Kevin Ackbar
Outsource Lead (Animation) @Dambuster Studios
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WORK HISTORY
Outsource Lead (Animation) @Dambuster Studios
My current role at Dambuster Studios is focused on supporting the inhouse Animation team by partnering with top Outsource vendors to help deliver animations that bring our stories and worlds to life. My responsibilities are:• Sourcing and vetting vendors, including in-person meets at conferences, and by creating a comprehensive testing process • Building and maintaining strong and trusted relationships with our partner studios• Proactively managing the outsourcing process, by defining strategies, setting standards, and developing and maintaining efficient pipelines• Taking overall responsibility for the creation of briefs, feedback, and integration of animation assets into the game• Collaborating with our Production team on project scheduling, budgeting, and tracking, keeping key stakeholders up to date• Managing and raising risks and issues where appropriate• Owning communications between both external and internal teams, being a conduit to build bridges to foster an extension of our team ethos
EDUCATION
Bournemouth University
Master of Arts - MA, Computer Animation (specialising in game production)
University of the West of England
Bachelor of Arts - BA, Graphic Design (specialising in traditional animation)
ABOUT KEVIN ACKBAR
An animator and 3D artist for most of my 24-year career, these days I\'m fully focused on Outsource Management, harnessing that artistic background to inform my day-to-day work. Adaptable, highly organised - and with a friendly, positive personality to match - my experience includes roles at signature studios such as Disney, Eidos and Codemasters and work on games spanning a range of genres. I\'m passionate about computer games and, by collaborating with a wide variety of teams, my ambitions are to get the best out of people to achieve the best quality work.KEY ACHIEVEMENTS• Successful creation of a full cycle Outsource Department from scratch, creating positive change by driving new initiatives on practices and workflows, whilst building rapport with vendors• Responsible for significant budgets, with a track record of delivering thousands of assets across multiple disciplines and projects• Experience in leading Outsource, Animation and Character teams• Representing my company at game developer conferences to forge new relationships with outsource vendors• Testing and onboarding outsource vendors to align with our pipeline• Arranging and leading an onsite training trip to a partner studio based in IndiaMANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE• Building and maintaining strong working relationships with outsource vendors• Project management, including planning, scheduling and tracking• Arranging and negotiating contracts• Simultaneously managing multiple external teams across various time zones and projects• Coordinating reviews and feedback on externally produced artwork• Line management responsibilities, staff appraisals, hiring and interviewingART EXPERIENCECut scene animation production (storyboards, animatics, rigging, skinning, motion capture, facial animation), hard surface and organic 3D modelling (weapons, vehicles, characters, environments), 2D concept art, video editing, post productionSOFTWARE EXPERIENCE3D Studio Max, Unreal Engine, Maya, MotionBuilder, Photoshop, Microsoft Office Suite, Jira, Confluence, Miro, TeamGantt, Float, Premiere, After Effects, InDesign, Illustrator, Revit, AutoCADRELEASED TITLESToca Race Driver, IndyCar Series, Toca Race Driver 2, Colin McRae Rally 2005, Conflict: Vietnam, Conflict: Global Storm, Conflict: Denied Ops, Split Second, Train Sim World 2, 3, 4 & 5 plus multiple DLC packs
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