ABOUT ME

DAVID’S STORY

David attended George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, and graduated cum laude with a BA in Art Studio: Digital Art in 2005. Shortly after, he found a job editing images for high-end clients through a small company called Repro Images. In 2006, he was hired by the National Geographic Society as an Image Specialist, working in the Imaging Department. There, he edited, restored, and archived images for both internal and external clients. In addition, he regularly worked one-on-one with photographers like Jodi Cobb on their personal portfolios and also took on the responsibility of printing high-quality Giclée reproductions for art installations and museum exhibits. In 2008, he began working as a freelance image editor for many high-profile photographers, such as Kjell Sandved, and Hyon-Smith.

In 2011, he enrolled and was accepted into the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta, Georgia. There, he majored in animation and graduated magna cum laude in 2014 with a BFA in Animation, and a Minor in Technical Direction. He specialized in compositing, 3D art, lighting, materials, and look development.

He worked as a freelance 3D Artist and background actor following his graduation. In 2016, he was hired full-time by ECG Productions in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Generalist Animator. There, he spent several years working on a diverse variety of projects, including pilot TV shows, documentaries, commercials, and films. As the company grew, he worked his way up to the position of Lead 3D Animator, taking on the responsibility of heading all 3D projects at the company. He finally left the company in 2023, after almost 7 years.

Shortly after, he was hired by Floyd County Productions as a compositor. There, he used Fusion and Harmony to composite shots for all 10 episodes of the second season of Hit Monkey for Hulu. He received additional training there and would often take on difficult and complex shots to composite. His tasks included creating Layout and Beauty passes, applying color notes, designing lighting, and integrating 3D, particle, and stock footage elements into 2D shots.

Some of the clients David has worked for include:

  • Acuity Brands

  • Amazon

  • Blackhall Studios

  • Children’s Hospital of Atlanta

  • Delta Airlines

  • Fox Sports

  • Hachette Book Group (James Patterson)

  • Hermeus Corp.

  • Hulu

  • Lutron

  • Oldcastle APG (Belgard, Echelon, etc.)

  • Pyramid Consulting

  • Resurgens Orthopaedics

  • Walmart

  • Zynga (Zynga Poker)

  • and many more…

SKILLS

  • Blackmagic Fusion
    Foundry Nuke
    Adobe After Effects

    DaVinci Resolve
    Adobe Premiere

  • Blender
    Autodesk Maya
    Element 3D (AE Plugin)
    Substance Painter
    Substance Designer
    SideFX Houdini
    Autodesk 3ds Max

    PolyCam
    Shadow MoCap Suit
    RealFlow
    SynthEyes
    Autodesk Mudbox

    Renderman
    Cycles
    Eevee

  • Adobe Photoshop
    Adobe Illustrator
    Toon Boom Harmony
    Kitra
    ProCreate

  • Lua (Fusion)
    Google Apps Script
    After Effects expressions
    MEL (Maya)
    Python (Blender)
    GitHub

  • Oculus

    AI Art Generation (Stable Diffusion)
    AI Script Assist (ChatGPT)
    Google Collab

  • Chitubox (3D Printing)

    Adobe InDesign

    PureRef

SOFTWARE

  • Layouts
    Beauty Passes
    EXR Integration
    3D Integration
    Lighting
    Transitions

  • Modeling
    Sculpting
    Topography
    Rigging
    Lighting
    Materials / Surfacing / Texturing
    Technical Animation
    Character Animation
    Motion Graphics

  • Hair/Fur Simulations
    Cloth Simulations
    Fluid Simulations
    Physics Simulations
    Particle Simulations

  • Technical Animation
    Character Animation
    Motion Media
    Advanced Photo Editing
    Photography
    Digital Illustration

  • VR Sculpting
    360 Video
    3D Capture
    Motion Capture
    Camera Tracking
    Compositing
    AI 2.5D Effects

  • 3D Printing
    PC Building
    Woodworking
    Drawing

TESTIMONIALS

  • "David is incredibly knowledgeable about 3D animation techniques, processes and software, with a particular aptitude for lighting and texturing for 3D. He has an infectious passion for learning new animation techniques and pushing the boundaries of his knowledge. He is extremely meticulous and methodical. He is also an excellent mentor, trainer, and teacher."

    Jason Marraccini
    President     - ECG Productions

  • “David is an outstanding animator who takes pride in everything he does. He is someone you can count on to deliver an amazing product and nerd out with about Hollywood visual effects. His passion for animation not only makes him a great animator, but also a great teacher. As someone who was initially intimidated by After Effects, his expertise helped me learn the software quickly and effectively. David always strives for the best that he can give and he will never disappoint.”

    Jon Hall
    ECG Productions

  • “David is a very knowledgeable animator with a wide range of software and skills under his belt. He's always down for a challenge and is known for coming up with unique solutions to both new and old problems. He's also a great teacher, having a lot of patience and thoroughness with the material as he's very well versed on the platforms he uses. Overall a great dude, with solid skills, and a good attitude!”

    Sebastián Chamaca
    ECG Productions

  • "David came in to the company as an apprentice but quickly became our top Photoshop technician. As NGS Sales Manager, I worked with David on a daily basis and he always produced work of the high artistic quality. I recommend him highly."

    Jeff Whatley
    Repro Images
    National Geographic Society

  • “David is a great colleague to have in any group. He is very detail oriented and savvy with technology. His skills go beyond what he is usually tasked to do, nothing he can't handle.”

    Robert Thomas
    National Geographic Society

  • “As long as I have known David he has been hardworking and tenacious and has faced challenges with a positive attitude and determination.”

    Lilly Wade
    George Mason University

  • "We worked well together in management, and I could count on him in many tough situations."

    John Ragland

  • "David is intelligent, hard-working, and well versed in techniques necessary to retouch large digital image files for a variety of uses and output devices. He regularly handles large high-quality inkjet production (giclée prints), and digital reconstruction in scans of damaged prints and transparencies. I would hate to lose him as a coworker."

    David Findley
    National Geographic Society

  • "David has always been a dedicated and passionate animator with a great sense of humor to boot. A knowledgeable and creative problem solver who's always been a pleasure to work with. His ability to adapt and grow has always been impressive to me as well as his humbleness to mentor those of us learning. David is a great addition to any team he's a part of and a genuinely great friend to know."

    Elaine Bergström
    SCAD

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Generation Ocean: Sharks

Against All Odds: Surviving The Holocaust

 CONTACT ME

  • david@hixonart.com

    davidjhixon@gmail.com

  • (703) 944-4759

  • Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area

    Address Available Upon Request