Eric Iwasaki Email & Phone Number

El Segundo, Ca, Us

Real-time rendering focused technical artist and core member of Bob Rafei's game development studio, a collaboration with Naughty Dog's former art director that dates back to 1996. Fully remote since March, 2020.Initial responsibilities:- Research / integrate solutions from Gamebryo, Illuminate Labs, Unity Technologies, Crytek- Build a unified toolset to facilitate digital content creation across projects, engines, asset managers, hardware platforms ranging from mobile to high end PCs- Experiment with shading techniques, augmented reality- Edit rip-o-matics, contribute VFX and lighting for prototypes, provide AAA production-quality polish for visual look targets, concept trailers...contributions that helped sell two IPs, secure (and eventually ship) studio's first titleDuring production, responsibilities expanded to include:- Customize CryEngine 3 (HLSL and C++ rendering code) while lighting Sonic Boom, first CryEngine 3 title to ship on Nintendo's Wii U- Develop an automated Maya (Python) to Unity 5 (C#) asset pipeline capable of converting and customizing 150 Pokémon characters originally animated for an external partner's proprietary engine; work with Niantic Labs and Creatures to create a visual style that could be supported across a range of Android and iOS devices; write C# and mobile-optimized HLSL to achieve target appearance while supporting run-time time-of-day lighting, dynamic weather, and effects that mimic previous titles in the franchise- Write C#, HLSL to stylize and optimize Mapbox/Google Map API generated assets for unreleased geo-location mobile games- Learn Unreal Engine 4's Material Editor, Cascade, Matinee, Blueprint while polishing Allegiant: VR Experience (VIVE), Lightmass, research limitations with UE4 in mobile VR projects, handle lighting and optimize materials for The ArcSlinger (Daydream, VIVE, Oculus Rift, PSVR)- Customize UE4 & UE5 (HLSL, C++, Materials, Blueprint) for Together Labs' WithMe (iOS, Android)

Santa Monica, Ca, Us

"Jak" of all trades digital artist responsible for wide range of characters, bosses, vehicles, environments, lighting and effects appearing within nine multi-million selling Sony-exclusive titles starting with Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PlayStation) and ending with 2009's Game of the Year Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3).Assisted development of visual technologies and techniques often while in full production:- First Naughty Dog artist to learn Cg, contributing all shaders used by particle effects, waterfalls, and some lighting effects in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune- First to use baked vertex lighting; lead lighting artist for Jak Trilogy, sole lighter on Precursor Legacy- One of two tasked to learn Maya ahead of the art team (initially to produce high resolution versions of Crash assets for promotional materials, but eventually to facilitate team's transition from PowerAnimator)- First to learn MEL script, writing hundreds of tools to establish and streamline the production pipeline- First involved with R&D for PS2 and among first for PS3 (including collaboration with Sony's ICE Team)- Created base rig (and scripts to support it) used by all bipedal characters in the Jak Trilogy, but rigged and animated bosses with many more limbs

Now full time with Western Technologies' newly formed game division, contributed 2D side-scrolling environments and animated sprites for Spider-Man: The Animated Series (Genesis, SNES). Helped art staff learn 3D Studio during transition from 2D. Established pipeline for batch converting 3D rendered 32-bit image sequences to indexed sprites. Learned PowerAnimator while modeling, texturing, rigging, animating, lighting, and rendering characters for an unreleased multimedia PC project.

Company's first dedicated video game artist. Despite working summers-only before Fall 1993, made immediate and significant contributions including pixel-pushed 2D animated sprites appearing within SEGA's million-plus selling X-Men for Genesis. Team's first 3D artist - learned 3D Studio Release 3 on personal time, volunteering rendered elements for Trivial Pursuit titles on SEGA CD and Windows.