Who is Ethan Koss?
As a lifelong gamer, I am eccstatic to be able to contribute to the ever expanding mountain of memories, experiences, and emotions that is video games. My goal is to give people that same shudder of excitement as you fully immerse yourself within a virtual world.
I bring a wealth of experience and interests that allow me to give real logical meaning to my designs that both expidite the process while simultaneously giving it that extra believability. In the pursuit of creating ever more interesting and complex designs, I explore all the tools currently available. This includes traditional modeling platforms, procedural software, and artificial intelligence. When it comes to the more polarizing of these tools, I maintain an ethical stance on their usage while using them to explore the fringes of technology and the newfound possibilities they present.
Proficiencies:
Modeling Software:
I’ve primarily used Autodesk Maya for modeling in my projects. With the majority of my projects involving hardsurface models and structure, the polygonal based modeling served as the most effective method while also the most familiar. I am in the process of branching out into Maxon Zbrush and Blendr to more thoroughly flesh out my organic modeling skills with the intent of blending the two skill sets together in ever expanding project scopes.
Texturing Software:
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Substance Painter are my most comfortable tools when texturing models. I have started to explore Substance Designer for the added utility and effeciency.
Generative Art:
In this extremely divisive time for artists, I managed to create a club based around exploring generative art. I believe it is an important path to atleast familiarize yourself with. I have tested with implementing it into a team pipeline with very exciting results. It didn’t steal work from anyone, rather it created a more cohesive group vision. I am very experienced with Midjourney and plan to explore more node based options to increase usability as a professional.
Procedural Software:
I’ve done a surface level exploration of SideFX Houdini and JangaFX Embergen. I will be focusing on Houdini with the intent to implement it into my main toolset and go to pipeline. This software excites me the most, so I plan to really explore the possibilities.