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say hello ︎︎
gracejieyi@gmail.com 




Portfolio


SUMMARY

contains: pipeline tools, four games, ray tracers, self-coded game engine, illustration, 2D animation 

This is a condensed portfolio, straight and to the point. If you’d like, explore more under +project archive in a much more dynamic website. Enjoy ︎


STATEMENT


Hi, I’m Grace Li!

I am looking to become a Technical Artist / Technical Director / Tools Programmer, and combine my interests and experience in visual art and coding+engineering. 

This shines through in my personal projects, from 2D and 3D developments in Unity and Unreal to creating my own game engine in Rust, as well as in my experience:

- as a Tools and Pipeline Tech Art Intern at Riot Games
- as a Software development at Microsoft
- Making immersive reality assets with music artists at Sony Music Columbia Records.

CONTACT 

︎ gracejieyi@gmail.com
︎ LinkedIn

EDUCATION 

B.A. in Computer Science from Pomona College (2019-2023) 

 






PIPELINE TOOLS FOR PBR TEXTURING PIPELINE


Python + PyQt + MEL + Substance Painter + Maya 

Summer 2023, Tools and Pipeline Technical Artist internship at Riot Games

Developed a Substance Texturing Pipeline for the Physically Based Rendering goals for Teamfight Tactics during my Tools and Pipeline Technical Artist Internship. 

First, I designined the pipeline and handling the goals of hand-painted physically based materials. 

Then, I designed and implemented five new tools in the softwares Maya, Substance Painter, and Riot’s proprietary game engine that handled: 

+ export and import 
+ file metadata 
+ file handling 
+ PBR material set up in proprietary engine (engine not shown, NDA) 

to support the new pipeline. 





SIMPLE RECURSIVE RAY TRACER


Python + Blender

April 2021 + CS 148 Stanford, self taught from syllabus*

Made simple recursive ray tracer to render separate images using Blinn-Phong lighting model including the reflections, fresnel, and transmission effects as well as taking into consideration aliasing and self-occlusion. 

* I took a semester off Spring 2021 to do Computer Graphics and Animation, and found all readings and projects off of a Stanford Computer Graphics course here. I went through the readings and projects myself to self-teach myself the material



MONTE CARLO RAY TRACER


Python + Blender
April 2021 + CS148 Stanford, self taught from syllabus 

Implemented a Monte Carlo recursive ray tracer using importance sampling with depth 3 and 16 samples to render images in the Cornell box using area light + 16 samples to do color bleeding, global illumination, and volumetric absorption.


SCENE + SHADER


Web GLSL + Javascript + Blender

Repository here
December 2022, class work

Simple scene, created a final project in WebGLSL for Computer Graphics course while abroad.

+ Blinn-Phong lighting
+ vertex and fragment shaders + Animation and modeling 
+ all primitive objects + texturing + normals done






Games Made in Unity


3D GAME: “ODIN’S PASSAGE”


Unity + C# + Blender

Repository here
Play the game here 
December 2022, class work


Made in Unity, group project of 3 made for final project in class. 

Worked on
+ game assets and animation (Mermaid low poly modeling in Blender)
+ collisions
+ level design
+ procedural level generation 

Viking Odyssey x Crossy Road! Explored the mechanics of a very popular game but with a Scandinavian twist to top off our semester abroad in Denmark.




2D PARTY STYLE GAME:  “ULTIMATE CHALLENGER”


Unity + C# + Illustration

Repository here 
Play the game here
October 2022, class work

Made in Unity, group project of 4 made for midterm project in class. 

Worked on art side:
+ sprite sheets
+ pixel art
+ game design and development for the game. 

Fast paced, party style game with many different mini-games. 






2D STORY GAME: “GHOST TOWN” 


Unity + C# + Photoshop

Repository here
Play the game here
(UI is not suited for web, this game jam was early in learning Unity. Sorry!) 
August 2022, class work


2-day game jam in a group of 4

Worked on
+ dialogue system
+ jump mechanics
+ level design
+ platform mechanics
+ automated Unity tooling
+ art design & animation
+ sprites

Ghost game about nostalgia. Ghosts are only able to be seen with the lighting mechanism, and we follow the main character through his hometown as he discovers what has happened to everyone.





Own Game Engine Coded in Rust


Self made game engine made in Rust, graphics with Vulkan dependencies.
Graphics made in Blender and Photoshop.

two games (2D and 3D) created for Game Engine Programming Course at Pomona College, Spring 2022


2D CARD FIGHTING GAME: “TRIUMVIRATE ARENA” 


Rust game engine + Photoshop

Repository here
Spring 2022, class work

Group of 3, I worked on: graphics, bitblt images, gamestate manager, interactive buttons and graphic interface

Game Engine Features: 
  • Two player turn taking
  • Choose player
  • Choose move
  • Animated health bars
  • Fonts + text writing
  • Bitblt images
  • Original background music
  • Sound effects for selecting moves, players, etc.
  • Main/end screen
  • Get info screens for players and moves
  • Health and mana tracking (generation and subtraction moves)
  • Health and mana requirements for moves




3D PUZZLE GAME: “MAZE RUNNER”


Rust game engine + Blender + Blender

Repository here
Spring 2022, class work

Group of 3, I worked on: collision, camera, graphics, gamestate management, and asset interaction

Game Engine Features: 
  • 3D Collision (walls and game objects)
  • Animated 3D Game object
  • Gamestates
  • Game difficulty
  • Room generation/Path memory
  • Bitblt images
  • Orbital camera
  • Main/end screen
  • Instructions screen






2D FRAME-BY-FRAME ANIMATION: “shiny objects”


Harmony ToonBoom Pro + AfterEffects + Premiere 

December 2020
hand drawn, frame by frame 

“shiny objects”
shiny object syndrome (n.): the tendency for someone to chase something new, be it a new idea, trend, or goal, rather than to stay focused on what they’re doing

more information here










3D MODELING AND IMMERSIVE REALITY


3DS Max + Blender 

“Dorm Room” May 2022 

Watch on Mobile to get full experience!

3D youtube video of my Dorm Room centering around academic propoganda.




FACE FILTER


Blender + Spark AR

Spring 2022, for class

Assets made/animated and sculpted in Blender, imported to Spark AR.





GRAPHIC DESIGN AND AR/VR WORK FOR COLUMBIA RECORDS


Adobe Photoshop + Premiere

Spring 2022, Creative and VR/AR intern for Columbia Records at Sony Music Entertainment

Worked on artists like HAIM, Labrinth, Harry Styles, Lennon Stella, Ethan Bortnick, and Lil Yachty.

- IMMERSIVE REALITY ASSETS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST cannot publish publicly. 






PUBLICATION: “12 HOURS IN WALMART”


Risograph Publication + Adobe InDesign + Interview Project 

14 pages, 25 editions
December 2022 (publication)  + June 2018 (interviews)

publications made in Self-Publishing Class 2021; Final Project: 12 Hours in Walmart. Interviewed 17 people in Walmart in rural Michigan from 8PM to 8AM

More information on this page here



ANIMATED GIF EMOJIS


Character Rigging + Moho Creator Pro + 2D Animation 

Summer 2020, Animation and Character Rigging internship for Woobo Inc. 

character rigged, designed, and animated by me for Woobo Inc.
made with Moho Creator Pro (8 out of 16, the rest in the homepage)



SELECTED ARTWORK


Ballpoint Pen + Digital + Oil Painting

See @goss8mer 
on instagram for more