Project Overview

This page gives a summary of some of the bigger projects I have had the pleasure to be involved in. If you just want to see some artwork, head straight to the pages for each of the projects. If you want to get some background information, please read on.

Jim Knopf

"Jim Knopf und Lukas, der Lokomotivüfhrer" (Jim Button and Lukas, the engine driver) is the full title of the game and the book it is based on. Amazon.de is a good place to find some feedback on, or purchase the game. The book is by Michael Ende, most famous for "The Neverending Story". It is popular in Germany, not only because of the book, but also because of a well known TV puppet show a whole generation grew up to.

My Involvement

This is the biggest and longest running project I've been working on yet. All together I was involved in it for almost 4 years. I became part of it early on and participated in creating pre-production prototypes, concepts and presentations during the aquisition phase.

To achieve a fusion of the classic hand-drawn animation look with the added depth 3D imagery offers, the characters were created and animated in 3D with celshading. Many, if not most, locations and backgrounds in the game were also created in 3D and then further modified and painted on in 2D (this was done by Urs Streidl at Gigaperls).

This project was a challenge, as I was new to character modeling and animation. I like challenges though, so I taught myself the required techniques. I ended up doing just about everything 3D in the game (with the exception of some animations for the opening sequence): characters, objects, sets and background scenery, rigging, animation, etc. I also created all the lowpolygon content for the driving segments, which utilized a realtime 3D game engine, and built some of the levels.

Singemaus

"Singemaus" is a game based on a character from songs by Detlev Jöcker, who is a popular songwriter for children's music here in Germany. The goal was to create a game suited for his audience (approx. 3-6 years).

The game's most unique feature are the movement games that interrupt regular gameplay at certain points. The kids are encouraged to join either Detlev Jöcker in performing some fun excerices (Detlev was shot on video in front of a bluescreen and then composited into the gameworld), or follow animated finger excercises performed by Singemaus, always to a specifically written song.

My Involvement

I designed, modeled and animated the main character Singemaus. I also created a more detailed 3D rendering for the cover art, a secondary character, a few background elements and the animated finger movement games. I also composited live bluescreen footage into the game environment.