Ty Johnson Email & Phone Number

Contracting with studios nationwide to craft AAA-quality characters and assets for real-time applications (ie. Unity, Unreal Engine). Specializing in game characters, 3D avatars, immersive VR experiences, NFTs, 3D light projections, and more.

Lead Modeler of a close-knit visual development team. Sculpted high-res maquettes for all hero characters. Helped define film's "hand sculpted" visual style. Provided timely revisions with rendered turntables on a 24-hour review cycle.

Helped recruit and train LAIKA's largest modeling team to date. Delegated work. Liaised with department heads. Consulted on pipeline development. Conducted performance reviews. Continued to sculpt and engineer more challenging characters. Additionally, I built out a library of modeling tools that improved my team's speed, quality, and consistency.

As LAIKA's first Lead Modeler, I ushered in a new era of precise modeling standards. Exemplified and documented best practices. Served as the first tier of a lengthy character approval process. Notably the only modeler assigned to Susan, a particularly challenging puppet recognized by the Visual Effects Society (VES) as "Outstanding Animated Character" 2020.

As the first CG modeler aboard, I helped define the "look" unifying the entire character lineup. I set the pace for other modelers and authored sharable facial topology. Responsible for sculpting, reverse-engineering and prototyping "Kubo", "Beggar Woman", and LAIKA's first entirely 3D printed puppet "The Moon Beast".

As part of a studio-wide initiative to define processes, I distilled my own proven methods into a teachable modeling workflow. This documentation remains largely unchanged today. Despite growing technical challenges, our team delivered twice as many characters, and I personally set a speed record for completing a character from start to finish.

Modeled, engineered, and prototyped heads for Norman, Mitch, Sandra, and other Characters. My geometry exceeded the needs of riggers and surfacing artists. I leveraged 3D Printers to manufacture sophisticated puppet mechanics and co-invented several of LAIKA's proprietary technologies along the way.

And Then There Was Salsa was an entirely CG spot that aired during the Fiesta Bowl. I modeled environments, props, and assisted with scene layout. This ad received an Annie Award nomination for "Best Animated Television Commercial" (2010).

As the youngest member of LAIKA's elite proof-of-concept team, DDG, I modeled CG heroes and props for numerous animated shorts. Work was held to the highest feature-film standard and completed within commercial-like deadlines.

Helped build a library of 200+ medical animations. Responsible for all phases of production (Modeling, Rigging, Animation, Rendering, Compositing, etc.) and creating dimensionally accurate models of medical devices.

Responsible for modeling, rigging, and animating 3D characters and props. For various animated promotions.