San Diego, CA 92104

Phone: 858.531.5080

mattchavis@gmail.com 

Art Director

About:

Game industry veteran with over 20 years of experience developing AAA titles. Skilled in multiple disciplines including, concept design, modeling, rigging, animation, and leadership. An effective leader with the ability to adjust management style in response to different factors while keeping focus on successfully achieving targets.

Strengths

  • Manager, Coach, and Leader

  • Aligning individual talents with company goals. 

  • Team advocate

  • Training/mentorship

  • Excellent attention to detail

  • Big picture savvy with a sensibility that resonates with players

  • Turning complex ideas into a working pipeline that makes sense for production.

  • Able to work with multiple disciplines to ensure deliverables meet the companies highest standards.

Software Skills: Esoteric Spine, Unity, Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Xnormals, NDO2, Headus UV Layout, Zbrush

 

Professional Experience

Art Director: 2018 – present

Jam City: Cookie Jam Blast

  • Directed team of artists on small to large scope features.

  • Maintain production schedules, met deadlines, and managed budgets.

  • Established working pipeline, and streamlined monthly themed updates.

  • art direction, feedback, and reviews.

  • Supported marketing and product team initiatives.

Principle Animator, 2015 – 2018

Jam City: Cookie Jam Blast

  • Worked on prototyping, previz, and R&D for new match-3 mobile game.

  • Rigged and animated characters and assets using Maya and Esoteric Spine

  • Lighting and Rendering maps assets using V-Ray and Maya.

Art Lead, 2006 – 2013

SOE: Planetside 2

  • Worked with a team to develop and implement a pipeline for weapon construction.

  • Designed and created weapons and attachments for vehicles and characters.

  • Created normal maps and shared texture maps for weapons.

  • Mentored Jr. Artists, Temps, and Interns on weapon asset creation and pipeline

SOE: FreeRealms

  • Conceptualized, modeled, textured, rigged, and animated key project characters.

  • Contributed to increasing revenue by integrating developed marketing strategies.

  • Mentored Jr. Artists, Temps, and Interns on creative applications, design, character and accessory development

 

Artist II, 2003 – 2006

SOE: Everquest 2

  • Modified hundreds of mo-cap animations to successfully function with the combat system months before deadline and program launch.

  • Applied Maya software applications to rig and animated characters.

 

Artist, 2001 – 2003

SOE: Everquest Online Adventures/Sovereign

  • Created, modeled, textured, rigged, and animated Non-Player Characters in support of background graphics and animation schemes.

  • Built and animated low poly units in 3DX Max for canceled RTS project.

Education & Training

Associates, Computer Animation, Art Institute of Seattle, Seattle, WA