Phone : +91-44-4890321
E-mail: sjagan@hotmail.com
Web Page: https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/
Mailing Address:
F14, HIG Flats
Anna Main Road,
KK Nagar,
Chennai - 600 078.
Tamil Nadu.
INDIA.

OBJECTIVE :

To develop software that helps create stunning computer graphics imagery for motion pictures, television or games.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT [Also my First!]:

Escher, my realtime VRML + Java based interactive 3D design modeler was selected for demonstration at the prestigious Web3D Round-up at VRML99, Paderborn, Germany. Every year, the Web3D Round-up features the best interactive 3D works available on the Internet.

You can experience Escher at https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/escher/escher3d/

SKILLS:

3D Programming Languages :
Maya Embedded Language (MEL) and Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML 2.0 and VRML 97)

Traditional Programming Languages :
Java, C++, C and Pascal

Operating Systems :
IRIX 5.3 - 6.4, Windows 95 | NT and MS-DOS.

Scripting Languages:
Maya Embedded Language (MEL) and Shell script (sh, csh) on UNIX systems

Programming Libraries:

• Maya Software Development Kit (OpenMaya API and MEL)
• Kahlua for Open Inventor programming in Java,
• Java Foundation Classes for Cross Platform GUI development in Java,
• External Authoring Interface for Linking VRML worlds with Java,
• Win32 SDK for developing Windows applications using C and
• Adobe Photoshop SDK for writing plugins for Adobe Photoshop on Windows 95|NT

3D Software Packages :
Working Knowledge of A|W Maya 1.0, A|W Power Animator 8.x and Kinetix 3D Studio MAX 2.5.

2D Software Package :
Working Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop 5 on Windows 95/98/NT.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

A: May 1999 to Present:

Company : Pentafour Software + Exports Limited, Chennai, India

Job Description : CG Software Developer

Work Profile:

I design and develop plugins for doing Facial animation, Hand animation and Wind simulation in Alias | Wavefronts MAYA using MEL and C++. Please see ACCOMPLISHMENTS section below for specific projects.

B: September 1998 to May 1999:

Job Description : Freelance CG Software Developer

Work Profile:

I developed Character and FX animation plugins for Alias | Wavefronts MAYA using the Maya Embedded Language (MEL) and C++. Please see ACCOMPLISHMENTS section below for specific projects.

C: August 1997 to August 1998

Company : EFX, Chennai, India

Job Title: Production Software Engineer

Work Profile:

I was the sole member of the Research and Development Division (recognized by the Government of India). I designed and developed all their production software and reported to the Director Please see ACCOMPLISHMENTS section below for specific projects

INTERNSHIPS:

A: January 1997 to June 1997

Company : Techlead Software Engineering Limited, Pune, India

Work Experience: I developed a web page for Techlead and learned the following programming languages:

1. Java

2. Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML 2.0 and VRML 97)

These languages helped me in writing most production software at EFX and demonstrating them over the Internet.

B: June 1995 to August 1995:

Company : Prasad Video Digital, Chennai, India

Work Experience:
I got broad exposure in film and video making techniques on the SGI platform. Our team of three programmers developed an artistic explosion system in C using IRIS GL. During this time we got recognized by the Government of India for our Research and Development efforts. The Computer Graphics Department at Prasad Video Digital became EFX, where I am currently employed.

WEB PAGE:

My web pages at https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/ contain behind the scenes accounts, downloadble versions and online demos of my present and past production software.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

A. 3D PROJECTS:

A.1. N U K E :

N U K E enables MAYA Animators to use their Mouse as a Timing tool. The animator begins by selecting the objects he wants to retime. The keyframes of these objects are mapped onto a standard slider in the N U K E UI. When the animator drags this slider, N U K E notes the time at which the animator visited the keyframes and re-spaces them accordingly. Therefore, if the animator drags the slider fast, the retimed animation is snappy and vice-versa.

Download N U K E at https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/nuke/nuke.zip

A.2. F L I E S :

F L I E S is a system for animating flying insects in Alias | Wavefronts MAYA. F L I E S is entirely written in the Maya Embedded Language (MEL). The workflow is very simple: the animator selects a Fly object and the Box object in which the flies must fly. F L I E S then generates unique random flight paths for each fly. Flies can be lauched in layers, made to fly fast or slow, jitter or glide smoothly. Everything happens in realtime -- the user can change any flight parameter and see its effect on the flies immediately.

Download F L I E S at https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/flies/flies.zip

A.3. ESCHER:

Escher is a system for modeling visually rich designs directly on the geometry of a 3D mesh imported from Alias Power Animator 8.x. The user defines a pattern as a collection of triangles and Escher replaces the triangles of the input mesh with this pattern. An infinite variety of patterns can be created, applied to the mesh in layers and thus an infinite variety of designs can be produced.

Escher is written in Java and runs on IRIX and Windows NT. Download Escher at:

https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/escher/

A 2D pure Java demo (that runs on all platforms) and a 3D VRML + Java demo (that runs on the PC) of Escher is also available from the above address.

The 3D VRML + Java Demo was selected for demonstration at the prestigious Web3D RoundUp at VRML99, Paderborn, Germany.

A.4. XS:

XS is an interactive explosion system for Alias Power Animator 8.x. The object that gets exploded comes from an SDL file. Camera parameters are also read from it and everything goes into an Open Inventor Scene Graph. This scene graph is fed into an Examiner Viewer and the user watches the object explode in real-time. A bomb placed near the object causes this explosion and the user can change its position and strength. An editable gravity vector provides the necessary physical realism. XS outputs the explosion as a series of SDLs for the Alias Renderer to render. A static or an animated texture can be applied to the 3D mesh and XS makes sure that the exploding pieces take away the right texture chunk with them.

XS is written in Java and uses Kahlua [a Java wrapper for the Open Inventor library] for the Open Inventor interface. With Open Inventor execution environments on IRIX and NT it runs on both these platforms.

A.5. 3D MESH I|O LIBRARY:

A set of Java classes for reading and writing 3D meshes in OBJ or SDL format on IRIX and Windows NT. This library was used for developing Escher and XS.


B. 2D PROJECTS:

B.1 SCRATCH REMOVAL SYSTEM:

Removes vertical and horizontal scratches from an 8-bit SGI Image Sequence. The user begins by specifying a window enclosing the scratch and chooses one of the following methods to remove it:

• Linearly interpolate pixels on either side of the scratch window to arrive at a color value for the (scratched) pixel inside the window.
  
• In the scratched area, the blue channel is affected the most, followed by green and red channels. Assuming the red channel to be pure, map the relationship of red to green and red to blue pixels on either side of the scratch window to get a color value for the (scratched) pixel inside the window.
  
• According to the user-defined shape of the needle that may have caused the scratch, restore the red, green and blue channels.

Scratch Removal System is written in Java and runs on IRIX and Windows NT.

B.2 SGI IMAGE PLUGIN:

Reads and Writes 8-bit SGI RGB and RGBA images in Adobe Photoshop 4 (and above) on Windows 95 | Windows NT. It can read image data stored verbatim or compressed using the RLE scheme. However, it writes image data verbatim. SGI Image Plugin was developed using C and the Adobe Photoshop Software Development Kit.

Download the SGI Image Plugin at https://members.tripod.com/sjagannathan/sgi_plugin/

B.3 TORRENT:

Torrent is a script-based, extensible 2D effects system. It is actually a collection of modifiers. A modifier takes an 8-bit SGI Image sequence as input, modifies it in some way and writes an 8-bit SGI image sequence as output. Thus several modifiers can be layered together over a timeline to produce a c