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VFX Reel
Breakdown
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Past Projects
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Tutorials
I have authored multiple courses for Houdini training with Pluralsight (formerly Digital-Tutors). Check out my tutorials below. You can also click the course images to bring up the intro videos.
Creating a Rocket Swarm with Procedural Volume Copying in Houdini
In this Houdini tutorial I explain how to use procedural volume copying to create a rocket swarm that is both efficient and flexible. It allows one to make modifications to timing, positioning, and scale without having to recreate or resim the effect from scratch.
Creating a Dynamic Grappling Hook in Houdini
In this Houdini tutorial I explore how to use Houdini's wire system along with soft body dynamic constraints to create a grappling hook wire that shoots out and retracts based on these constraints.
The goal of this tutorial is to teach how to use constraints to control wire simulations, as well as explaining additional methods to combine multiple simulations and elements into one final effect.
Link to Grappling Hook Tutorial
Introduction to Houdini Pyro
In this course, I teach the fundamental concepts of Houdini's powerful Pyro Solver to create multiple fire-based effects. I explain how to source, simulate, export, render, and composite impressive fire effects with Houdini’s powerful Pyro tools.
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About Me
My name is Sam Rickles and I am a Senior FX Artist with Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, California. I am a 10 year visual effects industry veteran. I primarily utilize Side Effects Houdini to achieve a wide variety of effects, and I work extensively within Katana and Nuke for rendering and compositing. My work can be seen in several animated features including 'Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation' and 'The Angry Birds Movie 2', as well as live-action films such as 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' and 'Edge of Tomorrow'. I now work on pre-rendered cinematic pieces for Blizzard franchies such as Overwatch and Warcraft.
I graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Science degree in Computational Media and have previously lived and worked in Atlanta, GA, Los Angeles, CA, and Vancouver, BC, Canada. Please feel free to contact me via email or LinkedIn if you have any questions or comments. Thank you.
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Filmography
www.samrickles.com