Michael "Flux" Chang
5622 Highgate Terrace
Irvine CA, 90024
(949) 331-2296
mflux at ucla dot edu
http://www.ghost-hack.com

Objective:
Designer | Artist | Programmer | Multi-Purpose Switchblade

Statement:
I consider myself a generalist with creative solutions to just about any problem or job.

Educational background:
Graduated University High School (2001)
Attended Irvine Valley College for design and drawing classes
Attended Golden State Community College for life drawing classes
Bachelor's of Arts from UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts

Skills:
Fast worker, fast problem solver, works well under pressure
Can hit tight deadlines on various scale projects
Capable of quickly developing solid design prototypes
Adaptive to diverse production pipelines
Can bring concepts from illustration and express it in three dimensions
Can illustrate characters with many different styles
Knowledge and understanding of the human form
Traditional animation (yes, hand drawn..)
Fluent in Mandarin

3D Software Knowledge:
Character modeling, low poly and high poly (Max, Maya, ZBrush)
Subdivision modeling
Environment modeling, low poly, high poly (Max and Maya)
UVW unwrapping (Max and Maya)
Shader creation, texture mapping and texture painting (Max, Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush)
Skeletal setup, skinning (Max Maya), and rigging (Max and Maya)
Lighting (Max and Maya)
Character and camera animation (Max and Maya)
Rigging (Max and Maya)

Programming Knowledge:
Can write procedural animation and procedural graphics software
Can program rudimentary physics, agents, and particles simulations
Can program real-time graphics oriented software
Can write interactive software simulations
Can write fun, ergonomic user interfaces
Can quickly prototype ideas using software
Processing + Java (3 years)
C++ (4 years)
LUA
Director LINGO
Macromedia Actionscript

Additional software knowledge:
Can build web sites with HTML, PHP and Flash
Adobe AfterEffects
Macromedia Director
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator

Accomplishments:
Project Manifest was shown at SIGGRAPH and FLUX at AMSTERDAM.
Webmaster and photographer for DMA Summer Institute (2005)
http://classes.design.ucla.edu/si05/
Webmaster and media programmer for NANO LACMALab exhibition web site (2003)
http://nano.arts.ucla.edu
Helped curate the Interactive portion of the Undergraduate Design Show (2003-2004)
Created Storyboards for student short film The Plagiarist (2003)
Taught three Student Workshop classes on Maya at UCLA

Awards:
Adobe Achievement Awards Time-based Group Project: Honorable Mention for "Vincent"
UCLA Short Takes Student Film Festival: Honorable Mention for "Vincent"
UCLA Design Media Arts Undergraduate Scholarship 2003: 1st Place
UCLA Design Media Arts Undergraduate Scholarship 2004 for Interactive Media: 2nd Place

Work experience:
Motion Theory (2005 - CURRENT) - contract, programmer + designer
At Motion Theory I am responsible for programming procedural graphics and animation for three Nike ad spots. Working with compositers and other programmers, we created thousands of individual animations and variations of animations with software (Processing).
Golden Era Productions (2005) – contract, modeler/animator
My responsibilities at Golden Era were to produce broadcast graphics, animated logos, environments, and data visualization in a fast paced production environment.
5-X-B (2005) – contract, previs 3D modeler/animator
At 5-X-B we created previsualization material for an NFL commercial spot. My responsibilities included camera animation, stand-in character animation, and modeling.
Max Matzenbacher (323) 733-9592 max@5-x-b.com
UCLA Design | Media Arts Summer Institute (2005)
My responsibilities for this job included summer counseling, assisting teachers and students, and maintaining online documentation website.
Adventure Knowledge - programmer/artist internship (2005)
Internship for prototyping game design. Responsibilities include rapidly prototyping gameplay designs under strict limitations, and coming up with creative solutions to gameplay and technical issues.
MAXIS - SPORE - designer/artist internship (2004)
job: working directly with lead designer Will Wright (Sim City, the Sims), designers, programmers, and artists, my responsibilities included creating mock-up content such as 3D models, particle animations, terrain sketches, creature design, and interface design
B.I.G. (Brand Intergration Group, formerly known as Pinacol) - web development (2002)
job: internship, web design and graphics
Erik A. Reponen (310) 478-9000
Ily Enterprise - online hardware sales and web development. (2001)
job: graphics editor, web programmer
Rocky Chang (562) 801-2888
Artwork Essentials - art supply, online sales (2001-2003)
job: cataolgue design, web design and programming, packaging
Peggy Chang (949) 856-2196

Referrals:
Casey Reas professor, media artist
reas at groupc dot net
http://www.groupc.net/
http://www.proce55ing.net
Nicholas Gessler professor, researcher
gessler at ucla dot edu
http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~gessler/

Demo reel and letters of recommendation will be supplied upon request.