Michael Levine, Professional Experience-
2012 - Sony Pictures Imageworks - Hotel Transylvania - Senior Cloth/Hair Technical Director
2011-2010 - Rising Sun Pictures -
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - Lead Cloth TD
Green Lantern trailer - Cloth TD
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Lead Cloth TD
Tested and setup cloth department workflow and pipeline for the “Dementors”. Responsible for cloth rig creation and improvements, department tools, updating, and maintenance. Other responsibilities included: artistic direction, scheduling, and troubleshooting simulation/pipeline issues for other department members. Also assisted with Houdini fx elements.
2010 – Asylum Visual Effects – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Cloth/Hair Technical Director, Grooming and dynamics for Chinatown dragon using nCloth and ‘Shave and a Haircut’.
2009 – ImageMovers Digital – A Christmas Carol . Cloth/Hair Technical Director. Hair simulations for shots with motion-captured human characters, using nCloth for hair dynamics
2008 -2009 Sony Pictures Imageworks – G-Force. Senior Cloth/Hair Technical Director, CG guinea pig hair, fur, wind, dynamics and interactions with live actors using Maya Hair and proprietary hair system. Cloth simulation using Syflex.
2008 – Zoic Studios – Sea World Orlando Commercial. Cloth Technical Director.
CG cloth sim for dancers’ ribbons using Maya nCloth.
2008 – Photon NZFX – The Warriors Way . Cloth TD in the Auckland, New Zealand office. Working on cape simulations using Maya nCloth.
2008 – Digital Domain –
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Lighting Technical Director. Lighting of terra cotta warriors to live-action plates using Renderman, and Nuke.
Speed Racer. Lighting Technical Director.
Lighting of CG cars with live-action elements and matte paintings, using Mental Ray, and Nuke.
2007 – Zoic Studios – Criminal Minds. Cloth Technical Director.
CG cloth sim for live-action actor’s dress using Syflex.
2007 – Sony Pictures Imageworks – Beowulf. Cloth/Hair Senior Technical Director/Team Lead.
3D cloth simulation for character costume shots. Setup of cloth rigs for production pipeline, using Maya cloth and
proprietary software. Troubleshooting and assisting cloth team members with technical issues.
2006-2005 – Walt Disney Feature Animation – Meet the Robinsons. Cloth Technical Director. Responsible for all character interaction with 3D cloth elements and props. Construction of master cloth rigs for shots using Maya cloth and Disney proprietary cloth solver.solvers.
2004-2003 – Sony Pictures Imageworks – The Polar Express. Cloth/Hair Technical Director, Cloth simulation for character costumes. Master setup of cloth dynamics and properties for production pipeline, using Maya cloth. Hair grooming and setup of characters using proprietary software and Renderman.
2002 – The Secret Lab – ESPN Ultimate X-Games.
Paint fixes and roto for IMAX feature.
2002-2001 – Walt Disney Feature Animation/The Secret Lab – Kangaroo Jack. Cloth Technical Director
3D cloth simulation and skin dynamics for kangaroo and jacket using Maya Cloth.
2001 - Industrial Light + Magic – Jurassic Park 3. Lighting Technical Director - Lighting of CG dinosaurs and integration with live-action and fx elements.
2000-1997 – Walt Disney Feature Animation/The Secret Lab –
102 Dalmatians.Technical Director
3D Skin and Muscle dynamics/inertia for fully CG puppy; using Maya and proprietary software.
Dinosaur. Lighting Technical Director.
Lighting and Compositing of CG characters and effects elements with live-action and miniature plates. Utilizing Renderman, Maya, and proprietary software.
Awards:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1:
83rd Annual Academy Awards Nomination , Best Visual Effects
2011 BAFTA Nomination, Special Visual Effects
VES Nomination: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual-Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture
Software Experience - Maya, Syflex, Houdini, Photoshop, Nuke, Mental Ray, Renderman, Shave + Haircurt
Education- California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California
Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts , 1997
Major: Experimental Animation
