Louis Katz  |  Resume'

EXPERIENCE

DreamWorks Animation | Lead Matte Painting Compositor | 2007+

3D environments for animated features. Our team provides modeling, layout, textures, camera projections, rendering, and compositing. We work closely with Layout, Matte Painters, and Lighting. We manage entire sequences and individual shots. I actively teach the Matte Department Photoshop, Maya, and studio tools.

Independent | Visual Effects Supervisor | 2006-2007

Supervised 10 artists around the world for alternative music video for The Strokes hit song "YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE."

Design Reactor | Visual Effects Supervisor | 2006

Created and supervised my own visual effects department at Digital Communications company in Silicon Valley.

Sony Pictures Imageworks | Senior Technical Director | 2005

Lighting, rendering, and compositing for Superman Returns since September, 2005. Using proprietary lighting and node based compositing application. Learning Perl, Python, and Renderman.  

Visual Effects Society | 2005+

Active Member

Giant Killer Robots | Lead Look and Lighting Artist | 2004-2005  

Environment Lead on Fantastic Four. Lead Lighter on Son of the Mask for several effects and sequences. Technical Director work for characters and environments on Blade Trinity. Opening city fly-through shot for Scooby Doo 2 with high-rises. Extensive use of Maya and XSI with Mental Ray.

The Wild | Set Designer | Art Department | 2003

Worked on a digital feature for Director Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams and Producer Clint Goldman. Worked closely with Production Designer Chris Farmer modeling environments and vehicles for pre-production. Animated several animatic sequences with numerous characters.

Industrial Light + Magic | Technical Director | Rebel Unit | 1996-2002

Worked on several films, most notably as lead TD on the opening sequence for Star Wars, Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Responsibilities included working on feature film visual effects shots and digital matte paintings. Worked closely with Visual Effects Supervisors and Directors.  Tasks were modeling, texturing, animating, and compositing with live-action. Trained many artists in various skills. Featured several times in Cinefex.

Industrial Light + Magic | Art Department | Pre-Visualization Artist | 1996-1998

Generated and edited animatic sequences for feature films working with Art Directors, Visual Effects Supervisors, and Directors. Was responsible for modeling, camera, timing, and composition.

Academy of Art College | MFA Department | Visual Effects 2 | 2002-2004

Taught an on-line class I built on compositing with After Effects at HD resolution. Taught a graduate course in visual effects covering animatics, modeling, lighting, rendering, and compositing. Provided direct-study advisement for students working on MFA thesis projects.

Rainbow Studios | Senior Animator | Phoenix, Arizona | 1989-1996

Modeled and animated scenes for CD-ROM based games, broadcast video, and multimedia.  Served as Team Leader on various projects. Worked on first bi-lingual multimedia application for Sharp in Japan.

SOFTWARE

Maya, XSI, Mental Ray, Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. DreamWorks Animation scripts, rendering tools, and compositing application. Sony Pictures Imageworks lighting tools and node based compositing application. Learning Perl, Python, c-shell scripting, and Renderman.