PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Over my 20 year career as a Art Director and Lighting Expert, I have had the opportunity to work with many incredible teams of professional developers large and small on every platform imaginable. Whether Iām delivering a single scene or providing leadership to an entire art team, I always strive to deliver quality results no matter what obstacles we face. At the end of the day I feel it is important to remember that we make games for a living and there is no good reason not to have a great time doing so.
//Company History Summary//
Disney/Fox: Cold Iron Studios 2018-Present
Principal Artist
Aliens: Fireteam Elite/ PS5, Xbox Series X, PC
Tell Tale Games: San Rafael 2011-2018
Art Director
The Walking Dead/400 days/ PS3, Xbox360, PC,iOS
Tales From the Borderlands/PS4, XboxOne, PC,iOS
Studio Lighting Director/Tech Art Team
Stranger Things S1/S2 PS4, XboxOne, PC,iOS
Batman S1/S2 PS4, XboxOne, PC,iOS
The Wolf Among Us/ PS3, Xbox360, PC,iOS
Game of Thrones/PS4, XboxOne, PC,iOS
Jurassic Park/ PS3, Xbox360, PC,iOS
THQ: Studio Australia 2008-2011
Visual Effects Supervisor
Avengers: The Game/PS3, Xbox 360
Art Director/Lead Artist
Mega Mind: Mega Team Unite/Nintendo Wii
Lead Lighting Artist
Warhammer: Space Marine/PS3, Xbox 360
Eidos: Crystal Dynamics 2006-2008
Senior Lighting Artist
Tomb Raider: Underworld/ PS3, Xbox
EA: Redwood Shores (Visceral) 2001-2006
Lighting and Materials Artist Level III
The Godfather/ PS3, PS2, Xbox
James Bond: FRWL/ PS2, Xbox
Associate Lighting Artist Level II
Lord of the Rings: ROTK/ PS2, Xbox
Lord of the Rings: TT/ PS2, Xbox
//Art Direction Skill Set//
Environment art team management
Character design and development
UI design and creation
VFX creation and implementation
Concept art team vision and focus
Outsourced production
Project schedule and scope
Licensor / client relationships
Team building
Career development
//Lighting Expert Skill Set//
Unity / Unreal Engine Development
Advanced real-time lighting systems
PBR Shading workflows
Advanced material creation
Post process systems
Performance Optimization
Software rendered animation
Color theory and color scripting
Cinematography
Graphic design
Video editing and compositing
Asset quality and version control
Outsourced asset integration
//Education Summery//
SAE Expression College: Emeryville, CA 1999 ā 2002
Associate of Science / Digital Visual Media
While attending SAE Expression College I was educated in a wide variety of digital visual media formats including film, television, web, and interactive mediums. It was an excellent experience to become familiar with the tools and workflows of creative individuals across many industries before finally focusing on 3D art development and eventually lighting and rendering for games and film.
655 Bradford St. #938
Redwood City, CA 94063
T: 1.650.619.9759
E: LeifEstes@gmail.com