Oliver Palmer -- Technical Direction and Pipeline Development

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Me

Welcome,

It's good to meet you. My name is Oliver Palmer. Below you will find some of my recent work along with more information about me. Enjoy!

Visual Effects has a different meaning to everyone, to me it's the melding of art and science. Every shot must be artistically scrutinized as it is worked into its final form. However, there is a critical balance between an artistic masterpiece and an efficient production.

With my experience in technical direction and pipeline programming I strive to strike a balance between efficiency and beauty. Why duplicate a thousand objects when they could be instanced? Why animate by hand when a GUI could easily be built? Why edit hundreds of rib files when a regular expression could handle it? These are the questions I answer on a daily basis, and I enjoy every second of it.

Thank you for your time,
Oliver Palmer
Visual Effects & Technical Direction

NOTE: Some content may require flash to view.

Reel

It seems you do not have Adobe Flash 9.0+ installed for this browser. Please download and install flash then restart your browser before attempting to view my reel. If you do not wish to install flash or cannot due to restrictions placed on your computer feel free to download the full offline reel here (61MB).

Reel Breakdown
Full Resolution Download (51MB)

Larger projects have their own page in the section below

Projects

PyFarm

PyFarm v0.3 Preview
PyFarm is a distributed farm based on Python and PyQt that seeks to create an easy to setup, use, and maintain render farm. From its humble beginnings as a single threaded que to it's current form and beyond PyFarm will continue to improve as development progresses.

HOMEPAGE: www.pyfarm.net
TOOLS: Python, PyQt, Maya, Houdini, Shake

Dust Storm

Dust Storm Preview
While there are several ways to create a dust storm in Houdini this project's aim was to implement a little used feature of houdini, image 3d files. I3ds integrate well with Mantra's deep shadow maps and once properly setup can render faster than a visually equivilant sprite render. However when starting the project i3d exports took twice as long due to Houdini's lack of support for threading. To fix this I added que based multi-threaded rendering via python to help make up for the missing threads, this extra step eventually saved over thenty-four hours of rendering. Today, this technique is being used on The Savannah College of Art and Design's render farm to efficienty render i3d files across a distributed network.


TOOLS: Houdini 9.5, Python

Developer's Workstation

Developers Workstation Preview
Procedural modeling is a workflow that allows an individual to change or alter the look of a model based on a only a few points of data. Unlike traditional modeling this allows for dynamic content creation and rapid development of several different versions of a single model. The keyboard generated for this project was built using small image maps pulled from the original keyboard; little modification was necessary to pull the correct information. By using easily generated images as a base this workflow could easily be adapted to create hunderes of different keybords by simply changing the original input images.

GALLERY: Open Gallery
TOOLS: Houdini 9.5, Photoshop

Resume & Contact

Highlights

  • Wrote pipeline libraries and software used by Digital Domain to produce visual effects for Transformers 3: Dark of The Moon, Reel Steel, Tron, and other unannounced films
  • Work history with Digital Domain, Rhythm and Hues, Side Effects Software, Fortune 500 companies BAE and SAIC, SCAD, and the Fairfax County Public School System.
  • Invited by the Chairman of the SCAD Visual Effects Department to write a syllabus for a new pipeline production course at SCAD in anticipation of potentially becoming a instructor at SCAD in the fall of 2009, teaching three courses: pipeline programming, Python programming, and Houdini
  • Multiple scripts, programs, short films, and other imagery selected by SCAD visual effects professors as long term teaching resources
  • Developed a fully automated, cross platform, multi-software, user friendly render farm now featured on SCAD's official web site as a university resource. Farm software written using C++, Python, and Qt/PyQt
  • Built a 32 core render farm that utilized the above software to render projects for multiple students across various platforms and software distributions.
  • Designed and built underwater robotic vehicle that placed in the U.S. National Competition at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
  • Highly experienced in building electronic and mechanical hardware, including radio control model aircraft, helicopters, and remotly operated underwater vehicles
  • Did initial development for marketing video showcased by SAIC at a leading international symposium in Washington DC (AUSA)
  • Lighting and sound operator for the award winning DC region McLean Symphony Orchestra while an employee of the Fairfax County Public School System
  • Platinum MarCom Award 2007 for a Fortune 500 SAIC marketing video
  • Awarded Most Interactive Display at the SAIC Employee Day Fair, San Diego, California.

Contact


If you would like to get in touch with me or setup a meeting please
use the address below and I will be happy to reply as soon as I possibly can.

Mail to: oliverpalmer AT opalmer.com

Copywrite © 2012 Oliver Palmer