maya, After Effects and Photoshop. I also created background art in Photoshop using real-world textures to match the art direction. I helped develop the visual effects when the live-action film would transition into animation. https://jesseart.artstation.com/portfolio/3-19-2009
- 3D Animator and Flash Media Developer for the website Xperiment.ca (2007) I helped develop the award winning 3D website. Xperiment.ca was one of the first Canadian government websites to utilize 3D animated content. I created 3D backgrounds, props and the ‘Eyeball’ character in Autodesk Maya. The 3D animation was converted to Flash-video then developed into an interactive HTML website. http://www.xperiment.ca/begin.html
- Texture Artist and 3D Animator for the video game Need for Speed: Prostreet by Electronic Arts (2008). Rune Entertainment was contracted by Electronic Art to help create 3D vehicles and cinematic animation for the latest video game in the best-selling Need for Speed Franchise. EA sent us 3D scans of actual race cars available to players in the game. My job was to take the raw wireframe scans into Maya and re-assemble the assets in a final version ready for the 3D animation. This involved re-modelling, adding sculptural details and digitally painting realistic textures based on EA’s reference. It was an early example of a Triple A video game production that was promoted with prime-time TV commercials. The User Interface of the game was revolutionary for it’s time, such as fully animated 3D menus with Graffiti inspired graphic design. I also had the opportunity to work on this next-generation UX as a 3D animator. Below is a link to the project from my online demo reel. https://jesseart.artstation.com/demo-reel-
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Macromedia Flash, Unreal, ZBrush, Nuke, RealFlow
Code Languages: HTML, JavaScript, C++,
EDUCATION
Queen’s University, Bachelor of Fine arts (Honours) 2001-2005
Sheridan College, Certificate in Computer Animation 2005-2006
Master of Education, Niagara University (Honours) 2009-2010
REFERENCES
Johnny Kalangis
Vice President Creative, Digital at Marblemedia
74 Fraser Avenue, Suite 100
Toronto, ON, Canada
M6K 3E1
Tel 416.646.2711
Jean-Guy Niquet
Vice President, Digital at Marblemedia
74 Fraser Avenue, Suite 100
Toronto, ON, Canada
M6K 3E1
Tel 416.646.2711
Jay Littman
Producer (consulting contract) at Marblemedia
merlin_roar@yahoo.com
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jaylittman
Brett Smith
Director of Learning Solutions SwissVBS bretts99@gmail.com
333 Adelaide St. West,
416 848 3744
Suite 200
Toronto ON, Canada
Mark Simon
Coordinator, Computer & Digital Character Animation
Program Area: Animation and Game Design
mark.simon@sheridancollege.ca
(905) 845-9430 Ext: 8778
Mark Varey
Manager, Infrastructure & Development Canadian Tire Corporation
markvarey@gmail.com
905-220-6428
Luigia Ayotte, Superintendent of Programs,
Durham District School Board Ayotte_Luigia@durham.edu.on.ca
400 Taunton Road East
(905) 666-5500
Sheryl Pearson
Creative Services,
Programs Department Durham District School Board
(905) 666-5500
pearson_sheryl@durham.edu.on.ca
Skills
Software proficiency
