I work with teams building ambitious ideas at the edge of art + technology.
R&D and production work with Disney, Electronic Arts, Intel, Microsoft, Canon, Autodesk, Unity, INRIA, NASA – numerous studios – bridging art, engineering, and product to ship.
I’m CEO of Black Eye Technologies, a consulting and development studio. We’ve built a next-generation camera system for Unreal Engine called Black Eye and help teams design, prototype, and deliver, with an emphasis on cameras, visualization, and presentation.
Previously: 40 credits across 25 video game titles, DP / cinematographer on numerous feature films, original creator of Cinemachine for Unity, holder of multiple camera and 3d streaming patents, recipient of a Technical EMMY.
Creator of Cinemachine, acquired by Unity Technologies in 2016. It has over 1M downloads. First developed for BBI’s Homeworld Deserts of Kharak.
Cinebot
Creator of Cinebot, a procedural camera system in the Frostbite engine. Used on numerous games including Need for Speed, PGA, Medal of Honour, Dragon Age and more.
Interactive
40 credits across 25 games all of them here on Moby Games. Some of my favourites:
Cameras Black Eye was brought in to design and build the camera system for NBA The Run, both the underlying technology and in-game implementation. It’s been a joy to return to basketball cameras on a project that feels like a spiritual successor to the NBA Street series.
Technical Art Director A cult classic still featured in retrospectives and documentaries Complete History of NBA STREET 2 and NBA STREET 2 Was a Masterpiece. I created the “Streetshader” character material, the 3D front-end menu system, lighting approach and other bits, with a team of amazing people.
Director of Photography Cinematics, cameras, lighting, shaders. Where Cinemachine was born. It was a real honour to work with the madly-talented team on those cinematics.
Director of Photography Cinematics, game cameras – all using the camera system I developed, Cinebot. Great to see this game being appreciated more over time. it has the most advanced driving camera ever – probably still – with 40+ car data streams modifying the follow camera plus seamless cutscene-to-gameplay transitions.
Artist / Animator It feels like a lifetime ago – and it was. I collaborated with an engineer to create what may have been the very first facial animations ever in a video game. That work earned us EA’s Paladin Cup for outstanding achievement.
I didn’t work directly on the game, only helped the team get set up with Cinemachine. They used it brilliantly, showing how powerful dynamic cameras can be in creating a truly cinematic feel.
Harold Halibut stands as a fantastic example of procedural cinematography handling variable scenarios. It really shows off what Cinemachine can do and our vision for what these tools can do. Hats off to Onat and the team.
Executive Producer Critical Distance, a multi-user AR installation by Amy Zimmerman and Vision3 spotlighting the impact of ocean noise on Southern Resident orcas. Powered by six Microsoft HoloLens 2 headsets synchronized to a seamless 360° projection environment. Exhibited at the Smithsonian for over a year and covered by Vancouver Is Awesome
Patents
Patents in dynamic camera systems, 3D content delivery, and synthetic cinematography – advancing how virtual worlds are filmed, streamed, and experienced.
I helped bring this project to Unity, which relied on Cinemachine, the camera system I created. I also contributed to the render pipeline design, handled the color grading, and contributed to the overall look development. My work on the project was recognized with a Technical Emmy Award.
Director of Photography Shot on Canon 5D Mark II with ultra-fast manual lenses. My first feature film, made on a razor-thin budget with minimal lighting gear. Many scenes were captured wide open in the middle of the night, pushing the limits of low-light cinematography.
Director of Photography Shot on vintage anamorphic lenses to evoke a cinematic widescreen aesthetic. The lens flares, shallow depth of field, and wide framing helped turn suburban nights into a stylized memory of suburban youth.
For Disney’s Baymax Dreams, which used Cinemachine.
Paladin Cup
This was given every year at Electronic Arts Canada to someone who’s contribution keeps the company ahead of the competition. It was for facial animation technology in the NBA Live series which and engineer and myself developed.
Contributed to research on a system that automatically cut between multiple streams of live footage. When we demonstrated it to the UFC, they were struck by how closely the automated edits matched their broadcast style, even in challenging situations.
Holy heck in some ways this is where it all started – Gerald and I built Cinemachine for Homeworld and our talk was accepted at Unity Boston 2015.
Numerous other talks at SXSW, GDC, Unity Unites, Hollywood Professional Association, Sundance Film Festival.
Parallel Projects
The 44 CollectiveCo-Founder A forested island acreage hosting a live performance venue, recording studio and alpaca farm. We’ve had some amazing talent play at The 44 – Yukon Blonde, Limblifter, Hannah Epperson, John Reischman, Hawksley Workman, New Age Doom, Taylor Ashton, Pharis and Jason Romero and many more.
Some of the recordings from The 44 Recitation– Lachlan Fletcher. Engineer, recorded at The 44 Full Draw– Meg Iredale. Engineer, Mastering, recorded at The 44 Walking in the Air– Sophia Ammann. Engineer, recorded at The 44
MiMMiC Interactive art project with Paul Wong. We linked multiple iPads into a networked installation, creating layered, multi-screen interactive experiences.
Medium Format Stereo Projection Developing a large-scale 3D slide show system using a medium-format stereo film camera, twin projectors, cross-polarization, and a specialized screen to deliver immersive analog stereoscopic experiences.
