Drew Perttula, drewp@bigasterisk.com

San Leandro, California

Education

University of California at Berkeley, College of Engineering (1996 - 2000)
B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, December 2000

Skills

Programming languages

• Scripting language programming and integration:
  • Developed Tcl and Python modules to interface with OpenGL and custom hardware
  • Used Tcl, Perl, Python with numerous libraries for a variety of applications including e-commerce, arcade games, OpenGL animation systems, image and video processing, hardware automation
• Selected systems programming projects:
  • Developed a calibrated image displayer to flash images for precise intervals for vision science experiments at UC Berkeley
  • Wrote a webcam application that allows web visitors to zoom, pan, and brighten a live video image
• Fluent in C, Python, Perl, Tcl/tk, OpenGL
• Familiar with Java, C++, Scheme, Pascal, MIPS assembly, Renderman

Graphics applications

• Expert: Maya, Photoshop, Gimp, After Effects, POV-Ray, Media 100
• Familiar with: Pixar's RenderMan Toolkit, Blue Moon Rendering Tools, Final Cut Pro

Experience

• Expert integrator of high-level code (such as Python) with low-level code (such as C) for high-performance yet rapidly-developed systems
• Familiar with DV formats, compression issues, and production pipeline issues
• Linux user and programmer since 1995
• Teaching experience with Windows and Mac applications

Selected work experience

Pacific Data Images, cloth animator, September 2004 - Present

• Animate cloth in production shots
• Develop cloth garments from artwork
• Write and maintain tools for character effects department

Pacific Data Images, resource assistant, August 2003 - September 2004

• Write new tools and improve existing tools to streamline the wrangler workflow by visualizing and summarizing critical data
• Schedule, inspect, and troubleshoot production renders

Blue and Gold Fleet, contractor, December 2001 - Present

• Python and Zope interface with a proprietary database for a ticketing system
• Reports and visualization of sales logs and ticketing information on Linux and Solaris
• System administration on Linux and Solaris

Silicon Grail, volunteer, April 2001 - June 2002

• Tester for Rayz compositing software
• Reported over 620 bugs and comments to the development team
• Exercised Rayz in several personal projects incorporating 2D and 3D elements (including multi-pass)
• Wrote six plugins as they were needed on productions

Piedmont Light Opera Theater, 1989 - 2003

• Lighting designer and operator
• Built a stand-alone, computer-controlled lighting system including custom mechanical effects (1999)
• Co-created another computerized lighting controller to interface to existing DMX dimmers (2002). The software can perform arbitrary lighting effects via a plug-in system and can read manual input from a specially-built control panel.

Teaching

• Head teaching assistant for computer architecture course (UC Berkeley, Spring 2001)
• Teaching assistant for digital design course (UC Berkeley, Spring 2000)
• Private tutoring on Windows and Macintosh platforms (1988 - Present)
• Reading tutor at Longfellow Elementary School in Oakland (Spring 2001 - Present)

Selected video projects

AASK documentary video, August 2002 - October 2002

• Shot five days of DV footage
• Created a new system with Python, PyXML, GTK+, libdv, and other open-source components to transcribe all the footage
• Created a new timeline-based editor system with open-source components to cut the video and mix the audio

Employee Recognition Dinner video for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, March 2002

• Developed the visual style for the video projections at the dinner
• Created a pipeline with Python, Gimp, and Rayz to auto-generate 154 video clips in seven styles
• Wrote custom video playback system and operator interface to sequence the videos, loops, and stills dynamically at the show
• Operated the video playback system and played music cues throughout the two-hour presentation

"Memories of You", dir. Shane Pollack, post-production work at PDI, January 2002

• Performed compositing and rotoscoping to add rain to a scene, recolor moving elements, and add interactive sparkle to an object
• Wrote a new Rayz plugin to perform a soft-edged tile operation that was needed for the rain effect
• Wrote ad hoc shell scripts to distribute Rayz renders and image conversions over a render farm

"The Third Testament", 2001

• Created an animated crowd using Gimp and Perl to place 2,300 individually moving people in a panorama
• Created church interior explosion with POV-Ray and Rayz
• Wrote a Rayz plugin to do a shafts-of-light effect
• Performed other bluescreen and compositing work

Quadblocker invention, marketing video, 1998

• 3D realization of 2D technical drawings in POV-Ray
• Custom photogrammetry software to reconstruct 3D geometry from a series of stills
• Composited existing video footage to depict how the invention would affect a real incident