Adam Barnes
Adam is in charge of animation of the Burke Baker Planetarium in the Houston Museum of Natural Science. His main duties include production and file management. He creates the special effects and animation that appear on the planetarium films. In addition, he will occasionally run and explain the show. The best part of the job is the instant gratification and feedback he receives when customers at the Planetarium are happy and amazed with what they see. Adam says that he feels lucky to have such an exciting job and his hard work and confidence helped him obtain his position.
Adam Barnes is a 3D Animator for Burke Baker Planetarium
Houston, Texas
Spring 2001 Graduate
Daryl Stimley
Daryl is a 3-D Animator/ Technical Illustrator for Aniden Interactive, a company which specializes in corporate visualization. Daryl is a storyteller, helping Fortune 500 corporations visualize products for their customer.
While in school Daryl learned how to work with sophisticated programs like 3D Max and Photoshop. He believes that being a professional employee is just as important as the technical skills he learned. Daryl had five Internships before he landed the job with Aniden and recommends Internship experience to all students. Daryl received an award at the 2001 Technical Publications, Art, and Online Competitions for one of his projector projects.
Daryl Stimley is a 3D Animator/ Technical Illustrator for Aniden Interactive
Houston, Texas
Winter 2000 Graduate
Gilbert Ruiz
Gilbert always knew he wanted to be an artist. When he was deciding what to major in at The Art Institute of Houston, computer animation seemed to be the most creative and challenging of all the programs.
During his second quarter he found a part-time job in his field. He was able to get on-the-job training and the more he learned in school the more work he could do. Graduating from The Art Institute of Houston gave Gilbert credibility with consultants and clients. This formal training has given him the confidence to regard himself as a professional in his field.
Gilbert’s job includes 3-D modeling and animation as well as graphic design, web design, video editing and presentation authoring. His best project has been the animation for the proposed METRO Light Rail – seeing his work on TV was certainly an added bonus.
Gilbert Ruiz is a Visualization Specialist for Rocha Vizualization, Inc. (RVI)
Houston, Texas
Spring 2000 Graduate
Hector Salinas, Jr.
Hector has always been interested in traditional drawing and video games. Naturally studying 3-D animation at The Art Institute of Houston was the next step once he realized that careers in art existed within the gaming industry. He credits his instructors for the success he enjoys today. Hector valued their honesty, and high expectations. His instructors encouraged Hector to be and do his best.
Hector suggests “You must find out what you want to do with the knowledge that The Art Institute of Houston has given you. The sooner you start taking responsibility for your work and begin applying your knowledge to what you want to do, the better your portfolio will be. This will help get you into the industry in which you want to work.”
Hector Salinas, Jr. is a Lead Artist for SharkByte Software
Houston, Texas
Summer 2001 Graduate
Joe Castillo
Joe Castillo works as part of a team of three who precisely animate the details of a wide variety of events such as vehicle accident reconstruction, equipment failure, construction and refinery accidents, providing evidence for court cases. Their work turns the engineer’s representation into explainable forms that help prosecutors understand the situation. Joe, along with two team members who are all graduates from The Art Institute of Houston, has tight deadlines and timetables that must be met for court cases. His ability to balance a full-time job while in school showed his boss his time management abilities and was one of the reasons she hired him. Now he works with animation, graphics, marketing materials, presentations, and video editing for trials. He says that two of the best things about the job are the variety of work along with the team atmosphere.
Joe Castillo is a Web Designer for AECsoft USA, Inc.
Houston, Texas
Summer 2003 Graduate
Juan De Anda
Juan has always enjoyed being creative with art and writing. Struggling with ways to incorporate either into a career, (while he was reading a video game magazine) he came across an ad for The Art Institute of Houston degree program in Animation. He knew then that this was what he wanted to do.
Being an expert witness is one of many things that comprise Juan’s job description. He has been called to court to explain how computer animation works and he also designed the Harris County District Attorney seal. Jaun is most proud of being the Head of the Graphics Department and says the best part of his job is knowing that what he’s doing will bring some sort of justice to the world.
Juan De Anda is a Computer Animator for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office
Houston, Texas
Spring 2002 Graduate
Lauren Wilson, Jonathan Page & Erich Schraub
Lauren Wilson, Jonathan Page, and Erich Schraub are a three-person team of 3D animators with Baker Oil Tools, a company renowned throughout the oil and gas industry. Lauren, the lead 3D Animator, graduated from The Art Institute of Houston in December of 1999 and later hired Jonathan and Erich for their talent and dedication. As a strong team of 3D animators, they gather ideas in-house and from customers to animate projects such as oil drilling and production equipment. These projects serve as models to help the customer better understand the processes and tools manufactured by Baker Oil Tools.
Lauren Wilson, Jonathan Page & Erich Schraub are 3D Animators for Baker Oil Tools
Houston, Texas
Winter 1999, Winter 1999 & Fall 2001 Graduate
Michael N. Perez
Michael loves video games and knew that he wanted to get in the industry at an early age. Toward the end of elementary school he decided that he wanted to go into the gaming industry as either a writer for a game magazine or in a game developer. When the fi lm industry began to rely on computer graphics, he decided that he wanted to become a 3D Artist.
Michael attended Communications Art High School in San Antonio. While there he had an internship with Newtek and learned his fi rst animation software program. Currently, he is employed by C4 Communications and works on industrial modeling and animation. He would tell animation students that he is where he is today because of the hard work and time into his school projects – he would not settle for mediocrity.
Michael N. Perez is a 3D Modeler/Animator/ Video Editor for C4 Communications
Houston, Texas
Winter 2001 Graduate
Michael Schoonover
Michael has always loved drawing and for years wanted to learn animation. The Art Institute of Houston provided him with the skills and tools needed to pursue computer animation. “Now, I have a career not only in my fi eld of study, but I get to do a whole lot more.” Currently, Michael works on Design Visualization at the Texas Department of Transportation. He works on all stages of production, which include story boards, going on location for video shoots, capturing and editing the video footage, and audio beds. He then follows up with the animation and graphics for the video. Michael truly has been a success in his field, and has even had a video submitted for an award by a client.
Michael Schoonover is a Designer for Texas Department of Transportation
Houston, Texas
Winter 2001 Graduate
Oscar D. Garza
All of his life, Oscar has been a fan of animated fi lms and dreamed of one day working in the fi eld. Attending The Art Institute of Houston was the fi rst formal step that helped him realize his dream. His specialty is character design. This class best prepared him for his current job with Motion Pixel. Every day he goes to work he models and animates characters. While in school, Oscar interned with the Better Business Bureau where he created “Scam Man,” a comic strip aimed at preventing common scams and schemes.
Oscar will tell you the best part of being an Animator is “when people talk about my characters as if they are real people, knowing full well that they are not.”
Oscar D. Garza is an Animator for Motion Pixel Co.
Houston, Texas
Summer 2003 Graduate
Ray Pena & David Salaiz
Ray and David are artists and animators for Acclaim Studios. Acclaim develops and publishes software for Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sega, and personal hardware systems. They develop high-quality products for current and next-generation gaming systems.
Acclaim distributes to over 50,000 stores in over 50 countries. Ray and David work on design, modeling, and texturing characters and weapons. They set them up for animation by building the skeleton, IK system, constraints, helpers and skinning, and then animating them. Ray and David learned that it takes a lot of hard work and time to get where you want to be in this fi eld. Ray says that, “I spent many, many hours at school learning and creating a demo reel and portfolio.” He will soon be featured in the “Day in the Life of…” section of Animation Magazine.
Ray Pena & David Salaiz are Artists/Animators for Acclaim Studios
Austin, Texas
Winter 1997 & Spring 2001 Graduate
Scott Cawthon
Scott is the Senior Animator for Rock ‘N Learn, a that which uses animation and music entertainment teaching educational material to young children. Their programs have received numerous prestigious awards from such groups as Dr. Toy, Parents’ Choice, National Parenting Publications, Learning Magazine, Teacher’s Choice, Early Childhood News, and National Parenting Center. Scott animates all of the company’s 3D artwork and is working on his fourth video. He enjoys being in charge of every aspect of every project. He says that one of the reasons he got his current job was because of a 15 minute cartoon he created in addition to his portfolio. “Everyone has a portfolio. You have to stand out.” Scott knows that as long as he loves to animate, he stays motivated and continues to build on his skills.
Scott Cawthon is a Senior Animator for Rock ‘N Learn
Conroe, Texas
Winter 1998 Graduate