Jake Stephens

608..306…3359 / email:jake(at)jakeStephens.net

Compositor & 3D Artist

EDUCATION

Deep Compositing Course, CG Workshops                                                                               December 2014 – January 2015

Six week course from CG Workshops with Mariana Acuña of The Foundry, focusing on the Deep pipeline and how it integrates into the current VFX pipeline.

Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Animation                                                               December 2014
Full Sail University, Winter Park, FL, Valedictorian (3.97 GPA)
Numerous classes in traditional art, 3D Model creation and sculpting, Shading and Lighting, Compositing, and both traditional 2D, as well as 3D Animating.  Course Director Awards for Designing Computer Graphics, Advanced Computer Graphics, Shading and Lighting, Visual Development, Character Animation, and Interpersonal Communication, as well as an Advanced Achiever nomination. Extensive training with all aspects of the digital pipeline, as well as traditional art. Member of the Digital Sculptor’s Union. Compositing/design work, poetry, and photography featured in “The Aviator”, the school’s periodical; Editor’s Award and cover, June 2013 Issue.

Associate of Arts & Sciencee Degree                                                                                                                             1995
University of Wisconsin, Richland Center, Richland Center, WI (3.87 GPA)

SKILLS

Compositing (Node & Layer Based) Multi-Pass Rendering Tracking/Matchmoving
Rotoscope & Paint Color Correction Camera Projections
Lighting & Lookdev Hard Surface: Prop & Environment Digital Sculpting
2D/3D Animation (Character/Prop) Rig Removal Clean Plating & Matte Painting
Texture & UV’s Particle & Dynamics Effects Coding (Java/Python)
Graphic Design Sound Design & Mastering Web Design
Editing Network Design & Management Troubleshooting

SOFTWARE

NukeX After Effects Maya
Mental Ray Maxwell Render Renderman (RIS)
PhotoShop SynthEyes Zbrush
Premiere Audition Mudbox
Microsoft Office Suite Windows & Windows Server Mac OS X

 EXPERIENCE

Freelance Compositor, Paper Tiger Films, LLC                                                                      April. 2015 to Present
Los Angeles, CA – www.papertigerfilms.com

Project: Pink & Blue, a short film about gender equality; responsible for following Lighting Director & Lead Compositor’s art direction and samples to achieve consistent look and feel of assets, using Nuke to combine multi-pass renders in both purely CG and live action shots; some hand tracking of shots as well as Card Projections using tracking data from SynthEyes to stabilize shots; particle generation and integration in Nuke 3D engine; work closely with Director to finalize shots and render out final sequences

IT Director                                                                                                                                              Oct. 2006 to Present
VARC, Inc., Viroqua, WI

Responsible for all IT oversight and management for entire organization, which includes four major divisions and three smaller outreach locations.  Backbone technology is Microsoft, including Windows XP, 7, & 8; Server 2003, 2008, & 2012 (R2). Also Exchange 2013, SQL 2008, Lync 2013, Dynamics Navision 2013. 

Design Committee Chair, PDRI, Inc.                                                                                          June 2010 to March 2011
Prairie du Chien, WI

Design Committee responsible for working with City officials and local businesses for beautification of Downtown Prairie du Chien, WI Oversaw meetings and created agendas/minutes.. Organized volunteers, planned events, and approved designs to local businesses for grant purposes. Some grant writing and lots of face time with local officials, business owners, and volunteers.

System Engineer / Technical Manager                                                                                  June 1997 to Oct. 2006
Orion Computer Services, Prairie du Chien, WI

Responsible for the day-to-day management of the technical department, allocating technicians to projects, researching new technologies and supervising the design, implementation, and administration of various client-server networks, as well as serving a trainer and supervisor to all technicians on staff.

 

COMPUTER CERTIFICATIONS

Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE), Windows Server 2000/2003
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), Windows Server 2000/2003
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Messaging (MCSA-M), Windows/Exchange Server 2000
Microsoft Certified Professional, ID: 1530149; Exams 70-296, 292, 224, 221, 217, 216, 218, 215, 210, & 073
A+ Certified Service Technician, CompTia

SPECIAL INTERESTS
In my personal time, I enjoy numerous pursuits: fine art and graphic design, including photography and 3D work; I am a skilled musician and songwriter, lately delving into the world of electronica and MIDI, exploring the marriage of machines and music; I write poetry, and have self-published a book of poetry and photography; I act, direct, and stage manage at a local theater; I love gaming and enjoy spending countless hours exploring and learning mostly RPG-type games; I love the outdoors and outdoor activities and thinking really deep thoughts, especially about neuroscience and cosmology.

LINKS TO RELEVANT WORK

WEBSITE:  www.jakestephens.net
PORTFOLIO:  https://www.jakestephens.net/portfolio/
DEMO REEL:  https://www.jakestephens.net/demo-reel/
DEMOREEL BREAKDOWN:  https://www.jakestephens.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/jakeStephens_demo-reel-breakdown.pdf
3D WORK FEATURED IN MAXWELL RENDER GALLERY:  http://www.maxwellrender.com/gallery/images/9/1/610
ANIMATION WORK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVBeyqdmbpA&list=PLVkGvtOmMKgv1rn2RSCdrgaRWREbTpkv0

DOWNLOAD AS PDF.