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.

Export tooling in Substance Painter with material creation

Import tooling for Environment asset type in Substance Painter

Import tooling for character asset type in Substance Painter

Export tooling for environment asset type out of Maya

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

no transmission, fresnel, or reflections

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)