Empath the Game is a collaborative project based on the short film Empath by Dhimanth Rao. Follow M4X on a challenging platform puzzle adventure. Face AI Turrets and the final boss to beat the demo, but watch out and be sure to keep up with your energy and health levels. Empath the Game will be on Steam Greenlight in Fall 2017.

I began working with virtual reality when taking Alternate Methods in Motion Media Design. My goal for the project was to create a simulated ride based virtual reality experience within the Unity 5.4 game engine. Geometron is based on a post apocalyptic city that is now abandoned. The city is damaged but still features remnants of the previous inhabitants, the Noopies. Geometron has mono-prints that were scanned in and added as textures for the billboards. The first version of Geometron was displayed at the Troposcope 3.0 show. It was such a great success that we had the privilege of updating the experience to add gaze based menu interaction and showed it again at SCAD Open Studio Night. It has been a great experience learning to work in virtual reality and mastering game development software. For this project I was using the Oculus Rift DK2 headset, it featured a 1920x1080 screen as is considered to be one of the first legitimate consumer VR headsets. I am currently designing with the HTC Vive, but this headset really allowed me to gain an understanding of how VR works and what it takes to create a true virtual reality experience. You have to face many challenges when working in a game environment, including having to use coding to accomplish task beyond importing models. It is also very important to pay close attention in determining the appropriate level of detail for each models typology. High quality lighting and effects can look great, but they must be appropriately managed to ensure that it does not create additional input lag for the end users experience. Virtual reality is an exciting frontier with the opportunity to create entire new worlds. This project changed my life and help determined what I wanted to do with my career.
 

I have spent a great amount of time working with visual effects and rigid body dynamics. For this assignment I worked with Side Effects Houdini to create a magic lamp smoke simulation where smoke is used to expose the skull before the sword comes in to shatter it into the smoke filled environment. The caption on the back wall is from an unknown author and reads, “In death only god wins.” I wanted this to appear to be first person encounter with a mystical skull where the viewer is taken on a micro adventure. The overall design was inspired by “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and the “Goonies”. Working with smoke simulations can be a real challenge do to the file size and resources required to process the volume. This small smoke simulation required 400GB and would make use of every stick of my 64gb’s of RAM. It was an impressive task to accomplish and really pushed me as a designer and artist. Simulations are ran prior to rendering so that an artists can use particles to help replicate organic forms that would be nearly impossible to model using traditional methods. 

This was my first major project working with Autodesk Maya. Our challenge was to design an architectural structure, and to really focus on the details of the scene. I decided to create a stadium concept design for the project. In determining a style I wanted to design a new stadium for the New England Patriots. I took inspiration from the Roman colosseum and other pieces of historical Roman architecture such as the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. I wanted to design a structure that would have the size and capacity to rival modern stadiums, but retain the classic look of historic stadiums. This project was a great experience in learning how to efficiently design a large scale 3d environment using Maya. I really focused on learning to work with UV maps, texture mapping, and lighting. It was a great experience learning about the detail that goes into creating an architectural rendering.
 

Maya 2016
MEL Abstract Animation
SCAD Winter 2016
VSFX 708

Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D

Richard Childress Racing Internship
SCAD
Fall 2014

Richard Childress Racing Internship
SCAD
Fall 2014

During my internship at Richard Childress Racing I had the opportunity to partner with Muddy Creek Motorsports to help concept a custom hospitality rig for the DeWalt tool company. Although I had the opportunity to design several race cars and work on a few different commercials during my time with the race team, this was one of my favorite projects, because it gave me the opportunity to design a entire vehicle that would then be built into a custom hauler to attend live events.  This was one of my first major 3d projects that I had the opportunity to work on at RCR. I really enjoyed designing and animating the truck, as well as concepting how people might experience the hospitality rig once it was built. DeWalt tools wanted the vehicle to feature a large stacker trailer that could be used to transport their display for showing off their latest tool line-up. My goal for this video was to produce a video that would expose the impressive features of this large hospitality rig. It was important to show the customer that the vehicle could be used to entertain a large number of guest. I had a great time working with Nascar and look forward to collaborating with the team in the future.

During my internship at Clemson University I had the opportunity to concept and create a pilot for a student ran sports show we named “CATTV”. I worked with producer Bob Schuster to develop a concept and began to arrange the media credentials for several sporting events around campus. For the pilot I had the privilege of working with two interns Caitlyn Martin and Avery Sheehan on their first live television show. We had a great experience learning the difficulties that come with producing a live television, where additional cuts are not always an option. The motion graphics were created using Cinema4D and play a major role in developing the look of the television pilot. We were able to interview amazing Clemson students including national hero Daniel Rodriguez and World Cup soccer star Kailen Sheridan. This show created many great challenges for me in learning how to manage talent, and how to organize a production in an efficient manner that would result in an enjoyable sports show that the Clemson audience would appreciate. This project pushed me as a cinematographer and as a designer. This was my first experience making a television show and I really hope that the future will provide me with the opportunity to pursue further projects of this nature.
 

Internship Clemson University Broadcast Production Services
SCAD
Summer 2014

Internship Clemson University Broadcast Production Services
SCAD
Summer 2014

Internship Clemson University Broadcast Production Services
SCAD
Summer 2014

2013-2014 Crowd Prompt "Get Loud" Clemson University

In developing a concept for the Clever Project I became consumed by the idea of creating a video that could bring light to the issue of world hunger, but to do so in a manner that would not make the viewer feel as if they are being attacked. I believe that a great deal of charitable organizations try to play off people’s emotions by assigning the emotion of guilt through powerful and grotesque imagery. As a sociologist, I believe that we can create a more lasting bond with our audience by establishing a positive atmosphere that allows the viewer to become euphoric over the idea of helping others. People want to feel good about their charitable donations. The color scheme and playful features offered by using stop motion will create a unique atmosphere bringing the issue of world hunger to light in a way that captures the projected audience. World hunger and food resource sustainability is a major issue for some of the poorest people around the world, and children make up a large portion of this population. These simple cost effective ideas can be used to spread vital information about how people can get involved, bringing exposure to an organization that could really help make the world a better place. With congress’s efforts in passing the Electrify Africa bill it is the perfect time to bring information to the public on how they can personally get involved with saving the lives of many of the worlds poorest children. The time to help is now and the Clever Project is the perfect platform for us to do our part at making the world a better place.

My concept was to further explore deconstruction philosophy by deconstructing the meaning behind the Apple logo.  I took advantage of the historical accounts of the apple throughout time and applied it in a 30 second spot.  After Effects 2.5D was used for this assignment with Photoshop and Illustrator elements. This video tells the viewer a story starting with Adam and Eve venturing through history to include characters such as Sir Isaac Newton, Johnny Appleseed, and of course, Steve Jobs. Another key aspect of my design was to show how the Apple design coordinates with the Fibonacci sequence.  Although this idea is a complete fabrications and may have absolutely nothing to do with the original designer’s intentions, I believe that it works hand in hand with conveying the development of Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction philosophy by focusing on how a person’s state of reality is based off of their individual micro narratives. I wanted to establish a chain of micro narratives that build from individual origins to create a macro level narrative of the Apple logo and its associated branding.  This project offered a unique opportunity to apply a given philosophical structure while creating an appropriate design strategy that accomplishes the task of representing the meaning of the Apple logo.

I have always loved the movie “Lord of War”, especially Nicholas Cage’s monologue describing his favorite weapon, the Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947. It is a very powerful piece and it really fit the direction I wanted to go with this intonation project. I choose a limited color palette to create unity throughout the video. I wanted it to have the feel of classic cold war propaganda. To help further extenuate this look I choose to add  some additional grain to the piece. I decided to take advantage of After Effects pan and scan techniques to help navigate through the text that was created in the original poster design. The design aesthetic features distressed typography and illustrations to help tell the history of the world’s most common fire arm. I really enjoy working with intonation pieces. The timing is essential to keeping the typography and the audio track in sync. The end result gives the artists the ability to enhance the impact of the author’s message, and adding visual imagery can really enhance how the viewer will experience the end production.

I have a passion for athletic motion design and was really intrigued by the announcement that the South Eastern Conference was getting it’s own television network. My past experience working in live network athletic television production allowed me to see first hand what it takes to bring a major sporting event to air. I spent time designing stadium graphics and player introductions for Clemson University and felt that it was a natural transition to design a television commercial for a sports network. The SEC has always been a power house when it comes to football and other athletics. I wanted to focus on the network branding and add 3d team logos to help highlight the individual teams that make up the south eastern conference. I chose 3D design for this project because I wanted to mimic graphic design styles that are more in alignment with what is used in advertising the NFL and other professional sports platforms.

MOME 711
SCAD Atlanta
Spring 2014

For this cinematography project I had the opportunity to create a title sequence for the movie “Upstream Color” by Shane Carruth. For this project I really wanted to focus on the use of Orchids throughout the movie and the use of the color blue. I used blue screen techniques to help composite the flowers and 3d animated typography. I took advantage of Cinema4D’s fracture capabilities to add additional detail to the typography. My goal was to produce a mysterious piece that would enhance the story of the film without giving anything away from the plot. The movie was very mystical and mysterious and I believe transferring this feeling to the title sequence was key to bringing the audience into the story. I found inspiration for this piece in the 1958 film “Vertigo”. The use of the eye really allows the title sequence to create a sense of wonder and mystery that consumes the viewer’s focus.

SCAD Atlanta
MOME 709
Winter 2014