Valentin Nadolu

Lead 3D Artist

Bucharest, Romania
I like cars. I build 3d cars using computers. I like computers too.

Work Experience

Indg

Lead Artist

I was in charge of the low poly asset creation for the Yamaha My Garage apps which INDG is building from Yamaha Europe and the Honda Africa Twin augmented reality app.
Duties:
Creating high quality 3d motorcycles to be used for the previously mentioned apps:
Low poly (~200.000 triangles) optimized models with Uvs for use in Unity.
Texture baking and creation using Maya, xNormal, Photoshop, Substance Designer and Painter.
Developing the pipeline necessary to convert a high resolution model usually used to render studio shots into a model usable in Unity.
Creating the asset-side project structure from geometry budgets to material and texture setup taking into consideration mobile platform limitations.
Translating the client requirements for bike parts into Unity using prefabs, shared and unique shader and textures.
Coordinating the team by ensuring each artist understands the provided documentation, deciding asset assignments based on difficulty and experience.
Providing QA for the team, making sure everything follows the technical guidelines.
Evaluating each artist and providing training for low poly asset pipelines, UV and advanced texture baking techniques using Substance Designer.
Writing scripts and researching new pipeline ideas that help optimize workflow.
Creating a pipeline that use 3ds Max and Maya and while insuring full interoperability between the two programs and Unity when it comes to geometry, UVs and baked textures.
April 2015 - August 2016 Bucharest, Romania

AMC PIXEL FACTORY

Lead Artist

In charge of the Vehicle Department, my task was to make sure the team follows the technical and artistic guidelines received from the client.
As the QA of the team, I had the task of signing off any 3d vehicles before they were sent to the client making sure they fit their specifications.
Another of my responsibilities was to evaluate each artist and make sure everyone in the vehicle team was able to meet the same quality level when it comes to 3d modeling and textures.
As a car aficionado, I acted as the on-site encyclopedia of everything car related.
I developed scripts and came up with novel modeling techniques that would help the team improve their performance.
For the first three years in this position, I was also in charge of the Vehicle Department's schedule, working with Microsoft Project and our internal scheduler to both track and plan the work of the team.
May 2005 - December 2014 Romania

AMC PIXEL FACTORY

Project Manager

My main job was planning the tasks for the entire art team and making sure everything goes according to the schedule as well as acting as the main link between AMC and the client.
In my spare time I still act as a consultant to the team on technical aspects of 3d modeling in Maya, scripts, plugins and pipeline ideas.
July 2011 - June 2013 Bucharest, Romania

AMC PIXEL FACTORY

Lead Artist

I was in charge of the Vehicle team working for one of the biggest multi-platform AAA titles to come out this year.
Also doing research on substances and developing Mel scripts to help the Graphics team.
June 2013 - December 2014 Bucharest, Romania

Indg

Lead 3D Artist

April 2015 - Bucharest, Romania

Skills

Adobe Photoshop, 3D Modeling, Autodesk Maya, Cars, Photo Manipulation, Pipeline Creation, Project Management, Scripting, Texturing,