James Todd

Acting as the bridge between technical infrastructure and the VFX department, overseeing the studios transition to Live-Action / real time CG workflows.

• Andy's Dino Island Spearheaded the implementation of a new massive-scale pipeline integrating live action with Unreal Engine. Overseeing the CG department, including artists, managing asset flow from Maya to Unreal.
  • Lead and TD'd entire project over two years, 28 episodes.
  • Pipeline Architecture: Developed custom Python scripts and Unreal Blueprints to automate render sorting, asset ingestion, and metadata tracking, significantly reducing manual overhead.
  • Infrastructure: Deployed and managed Revision Control (SVN) and maintained the local Render Farm as well as system scripting to organise renders and assets.
  • Leadership: Guided and oversaw junior artists and supported movement to Unreal.
• Predator v Prey (Nat Geo): Delivered high-fidelity creature FX work, using XGen for photorealistic fur rendering and close-up detail passes.
• Andy's Global Adventures (S2, S3): Architected the rigging and asset optimization workflow for Unreal Engine.
• Funny Talking Animals (Sky Kids): Developed a proprietary Maya script to automatically sync animation timelines with tracked footage edits, automating the retiming process for muzzle replacements.

Freelance CG Generalist & Designer

Delivering high-end 3D content for broadcast, print, and immersive platforms.

• Manual (Men's Health Brand) Sole CG artist for two broadcast spots (Euro 2024), handling end-to-end production in Maya & Arnold from layout to final render.
• Whitehart Multimedia Created and animated technical training assets for Network Rail using Unreal Engine.
• Octopus Immersive / National Trust Executed a full asset pipeline (Modeling, Rigging, Texturing) for an Augmented Reality (AR) trail, focusing on mobile optimization and photogrammetry cleanup.