Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 8, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Every year, the 3D animation community is asked to nominate members from its ranks for this award. Later, the community selects its favorites from the list of nominees. An independent jury evaluates the votes and makes the final decision.
With the title Autodesk Master 2007, 3ds Max and Maya software artists as well as technical specialists whose work contributed significantly to the further development of computer graphcs were honored. DIGITAL PRODUCTION congratulates them.
The 3ds Max and Maya Masters are:
Autodesk 3ds Max
• Allan McKay, Visual Effects Animator and Director at Catastrophic FX: In addition to his work on well-known films and games, he supported the 3ds Max community by teaching as well as writing and publishing several Autodesk trainings.
• Donald Chen, 3ds Max Technical Director and Chief Modeler Artist at Beijing Sheung Tak Jiabao Digital Technology Co.: Was committed to the further development of the technology and art of computer graphics. Chen popularized the newest digital technologies and supported universities and museums. He also provided numerous other projects such as websites and articles for industry journals with professional guidance.
• Gary M. Davis, owner of visualZ, LLC: Davis teaches at the Planet Digital Training Center and FXPhD. He is the only training specialist in the world with certification both for Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Combustion as well as for Autodesk Toxik. Davis helped design the Autodesk training materials and wrote for several very well-known trade magazines.
• Jeff Hanna, Senior Technical Artist at Volition: With more than 12 years of professional experience in the games industry, Hanna has contributed to countless PC online games. He was also a partner of various companies and at community websites in order to promote the importance of technical art and to further develop 3D tools as well as tutorials.
• Marek Denko, Senior Digital Artist at ImageFX: Born in the small town of Hliník nad Hronom in Slovenia, Denke taught himself 3ds Max – without the help of the Internet, video tutorials or other materials. Today, his ability is evident through artistic talent and imagination in all his works.
Autodesk Maya
• Colin Penty, Senior Technical Artist at Electronic Arts: Penty is a competent Maya artist with impressive experience in the games industry. During his career, Penty was already a mentor to his fellow students at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
• Greg Brentin, Supervising Technical Director at DreamWorks Animation SKG: Brentin already felt closely connected to Maya software during his career. He developed the Maya reference-based pipeline for various DreamWorks films. Furthermore, he worked with the Maya development team to extend the software file-reference system, DAG and DG tracking tools as well as scene modularity.
• Lee Danskin, Deputy Head of 3D at Moving Picture Company: Danskin has already worked in the visual effects industry for 16 years. He began his career at Alias. Under his leadership, the 3D department at Smoke & Mirrors was built. Since then he has been among the most important personalities in the visual effects community in Great Britain.
• Marc-André Guindon, founder of NeoReel: Member of the 3D community since 1997. Guindon developed complex pipelines and countless plug-ins and tools such as Animation Layers for Maya. In addition, he taught Master Classes for Alias and Autodesk and wrote several textbooks in the Maya series.
• Rudy Grossman: Grossman’s extensive Maya knowledge and enormous skills in Models, Creatures, technical animations, lighting and Motion Capture were used in many Blockbuster- films. He taught many Maya Master Classes that covered topics from Modeling, API plug-ins and Rigging through to Skin Simulation.
Further links:
- Autodesk Masters
