Aiding Character Creation in Film

As a character technical director turned software engineer at DreamWorks Animation, Kirk Lansman ’11 (3D Digital Design) has worn many hats during his professional career. 

At DreamWorks, Lansman incorporates his computer science background in addition to the knowledge he obtained in RIT’s 3D Digital Design program. The ability to navigate the major curriculum while minoring in computer science while at RIT allowed Lansman to pursue a variety of multidisciplinary projects. The end result was a varied, marketable skill set that helped him launch his career at DreamWorks, where he provides support in character creation. 

Lansman’s older work as a character technical director was featured in many DreamWorks feature films, including “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and a “Rocky and Bullwinkle” short. He then became a software engineer, and now builds the tools to aid artists and designers in environment and character creation, such as those seen in “Kung Fu Panda 3.”

“The skills that I think were the most important are the most valuable stuff I couldn’t get just by watching tutorials,” Lansman said of how RIT prepared him for his career. “It was the constant communication and, more specifically, the constructive criticism I received from my professors and peers. They really drilled us on that. It was uncomfortable at first but it really is such a valuable professional skill.”