ABOUT JEFF LEW

Jeff Lew has been a character animator in the visual effects industry since 1997. He has worked on several feature films, commercials and themepark rides for several different studios, such as Warner Brothers Feature Animation.

Jeff originally graduated from Columbia University with an electrical engineering degree, but he wanted to have a more creative career. After college he studied computer animation on his own, reading books and websites. After 2 years of practicing and studying in his spare time, he landed his first job as a character animator, proving that you don’t need to go to art school to get a job in computer animation. It just takes hard work and dedication.

Since then, Jeff Lew has created one of the most popular shorts on the internet, Killer Bean 2: The Party. This 7-minute short has been viewed over 1.7 million times on Ifilm alone. Jeff completed KB2 in 2000, taking 3 years to complete it in his spare time .

Learning from his own projects and learning from working at feature film FX studios, Jeff has refined his craft and his work methods. He decided to share his knowledge and techniques with other aspiring animators on his 'Learning 3D Character Animation' DVD series. This DVD series took 2 years to complete, again in his spare time. Jeff hopes that future animators will benefit from his experience.

Jeff Lew's Credits:

Matrix Reloaded

ESC Entertainment

Jeff Lew’s main role was the Lead Animator, responsible for the majority of CG Neo animations and also several CG Agent Smiths in 20 different shots. Jeff was also involved in several aspects of the visual effects production. Jeff had direct interaction with the Wachowski Brothers and VFX Supervisor John Gaeta to pre-visualize the virtual camera cinematography and also the kung fu action in the Burly Brawl sequence. Jeff also developed the original CG crash-test-dummy system that was used for the CG stuntmen in Maya. The crash-test-dummy system was later developed in Havoc by the ESC R&D team. Finally, Jeff assisted in character setup on a per shot basis, developing complex rigs to accommodate Neo’s extraordinary abilities. The majority of setups were developed for the Neo pole fighting shots.

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Warner Brothers Feature Animation

Jeff was hired late in the production as a CG Animation Director for the final action sequence between the main actors and a CG Robodog. The animation was produced at Pixel Magic using Lightwave. Jeff previsualized the animation of the CG robodog with the edited film backplates that were previously shot. Upon receiving approval from Director Joe Dante, Producer Chris De Faria, and VFX Supervisor Chris Watts, Jeff Lew supervised the animation from a team of talented animators at Pixel Magic.

Kung Pow

Dubbed Films, O Entertainment

Jeff Lew was originally contracted by Director/Writer Steve Oedekerk to produce a complete fight scene between the main actor and a CG cow. Steve Oedekerk provided Jeff an incredible amount of creative freedom in how the scene would play out. Jeff pre-visualized a 4-minute fight sequence in 7 weeks. The final fight sequence was edited down to 2 ½ minutes, and Jeff joined the visual effects animation team to complete the final CG cow animation using Maya. Jeff also assisted in creating particle effects and character setup.

X-Men

Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company

For his first feature film credit, Jeff Lew was contracted by KWCC to animate the Mystique character for 2 effects shots. Jeff also did the character setup for the CG Mystique character in Maya.

Amazing Adventures of Spiderman: Universal Studios Themepark Ridefilm

Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company

Jeff Lew’s first studio job was as a character animator for the Spiderman themepark ridefilm. He animated characters such as Spiderman, Electro, and Hydroman in 5 out of the total 13 shots. Animation was done in Maya.

Tivo

Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company

This was Jeff’s first credit as Animation Supervisor. Jeff supervised a small team of animators for the animated intro of the Tivo product.

Other professional credits include:

Stardox commercial - animation supervisor
Docomo commercial - animation lead
Corkscrew Hill Ridefilm
Dogde/Universal commercial
Monsters of Grace
Ugly Duckling Car commercials
Little Miss Spider

© 2003 Jeff Lew Productions LLC