Jackson Kendra

Generalist | Virtual Production | Cinematics

A senior generalist with over 7 years experience in Unreal Engine. From making 3D assets, materials, environment art, design and layout or animations via sequencer or Maya, I have worked across many different parts of the 3D pipeline.

I primarily enjoy focusing on ensuring the look and feel of the final picture, and am excited about the challenges of bringing high fidelity looks and styles into Unreal Engine, with a strong belief that its role in cinema is only going to become more prominent as time progresses.

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software experience.

Maya

since 2014

Primary modelling and uv mapping program
Groom via xgen

ZBrush

since 2016

Primary sculpting program
secondary baking program, as well as decimation and high poly modelling pipeline

Photoshop

since 2013

Primary image manipulation program, for photogrammetry prep, image editor for advertising stills etc.
Also used for feature extraction and image stitching

Substance Suite

since 2016

Primary texturing program
Procedural texture and material design via Designer, as well as feature extraction of photos
High poly detail extraction and baking via Painter

Realityscan

since 2024

Primary photogrammetry program
Photography experience

Unreal Engine

since 2015

Extensive experience across multiple aspects of the engine
Materials, Sequencer (animation via control rig and graph editor), Movie render queue, Niagara (including fluids), PCG, Blueprints, pipeline design.
Extensive experience in Virtual Production, Game development, Virtual Reality
Experienced on ingest of many file formats from external programs, such as Houdini, Embergen, Maya, Blender etc.

Embergen

since 2024

Primary tool for smoke simulation
Also used for sprite generation on top of cached simulations

Gaea

since 2023

Primary tool for terrain generation
Used for background mesh generation with textures, as well as UE5 landscape design

years of experience.

Freelance Generalist

Jackson Kendra

Ongoing

Consultation with state-wide educational institutions on LED Virtual Production technologies
Created content for live shows, architectural visualisation, films and more
Consultation and mentorship for the creation of Unreal Engine assets for Virtual Reality
Creating tools and pipelines for proprietary systems in multiple industries utilising Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine Generalist

Flo VFX

Sept-Nov 2025

Technical art for material updates and troubleshooting
Scene lighting and optimisation
Movie Render Queue optimisation for both Lumen and Path Tracing render pipelines
Movie Render Queue troubleshooting for film pipeline workflows

Lead Real-Time Art Department Environment Artist

Nant Studios

Feb-May 2025

3D Assets created from either scans or manually using image reference
Technical shader production involving the creation of complex WPO shaders, modifying existing shaders for visual or technical requirements.
PCG tools for set dressing
Virtual Production Tools via blueprint
Troubleshooting and R&D

Lead 3D Artist

Vizion Studios

Jan 2023-Oct 2024

Leading pipeline in rendering in Unreal for different outputs
Developing training and learning tools for internal development and skill-sharing
On set operation of LED Volumes on large scale productions
Designing and executing Cinematics for promotional content and videogames
Working in UE4/UE5 to create blueprints, materials and render pipelines
Experimental R&D on emerging technologies for VP and real-time rendering

Generalist

Spectre Studios

Aug 2020-Jan 2022

Creating a usable render pipeline for tradition film post production using experimental UE4 features and custom shaders
Creating assets and running art operations on set for Virtual Production
Creating technical assets in UE4 using Sequencer, Cascade, Niagara and UE4's material pipeline.
Creating assets to spec for various performance targets.
Creating workflow solutions to unique problems.