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Meet Jon Robins

Lead Character Technical Artist at Striking Distance Studios
Jon Robins

About Jon

About Jon

Realtime Mentor

Jon currently works as a Lead Character Technical Artist at Striking Distance Studios where he loves solving problems and helping teams in as many ways as he can.

Jon has moved around from rigging, to tools, to building design systems for games. He enjoys working with students and sharing his passion for the games industry.

  

Jon's games

Credits include Marvel's Avengers, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Iron Man 2, and Resident Evil 5 to name a few.

Marvel's Avengers
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
IronMan2
Resident Evil 5

Q&A with Jon

Which city are you currently based in?

I currently Live in Half Moon Bay California, just south of San Francisco. It's a small secluded foggy beach town, I love it.

What did your pathway into the industry look like?
I was lucky enough to meet someone touring our final project lab from House of Moves as I was one of the only people interested in mocap when he was touring. Once graduating, I moved from Florida to San Diego to try and get a job with a friend. I ended up getting a call back from the guy I met in school with House of Moves and started a 6-month contract as an animator. Then I moved to a full-time Lead Tech Artist position. Wanting to be in games for rigging, I hit up another friend and got my first game studio job in the San Francisco area at Nihilistic Software Inc.
What has been the best experience of your career so far?
Working with the teams at ILM on the early development of systems used for stereo facial capture and tracking to be used on our project Star Wars: 1313 and current films at ILM.
What’s your advice for students?

Reach out to your peers and do projects with them or get to know them. Growth happens by surrounding yourself with friends or peers who share your passion as an artist or developer. Your friend will 9/10 times be the person who helps you get your foot in the door.

Learn from industry pros 

What do you enjoy most about being a CG Spectrum mentor?
Helping share my passion and methods of solving problems in the games industry, and having fun doing it.
How do you stay creative outside of work?
In my free time I love to mountain bike in the hills of Santa Cruz, or snowboard in North Lake Tahoe. When I need a break I skateboard and play with my 2 kids here on the coast in Half Moon Bay.
What excites you most about the future of realtime?
That there are still so many unsolved problems with the convergence of film and real-time engines.

Learn more about Jon's experience or connect with him on LinkedIn.

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