CV
BRIAN RUST
San Francisco, CA | 415-595-3205 | brianrustdw@gmail.com
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Summary
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I am an animator who has experienced many disciplines in the game industry from quality assurance to team management. I have learned to create great work despite any challenges or limitations that arise throughout the development cycle.
Experience
Animator March 2014 to Current 2K Sports WWE 2K – Novato, CA
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Senior Animator 2021 to present
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Maintaining same responsibilities as below. Also involved in planning and implementing features and improvements to our game animation and animation pipeline. In charge of in-game facial animation. Planning needs for facial animation, critiquing work from animators on team, creating key frame animations to be used in our animation system.
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Gameplay Animator 2019 to 2021
Timing and enhancing motion capture
Prototyping gameplay camera using animation in Motionbuilder
Working with lead and engineers to build procedural camera system and implementing the system on showcase moves
Final polish added to motions in game. Includes additional animation and system tools to improve in game functionality.
Attending mocap shoots to provide any needed feedback for animation purposes.
Training new employees on software technique and procedures
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Lead facial animator 2018 - 19
Tracking scenes and assignment priority
Assigning and reviewing scenes
Working with the facial rig team to critique and improve the rig design.
Keyframe facial animation and facial capture cleanup for cutscenes
Evaluating facial capture software suites.
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Motion capture animation 2014 - 17
Character placement in scenes. General mocap cleanup including body, hands, props, and character contact.
Training new employees in basic Motion Builder functionality, facial animation, body cleanup, and animation tools.
Hand keyed facial animation and lip sync animation for cutscenes.
Cinematic camera animation for wrestler entrances, back stage dialogue, and combat from in-game cutscenes.
Engine tests to ensure cutscenes are working in game. Final animation adjustments and fixes. Manually implementing camera settings for depth of field and character focus.
Applying engine tools to scenes so that the animation and props will work with characters of any size.
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Animator April 2012 to March 2013 Big Head Mode – San Francisco, CA
Used keyframe animation to create stylized versions of popular dances from pop music for a mobile game
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Mastering Lab Technician Sep 2008 to April 2013 LucasFilm – San Francisco, CA
Pre-certification and final submissions to Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Steam titles.
Server, FTP, and database management including all incoming and outgoing art assets, server space alerts, and support request database.
Product support, warranty replacements, and internal hardware support.
Training of new hires to do warranty and company hardware support.
Disc mastering and making marketing DVDs
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Skills
Motion Builder
Maya
Photoshop
Perforce
Shotgun
Faceware
Jira
Organized
Team leader
Time Management
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Credited Titles
WWE 2K15, 2K16, 2K17, 2K18, 2K19, 2K20, 2K22, 2K23, 2K24
Lego Star Wars games
Lego Indiana Jones games
The Force Unleashed I and II
Monkey Island Special Edition
Clone Wars Adventures
2K Sports titles from 2004 to 2007
Education and Training
BFA Illustration, Academy of Art University – San Francisco, CA
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