Drew Perttula, drewp@bigasterisk.com
Belmont, 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, pipeline engineer, 2007 - present
- Write and maintain tools for character effects department
Pacific Data Images, cloth animator, September 2004 - 2007
- 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
