About


Presenting my Research Poster at SIGGRAPH 2018 in Vancouver Canada

Hello, my name is Matt Justice, and I am a Look Development Artist working in the animation industry. Since July 2021, I have been employed at Laika, where I am contributing to the upcoming feature film Wildwood.

I earned my Master of Science in Visualization from Texas A&M University in the fall of 2018. During that same year, I completed an internship at Pixar Animation Studios as a Sets Technology Intern on the feature film Soul. My graduate thesis was recognized as a Semi-Finalist in the Graduate Student Research Competition at SIGGRAPH 2018, an achievement that remains a highlight of my academic career.

I am originally from Coconut Creek, Florida, and later relocated to the Orlando area to attend the University of Central Florida, where I earned my undergraduate degree in Digital Media – Visual Language.

Prior to my graduate studies, I spent three years in Los Angeles working at Stereo D in Burbank as a Compositor, contributing to the stereoscopic conversion of 16 feature films for 3D stereo theatrical release.

I did the look dev and textures on the cg ivy, cg coyote, and buck characters in this title reveal. 


Education

Texas A&M University – College Station, Texas

M.S. in Visualization (2018)

  • Graduate Thesis: Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR)
  • Publication: Justice, Matthew; Akleman, Ergun. “A Process to Create Dynamic Landscape Paintings Using Barycentric Shading with Control Paintings.” SIGGRAPH 2018 Posters

University of Central Florida – Orlando, Florida

B.A. in Digital Media – Visual Language (2012)

  • Created a five-minute animated short film over four semesters, learning the complete animation pipeline from professors who were former Disney artists.


Professional Experience

Laika Animation – Hillsboro, Oregon

Look Development Artist (July 2021 – Present)

  • Develop shaders for characters using the Lama shading system in RenderMan.
  • Perform look development for characters, props, and environment assets.
  • Groom characters using Houdini and proprietary Katana operations.
  • Project: Wildwood

Brazen Animation – Dallas, Texas

Look Development / Lighting Artist (Dec 2019 – Jun 2020)

  • Created textures for characters and environments using Substance Painter.
  • Lit and composited shots using Maya, V-Ray, and Nuke.
  • Projects: Magic: The Gathering Mobile Trailer, Teamfight Tactics Mobile Trailer

Texas A&M University – College Station, Texas

Graduate Assistant / Teaching Assistant / Program Aide (2015 – 2019)

  • Supported the Visualization Department in multiple instructional and production roles.
  • Managed the Vizagogo student art exhibition, curating installations in downtown Bryan, Texas.
  • Coordinated guest lectures from Pixar artists for the Student SIGGRAPH Chapter.
  • Taught undergraduates and graduates the Linux/Mac animation production pipeline (Maya, RenderMan, Nuke).
  • Served as Render Wrangler and collaborated with IT on pipeline infrastructure.
  • Supported Pixar’s Summer Industry Course, managing four graduate teams and coordinating studio reviews.

Pixar Animation Studios – Emeryville, California

Sets Technology Intern (Sep 2018 – Dec 2018)

  • Developed OSL/GLSL Ray Marcher shaders and procedural assets.
  • Created grass and leaf shaders using OSL within a proprietary DSO architecture.
  • Project: Soul

Stereo D – Burbank, California

Stereo Compositor / Depth Artist (Apr 2013 – Jul 2015)

  • Composited elements for 3D stereo conversion.
  • Developed custom Nuke tools to refine motion blur on rendered depth maps.
  • Projects: Everest, Ant-Man, Jurassic World, San Andreas, Mad Max: Fury Road, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hercules, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, Transcendence, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Need for Speed, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, R.I.P.D.

Geomotion – Orlando, Florida

3D Artist (Jan 2012 – May 2012)

  • Created 3D graphics for children’s educational content.

The Spot – University of Central Florida

Graphic Designer (Jan 2010 – Jun 2010)

  • Designed promotional graphics for local businesses through an on-campus print shop.


Additional Involvement

  • SIGGRAPH Student Volunteer – Anaheim, California (2016)
  • Texas A&M Visualization Summer Industry Course – Collaborated with DreamWorks artists (2016)
  • Texas A&M Vizagogo Committee – Event organizer, curator, and promotional designer (2016–2019)
2018 Fall Interns at Pixar


Vizagogo 24 Crew - Annual Viz Department Show at TAMU







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