James O'Hare

Contact & Personal Information

• Born: Glasgow, Scotland, UK
• Current Location: Leeds, England, UK
• Telephone: (+44) 07525417303
• Email: jamesohare@gmail.com

Experience

3D Artist at Rockstar Leeds

September 2008 - Present

Responsibilities

• R&D for shaders, 3D art pipeline and workflows.
• Modeling, texturing, rigging and animation of characters and props.
• Developing and maintaining 2D/3D plugins and standalone tools for artists.
• Writing and maintaining documentation on workflows and pipeline features.
• 2D artwork for mini-games and UI.

Skills Used/Acquired

• HLSL/GLSL shader code, solving graphics issues and exploring new art styles.
• Handheld and current gen console experience.
• Use of Python and C++ for tool and plugin development.

3D Artist at 3rd Dimension Creations

July 2007 - September 2008

Responsibilities

• Modeling, texturing, rigging and animation of characters, environments, props and effects.
• HUD & interface design.
• Teaching and documentation of software and techniques.
• Scripting level events and cutscenes.
• Integrating new software into existing workflows, writing scripts to overcome kinks.

Skills Used/Acquired

• Sharing duties across several disciplines within a small team.
• Understanding of game development process.
• Experience of game and level design.
• Working to tight deadlines and keeping cool under stressful situations.

Lead Character Artist at Steampunk Studios

June 2007 - December 2007

Responsibilities

• Modeling and texturing of characters for an unannounced AAA side-scroller (X360/PS3).
• Modeling and texturing of some environmental assets.

Skills Used/Acquired

• Working within a stylised art direction.
• High and low res modeling and texturing, using high-end shaders.

Lead Artist at Hull-Breach Half-Life 2 Modification

June 2001 - December 2009

Responsibilities

• Modeling and texturing of characters, weaponry, environmental props and textures.
• As 3D Lead, I was responsible for keeping the 3D art team organised and active as well as evaluating new applicants to the team.
• Documenting game design, creating HUD & interface.

Skills Used/Acquired

• Knowledge of high and low res modeling and texturing.
• Proven ability to lead and work within a team with friendly and enthusiastic attitude.

Software

3D/2D

• Luxology modo (Expert)
• Adobe Photoshop (Expert)
• Autodesk 3DS Max & Mudbox, Pixologic ZBrush (Competent)
• Autodesk Maya (Working Knowledge)

Media/Scripting/Programming

• Python, C++ & PERL for MODO scripts and plugins (Intermediate)
• HTML, PHP, MySQL, ActionScript, HLSL/CG Shaders, UnityScript (Intermediate)
• Adobe Flash, Adobe Premiere (Competent)

Education

BSc (Hons) Game Design

• First Class Honours
• Awarded The Deans Prize for the best level 6 performance in Creative Technology

HND 3D Computer Animation

• 11 Merits
• 8 Passes

Personal

• When I'm not creating artwork, I'm mostly writing tools and plugins for The Foundry's MODO, my 3D application of choice. My Vertex Normal Toolkit is highly popular with game artists using MODO.
• When I'm able, I usually keep at least one side-project on the go. This allows me to explore a variety of styles and work and keep my skills up to scratch while putting them to a good purpose. I've recently gotten into Unity 3D, developing artwork, shaders and scripts for my own games.
• Evidently, gaming is also a major hobby. I can often be found playing FPS games or my favourite genre blend of FPS/RPG.