info@kickstand.tv
Innovative content often calls for cutting-edge techniques to bring it to life. Kickstand puts the emphasis on fresh techniques developed systematically through research and design. Our unique production model raises the bar for content, inspiring us to push new forms of creative expression, tell stories with more nuance and complexity, and develop more efficient and sophisticated pipelines throughout.
With almost 30 years of combined industry experience, Kickstand can provide content development, consulting, tools development, pipeline engineering, and character creation that's tailored to your studio's needs. We look forward to the opportunity to thoroughly tackle new production challenges and work with you to create the best possible result.
SERVICES
Custom Plugin Development
Pipeline Research and Development
Tutorials and Consultations
Preproduction/Pitch Development
TOOLS
StretchMesh
openPipeline
CLIENTS
Curious Pictures, New York, NY
Spark Unlimited, Los Angeles, CA
The Third Floor, Los Angeles, CA
Thornberg and Forester, New York, NY
The Studio, New York, NY
Hush, New York, NY
Hornet, New York, NY
JWTwo, New York, NY
Edit1, New York, NY
Creaturehaus, Wellington, New Zealand
DANIEL DAWSON / Character Technology
Daniel has been in the computer graphics industry for nearly ten years. Before founding Kickstand, he worked at DreamWorks Animation as a Character Technical Director on films such as "Shrek 2", "Shrek the Third", and "Monsters vs. Aliens". While at DreamWorks, he was given a technical achievement award for his involvement in the development of a system for animating and simulating hair. He presented on behalf of DreamWorks at The Visual Effects Society, and Siggraph. Daniel also worked in the video game industry as a modeler and character technical director. He worked on the NBA2K series of games published by Sega Sports.
Greg developed the patented pipeline at Launch, in New York, that provides the flexibility and speed demanded by test commercial production. Greg presented at the Autodesk Developer Conference and Autodesk's Masterclass with his unique knowledge in the Autodesk MotionBuilder SDK. He started his education at The Ohio State University in Computer Science and Engineering and finished in the Computer Animation program at Full Sail Real World Education. Greg began his development career at The Ballistic Pixel Lab in Orlando, Florida where he created tools and pipelines for 3D character animations, game cinematics, and an online 3D home interior design application.
ROB O'NEILL / Research + Design
Rob received his BA in Anthropology from Brooklyn College (CUNY) and an MFA in Digital Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design. Previous to founding Kickstand, he was a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, Character Technical Director at DreamWorks Animation on "Shrek 2" and "Madagascar", Character Technical Director at Charlex, Studio Technical Director at Eyebeam, and Director of the Digital Arts Research Lab at Pratt Institute. He is the author of the textbook "Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice" and is on the Digital Arts faculty at Pratt Institute and a Mentor at TD College.
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