Intro

Long ago when I was a child, I was told by one of my mentors that my future career was most likely not even invented yet. Interestingly enough that wasn't too far from the truth. Though not often predictable my evolution into the world of computer real-time simulation now appears rather logical when looking back on it.

Early Years In Print

My earliest exposure to the world of print was a school fieldtrip to the St. Petersburg Times. Perhaps it was the large, ominous printers or the potent smell of ink but after that I always had a fond appreciation for all things print. I would later realize just how large this world really was.

My first job at Litton Laser Systems was to support their reprographics department. Before long my predecessor left and I found myself running the small micro-department myself with my boss Les Smallwood. It was mostly creating dull proposals for government contracts but I was encouraged to push the envelope and struggled to add as much design and creativity as was tolerated by my engineering bretheren. Luckily my friend and colleague Rick Cottrell saw a smidge of talent (or ambition) and threw some business development work my way as there was a vacancy in his department.

Years later after graduating Full Sail University, One of my first jobs was as a desktop publisher for a low-budget magazine. The late night hours were a pain and the place was like a pressure cooker but it did allow me to hone my skills in quick design and assembly of a nationally-distributed magazine. I was mostly using Quark XPress at the time as well as Illustrator and of course photoshop in an all Mac office.

My next experience in print was while working as Art Director at Alpha Press. I was lucky they gave me plenty of artistic freedom and I learned a great deal more about offset printing and the ins and outs of running a print shop. About half of the day was spent setting up client work and the rest designing business collateral ranging from business cards to flyers, corporate logos to large format trade show displays. As most print shops go meeting deadlines are crutial and that meant going the extra mile whenever necessary, including driving out to pick up negatives--Does anybody do negatives anymore?

I still find though that the science and technology of the print industry only adds more depth and creativity. I do not currently find myself creating a lot of print media but when somebody needs advertising or writeups in my office, I always jump at the chance.

3D & Real-Time

I had always been a fan of computer animation since I was a kid watching the movie Tron or The Last Starfighter and even the Mind's Eye series. When I got behind my first 3D Studio Max program I was hooked for life. My 3D classes were some of my favorite at Full Sail and very soon after I found myself burning through many late nights modeling people, places and teapots (modeler joke).

My real-time classes and labs really whet my appetitie. My long love for video games only fanned the fire. The first video game I created was a boat racing game based on boats much like the ones in the Offshore Grand Prix. It was complete with single player, multi player and had fun features like tunnels, ramps and what game is complete without a volcano?

I got my first break into the visual simulation indutry at Quantum3D where their very rigid modeling standards allowed me to improve the accuracy of my modeling skills. After a few years I was given the chance to run our small modeling staff and take control of our company 3D Facets Library. I also expanded my knowledge to terrain database creation, with a small amount of project management and ATP. I took further steps to increase this knowledge of GIS and found that I really enjoyed it. I therefore took classes at UCF in GIS and learned more about the ESRI software and geo-spatial theory in general.

After moving on to help create a Professional Services USA division for CAE, Inc. I was able to create more sophisticated databases and learn more aspects of the production and program management process. I also received more security training and instruction on ITAR and export restriction procedures.