In the begining...

While I've always dabbled in art and writing growing up, my official training in the this field didn't begin until the early 90's. It wasn't until the third year of my training when computers started to make a real impact on the industry, so my initial training was mostly traditional, hands on design and layout with no real computer aided design until near the end. Luckily, I took to computers at an early age and it was an easy transition to integrate them into my work. I guess you could say I had the best of both worlds.

When I finished school I had a choice of joining an established, traditional design company or a brand new start-up whose main focus was something called "multimedia". This company was the first real multimedia company in the city (and one of a limited number in the country, I suspect) and always being up for something new and exciting, it wasn't a hard decision!

Getting my feet wet

MediaTouch Technologies was my first foray into the multimedia field. Using PCs and touch screen monitors, we developed a series of interactive tourism based kiosks for a number of clients in both Canada and the United States.

There were a lot of firsts at MediaTouch and even though I could apply a lot of my training to each project, I picked up a whole new set of skills along the way including a crash course in Macromedia Director and how to update kiosks in different countries remotely, without the Internet!

Advertising... agency style

After about a year and a half with MediaTouch I uprooted and moved across the street to Bristol Group. As one of the larger advertising agencies in Atlantic Canada, I found myself right in the middle of a team of seasoned professionals, from a dozen different fields, and given the opportunity to work on huge projects for some of the largest companies in the country. The hours were long and hard at times, but it was at Bristol Group that I refined many of my skills and picked up a few more to boot!

Bristol Group was my first real exposure to the video and film industry, and my first real exposure to 3D animation. While I was originally hired as a graphic/multimedia designer, during my first year I had the opportunity to take over the lead animator position from my friend and mentor, Sean Huxter, who had moved on to a position with Turbine Entertainment in Boston. After two weeks training and 30 days production time I had my first 30 second television commercial on the air!

When I wasn't working on one of the many animation projects that came through our doors, I was helping establish the Bristol Group new media department and getting a taste of project management. At it's height we had 9 people in the St. John's office and another 4 or more in Halifax. Again, sometimes the hours were long and hard, but the projects were amazing and the people I worked with even more amazing... some of the best experiences of my career.

Movie making 101

After a good 4 years or more with Bristol Group, I decided to strike it out on my own. In 1999 I began freelancing and consulting for a number of smaller agencies as well as establishing and working on graphic design, video, animation and new media projects for my own clients. In 2000 I began work on my first animated short film. And as I'm always looking for something new to try, when I'm not working on client projects or my own personal projects, I also dabble in low polygon modeling and texturing for the video game industry.

The biggest little agency in Canada

In 2004, I decided I missed the bustle of agency life and joined Target Marketing and Communications as their studio manager. Target is probably one of the best kept secrets in St. John's... you'll never meet a more creative or personable group of people anywhere, and with only a staff of 40 or so, they are producing creative that's world class. Just ask Noel and he'll show you the Caan Lions!

Yes mom, I'm a teacher

In 2005 and after many conversations, I joined the faculty of Academy Canada as one of the instructors of their multimedia graphic design program. Primarily I teach the second year students video production and web design, but I've also had the opportunity to teach advertising to the first years and some IT courses to students in other programs.

Video games... without the guns

In 2006 I joined the DTS (Deepwater Technical Solutions) department of Oceaneering International whose Canadian office is setup in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. I was hired as a 3D Modeling Technician and Software Specialist for their ROV simulation software development team.

Using the ROV simulation software, which accurately simulates terrain, environmental, mechanical, and physical conditions, I create sub-sea simulations for robotic ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles). Oceaneering’s clients are primarily large oil companies with an interest in deepwater drilling, but I have also worked on simulations for educational purposes (the VilVite - Bergen Science Centre), and for space exploration (NASA).

The ROV simulations serve a multitude of purposes, as we can accurately reproduce almost anything in the physical world, but the primary one is the training of ROV pilots. Yes, the simulations are highly accurate and look quite similar to a huge video game… without the guns.

In closing

Presently, when I'm not creating ROV simulations to help raise the Titanic (just kidding), I continue to freelance, consult and work on that BIG movie project that I've been sitting on for sometime. But that, as they say, is a story for another day.