Steve Theodore

Steve Theodore Email and Phone Number

Procedural Tech Art Lead, Santa Monica Studio | Tech-artists.org | VES member @ Visual Effects Society
Seattle, WA, US
Steve Theodore's Location
Seattle, Washington, United States, United States
Steve Theodore's Contact Details

Steve Theodore work email

Steve Theodore personal email

n/a
About Steve Theodore

Veteran tech artist and tech-art leader with 30 years experience in animation and 25 in the games industry. My shipped titles include Mech Commander, Half Life, Team Fortress Classic, Counter-Strike, SOCOM 3, and Halo 3, and most the recently State of Decay series. I was the art editor at Game Developer magazine for 10 years, where I did the regular "Pixel Pusher" art column. I'm a regular speaker at game development events in the US, Europe and Japan. I’m also the founder of the Technical Art Forum, the largest professional association for tech artists.At Unity my team contributes to the design and refinement of the world's most-used game engine. We cover the entire spectrum of content from animation to graphics to world creation while also creating interactive demos for new features and workflows. I've been lucky enough to work across all of the major tech art disciplines and there's nothing I love more than finding new ways to outsmart all the obstacles which stand between artists and their self-expression.

Steve Theodore's Current Company Details
Visual Effects Society

Visual Effects Society

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Procedural Tech Art Lead, Santa Monica Studio | Tech-artists.org | VES member
Seattle, WA, US
Steve Theodore Work Experience Details
  • Visual Effects Society
    Visual Effects Society
    Seattle, Wa, Us
  • Santa Monica Studio
    Procedural Tech Art Lead
    Santa Monica Studio Dec 2024 - Present
    Los Angeles, California, Us
  • Unity Technologies
    Sr. Technical Art Manager
    Unity Technologies Oct 2020 - Present
    San Francisco, Us
    I help enable the technical art teams inside of Unity's R&D division. We provide the user voice that connects engineering to real-world production problems, we validate new technologies in production, and we push Unity to its limits to inspire our users. OThe team includes technical artists across all the major TA disciplines, from animation to graphics to tools development. We have TAs in the US, Canada, UK, Denmark and France. We have also delivered demos such as the showcase for Unity's URP renderer and Apple's Vision Pro.
  • Technical Artists Forum
    President
    Technical Artists Forum Sep 2018 - Present
    Helped to incorporate the Technical Artists Forum, an umbrella group which hosts websites, online chat, and community events for technical artists.
  • Undead Labs
    Technical Art Director
    Undead Labs Feb 2010 - Aug 2020
    Seattle, Wa, Us
    I built the tech art department at Undead Labs from scratch (our very first lines of code were written on my laptop before we had funding or salaries!). Together we shipped three games in ten years: the breakout hit State of Decay, which we were able to make with only 22 people; Moonrise, an iOS title; and State of Decay 2 using the Unreal Engine and a team of 55. Our investments in tooling and engine modifications enabled us to ship a big open world game as an Xbox1X launch title with a small team. Along the way I covered both the business side -- dealing with vendors and publishers -- and the tech side, writing shader and engine code in HLSL and C++
  • Game Developer Magazine
    Contributing Editor / Columnist
    Game Developer Magazine Nov 2003 - Jul 2013
    Us
    I wrote the monthly 'Pixel Pusher' column for Game Developer for a decade. I covered the technical, social and artistic issues that face working artists in the games industry.
  • Chimera Factory
    Game Pipeline Consulting
    Chimera Factory Aug 2009 - Aug 2010
    Consulting services for game developers, particularly art tools, asset pipelines, workflow upgrades and new feature development.
  • Bungie
    Technical Director
    Bungie Jan 2007 - Nov 2009
    Bellevue, Wa, Us
    * Helping to develop new authoring tools for groundbreaking game content* Keeping the existing tools pipeline running efficiently* Researching new graphics tech and helping to evangelize it within the team* Training and education for artists
  • Giant Bite, Inc.
    Co-Founder
    Giant Bite, Inc. Feb 2006 - Dec 2006
    Created complete art bible for a nextGen online console title. Design included 3 player races, a complete alien environment, cultural background, and product-level design goals.Built prototype art pipeline, including Maya exporter, materials system, and MEL scripting infrastructureDesigned, modeled, textured and animated proof-of-concept art with shaders and physics supportPitched project to over 20 publishers, up to CEO level. Produced supporting presentation materials.Created schedules and asset tracking system for projected 18 person art team.Negotiated and supervised contracts with external vendors.
  • Zipper Interactive
    Art Technical Manager
    Zipper Interactive Aug 2004 - Feb 2006
    Us
    * Designed the pipeline and art infrastructure for Zipper's flagship next gen project, including a world editor, character pipeline, and process automation.* Set the scope and direction for graphics technology investments and systems* Planned personnel and resource allocations for the project* Recruited key art staff* Produced next gen demo art
  • Rad Game Tools
    Research Artist
    Rad Game Tools Mar 2002 - Aug 2004
    R&D work on the Granny animation middleware system; customer support and education; also did all the graphic identity work for the comapny
  • Valve
    Artist / Animator
    Valve 1997 - 2002
    Bellevue, Wa, Us
    Titles:Half Life, Team Fortress Classic, Team Fortress II, Counterstrike Also: Community support, R&D
  • Fasa Interactive
    Artist
    Fasa Interactive 1995 - 1997
    Modeling and animating Mechs

Steve Theodore Skills

Video Games Game Development Maya Animation Xbox 360 Console Game Design Scripting Character Animation Computer Games Gameplay Mel Shaders Rigging Python Graphics Ps3 Unity3d Perforce Computer Graphics Mmo Mobile Games Level Design Unreal Engine 3 C# Hlsl Computer Animation Character Rigging Modeling Lighting Game Mechanics Casual Games Social Games Multiplayer Online Gaming Mmorpg

Steve Theodore Education Details

  • Brown University
    Brown University
    Roman History
  • Williams College
    Williams College
    Classic
  • Harrison High School
    Harrison High School
  • Harrison High School
    Harrison High School

Frequently Asked Questions about Steve Theodore

What company does Steve Theodore work for?

Steve Theodore works for Visual Effects Society

What is Steve Theodore's role at the current company?

Steve Theodore's current role is Procedural Tech Art Lead, Santa Monica Studio | Tech-artists.org | VES member.

What is Steve Theodore's email address?

Steve Theodore's email address is st****@****dox.com

What schools did Steve Theodore attend?

Steve Theodore attended Brown University, Williams College, Harrison High School, Harrison High School.

What are some of Steve Theodore's interests?

Steve Theodore has interest in Poverty Alleviation, Children, Education, Economic Empowerment.

What skills is Steve Theodore known for?

Steve Theodore has skills like Video Games, Game Development, Maya, Animation, Xbox 360, Console, Game Design, Scripting, Character Animation, Computer Games, Gameplay, Mel.

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