Lee Méndez
CG Generalist Resume

I’m a CG generalist with ten  years of experience across the front and back ends of live action VFX and animation pipelines in both client and vendor scenarios. From storyboarding, to 3D asset generation, to motion tracking and compositing, I’m used to shoring up multiple roles in smaller teams as well as specializing in tasks for larger studios environments. Curiosity and a love of problem solving provide me with flexibility and the capacity to get up to speed quickly on new software packages and workflows including Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Blender, and After Effects, as well as the ability to write my own workflow tools between those packages in Python.

Between work on feature films, television, animated series and commercial work my strengths lie in adaptability and a positive disposition. And my background in film studies trained me to prioritize storytelling and visual clarity no matter what stage in the process I’m inhabiting.

Experience

October  2022 - April 2023

Legendary/Apple TV Godzilla Project:  LA, California - CG Generalist

  • Previs - Quick Iteration Using Blender’s Grease Pencil to Animate in 3D for Directors and Stunt Coords

  • Post-vis - Quick Iteration for Inhouse

  • Compositing - Equipment Removal/Paint Fixes/Set Augmentation

  • 3D Tracking - Adding 3D Assets and Digital Makeup

  • Photogrammetry Processing and Asset Management - Processing and Packaging Assets and Scan Data to Ship to Vendors

February  2020 - May 2022

Carnival Row (Legendary/Amazon):  LA, California - CG Generalist

  • Previs - On-set  Quick Iteration Using Blender’s Grease Pencil to Animate in 3D for Directors and Stunt Coords

  • Post-vis - Quick Iteration Using Blender’s Grease Pencil to Animate in 3D for Vendors

  • Compositing - Equipment Removal/Paint Fixes/Set Augmentation

  • 3D Tracking - Adding 3D Assets and Digital Makeup

  • Photogrammetry Processing and Asset Management - Processing and Packaging Assets and Scan Data to Ship to Vendors

OCTOBER 2019 - December 2020

Rooster Teeth (Warner), Austin, Texas - Crowds, FX  and Generalist VFX

  • Crowds and Pyro FX for Animated Series using Houdini

  • Procedural Asset Modeling using Houdini

OCTOBER 2018 - APRIL 2019

Rooster Teeth (Warner), Austin, Texas - Storyboard and Layout Artist

  • Storyboarding Sequences  of an In-House Show: GenLock for HBO

  • Worked as a Camera Artist in the Layout Department Later in the Production

JUNE 2014 - JANUARY 2018

Mighty Coconut, Austin - CG Generalist

  • Comp Artist for Features and Television - Nuke/After Effects

  • Storyboarding for YouTube Red Original Series

  • Texture Artist - Mari

  • Lighting Artist - Redshift

  • FX Artist - Houdini

  • Motion Graphics - After Effects

  • Concept Painting

  • Motion Tracking - Syntheyes

 MAY 2012 - AUGUST 2014

Adam Gravois Images LLC, Austin - GG Generalist

  • Texture Artist - Mari 

  • Motion Graphics - After Effects

  • Motion Tracking - Syntheyes

NOVEMBER 2011 - FEBRUARY 2014

Sycamore Pictures, Austin - VFX Intern for Terrence Malick

  • Designed Interstellar Visualizations in Nuke for the documentary Voyage of Time

Education

AUGUST 2010 - MAY 2014

University of Texas at Austin - Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film

Focused on Film Studies and Production.

Skills

3D Packages:

  • Maya

  • Houdini

  • Blender

Compositing Softwares:

  • Nuke

  • After Effects

  • Fusion

Digital Painting:

  • Mari

  • Substance Designer and Painter

  • Photoshop

  • Illustrator

  • Clip Studio

Misc Software:

  • Syntheyes - Matchmoving

  • Agisoft Photoscan - Photogrammetry

  • Premiere - Editing

  • Davinci Resolve - Editing and Color Correction

Programming Languages:

  • Python

  • C

  • And a little itty bit of C++

Film: 

  • I studied film production and history  in college, and having worked in both live action and animation environments ever since, I have developed an understanding of  shooting vocabulary, which allows me to communicate with directors and leads efficiently.