Damon Smith

Summary
Technical Artist and 3D Generalist with 4+ years of experience bridging art and engineering in real-time projects. Skilled in performance-optimized asset creation, custom shaders, rigging, and pipeline scripting. Background includes mobile AR development, Unity/Unreal, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Adept at solving visual, technical, and workflow challenges across the full art-to-engine pipeline. Looking to contribute to cutting-edge projects with a passionate and innovative team.

Work Experience
ChemCop CTO / Lead Developer
August 2024 to Present

  • Planned architecture and chose technologies for all projects.
  • Built apps with PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, and Power Platform.
  • Developed tools for field ops, bidding, and reporting.
  • Created dashboards for business intelligence.
  • Worked directly with clients to define needs and deliver solutions.
  • Researched civil engineering topics to build accurate systems.

Beyond Studio 3D Generalist
January 2022 to December 2024

  • Created performant, high-quality assets for mobile AR applications, meeting strict frame rate and memory benchmarks.
  • Handled look development by authoring custom shaders and implementing lighting for real-time environments.
  • Packaged, organized, and managed large-scale asset libraries across multi-team projects.
  • Rigged and animated characters to enhance interactivity and immersion in AR experiences.
  • Collaborated cross-functionally with artists and developers to align visuals with technical and creative goals.

Gamesters' Paradise Operations Manager
September 2016 to January 2021

  • Developed web app solution to automate administrative tasks, saving the company $38,000 a year.
  • Enhanced company discoverability through SEO improvements, eliminating marketing costs.
  • Created a customer kiosk to optimize workflows and improve user experience.

Personal Projects
  • Battle of Hoth Snapchat game 06/2024 - 08/2024
  • VRChat Created Environments and a character for the game VRChat 05/2021 - 08/2021
  • The Alleyway Asset Pack: Created modular 3D assets for sale on Unity Asset Store 09/2019 - 12/2019

The Today Foundation Instructor
June 2009 to August 2009
  • Designed and delivered a comprehensive course in 3D modeling and programming.

Skills
  • 3D Modeling
  • PBR Texturing and Materials
  • Shader Creation
  • Character Rigging and Animation
  • Lighting, Baking, and Rendering
  • Mobile, VR, and AR Game Development
  • Real-Time Optimization and Performance Tuning

Software and Tools
  • Unity, Unreal Engine, LensStudio
  • C#, Shader Graph, Blueprint, Javascript, Python, PHP
  • Blender, Lightwave 3D, Marvelous Designer
  • Substance Painter, Adobe Photoshop
  • Git, Plastic SCM, Familiar with Perforce

Education
Panola College
Associate Degree, General Studies - 2013
The Today Foundation
Certification, Be the Game Program - 2008