MICHAEL HUTCHISON                             Austin, TX | ARTIST | WORLD BUILDER
www.michaelhutchisonart.com | mh@michaelhutchisonart.com | www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhutchison

 

SUMMARY

Experienced Game Artist adept at leading and mentoring teams and individuals. Development expertise in Environment Art, World Building, and Level Design. Acute understanding of the tools and methods relating to 3D modeling, Texturing, PBR workflow, and streamlining game performance through map and asset optimizations. Development experience across PC and Console platforms, and spanning multiple genres. Versatile developer accustomed to fast-moving production environments.

EXPERIENCE

PORTALARIUM, Austin, TX                                                                                                      2013 - 2018
SHROUD OF THE AVATAR: FORSAKEN VIRTUES  (PC, MMORPG) - Lead Artist
Live since 2013, SOTA has delivered on-time monthly content releases ever since, with no unscheduled downtime

  • Created game-play maps, environmental assets, modular kits, and props for use by development  team
  • Developed over twenty different template maps for in-game land ownership by players, in eight different biome types
  • Created housing and decorations to support robust "sandbox-style" player customization of their in-game property.
  • Created world lighting for varied and unique environments with fully dynamic day-to-night cycles and variable weather.
  • Provided leadership and mentoring to the art, animation, and world building teams.
    • Gave direction and feedback, conducted regular reviews, and guided the visual decision making of artists and designers throughout the iterative creation process.
    • Ensured consistency of visuals and quality of execution for art and map output.
    • Trained and supported artists in technical implementation of art into game engine
  • Acted as the primary resource for company management regarding issues and scheduling related to art and map production.
  • Collaborated with Technology team on the development of material shaders and game systems, as they pertained to the production of art assets.
  • Evaluated assets from a wide variety of external sources for possible inclusion in the game, determining suitability and whether or not they met aesthetic and technical criteria.

FREELANCE ARTIST, Austin, TX                                                                                             2012 - 2013
VARIOUS  PROJECTS - (Contract)
Provided 3D modeling and texturing services for projects in the Computer Games and Marketing industries. Projects included "Home Tycoon"  for PlayStation Home from Hellfire Games, and mobile app development for corporate-customers at Somnio Solutions, Inc.

VIGIL GAMES, Austin, TX                                                                                                       2011 - 2012
DARKSIDERS II (PC, XBOX 360, PS3, ACTION RPG) - Senior Environment Artist
Assisted in optimization of maps and assets across two game zones to meet performance standards. Involved in advance visual development for future downloadable content. Released in August 2012.

WARHAMMER 40K: DARK MILLENIUM ONLINE (PC, MMORPG) – Senior Environment Artist
Sculpted and textured terrain, integrated structures and props, and set up lighting for highly detailed and richly decorated exterior and interior environments. Cancelled by THQ.

BIOWARE, Austin, TX                                                                                                                      2011
STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC (PC, MMORPG) - Technical Artist (Contract)
Focused on identifying areas for environment art optimizations, and assisting with the implementation of environment art optimizations to meet or exceed scene performance metrics. Released in December 2011.

 UTV IGNITION GAMES, Austin, TX                                                                                         2010 - 2011
FAXION ONLINE (PC, MMORPG) - Lead Environment Artist
Created models, object textures, terrain textures, flora, and environmental color and lighting schemes, while directing and overseeing the efforts of the environment art team. Managed the outsourcing of environment art  and character art assets, providing direction and iterative feedback to four different external groups involved in the development and completion of concept art and 3D assets. Released in May 2011.

BIOWARE, Austin, TX                                                                                                            2009 - 2010
STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC (PC, MMORPG) - Environment Artist (Contract)
Sculpted and textured terrain, integrated structures and props, and set up lighting  for exterior and interior environments across two game planets. Created environment models and textures. Analyzed  scenes for aesthetics and performance. Released in December 2011.

NCSOFT, Austin, TX                                                                                                              2004 - 2009
TABULA RASA (PC, MMORPG) - Lead World Designer '08 - '09; Senior Designer '04 - '07
Designed game-play worlds, environments, and creatures. Designed visual points of interest and their related game-play interactions. Built environments from start-to-finish using proprietary world editor. Created proxy and finished in-game models. Designed mission scenarios according to story specifications and game-play needs. Collaborated on broad mission and game story arcs. Created and maintained thorough design documents. Released in 2007, with regular updates into 2009.

EARLY CAREER

PANDEMIC STUDIOS, Los Angeles, CA                                                                                   
STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT (PS2, FPS) - Art Director
SPECWARRIOR (PS2, FPS) - Art Director

CODEMASTERS YOSEMITE, Oakhurst, CA                                                                              
DRAGON EMPIRES (PC, MMORPG) - Lead Artist / Lead Animator
NAVY SEALS (PC, FPS) - Art Director

SIERRA ON-LINE / YOSEMITE ENTERTAINMENT, Oakhurst, CA                                          
RICHARD MARCINKO'S NAVY SEALS (PC, FPS) - Art Director
POLICE QUEST: SWAT2 (PC, RTS) - Art Director
LIGHTHOUSE: THE DARK BEING (PC, ADV) - Lead 3D Studio Artist
SPACE QUEST 6: THE SPINAL FRONTIER (PC, ADV) - Lead Artist / Lead Animator
GABRIEL KNIGHT: SINS OF THE FATHERS (PC, ADV) - Animation Director
KING'S QUEST VI: HEIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW (PC, ADV) - Senior Animator
ECOQUEST: THE SEARCH FOR CETUS (PC, ADV) – Animator

EDUCATION

RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN, Providence, RI                                                                         
BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS IN ILLUSTRATION