Amber Mills
Washago,Canada
Summary
- 5+ years as a 3D Generalist specializing in CFX
- 10 + years of experience in the creative arts
- Maya, Houdini (Hair), Redshift, Speedtree, Zbrush, Nuke, After Effects, Yeti, Photoshop, Blender, Shotgun
- Detail oriented, work well in teams as well as independently
- Always ready to help
Equipped with strong problem-solving abilities and a drive for continuous learning, bringing a broad generalist background that supports rapid adaptation to new roles. Skilled in clear communication, cross-functional collaboration, and asking clarifying questions to move tasks and projects forward. Delivers meaningful results quickly after onboarding through proactive learning and efficient execution. Experienced in documenting best-practice workflows to support team training, knowledge sharing, and process consistency. Ready to take on new challenges and contribute to organizational goals with focus, reliability, and enthusiasm.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Lead Hair Groomer
Guru Studio
11.2023 - 10.2025
- Creating detailed grooming specification documents to ensure consistency in character designs across multiple departments.
- Created Houdini grooming tutorials and documentation for other groomers to follow.
- Working with TDs to test workflow in new Houdini Solaris pipeline and reporting back required changes.
- Created grooms first in Maya Xgen, and then again in Houdini once new Houdini Solaris Pipeline was established.
- Matched the look of previous grooms done in Maya Xgen with Houdini when transferring grooms was not efficient.
- Streamlined the transfer process of hair grooms from Maya Xgen to Houdini, enhancing efficiency.
- Created new grooms in Houdini for new characters.
- Mentored junior groomers, providing guidance on grooming techniques and software best practices in both Xgen and Houdini.
- Optimized hair grooms for rendering performance, reducing processing time and improving visual quality.
- Assisting with overall character look development for the fur, hair, or feathers on stylized or semi-realistic CG characters.
- Ensuring grooming team has work at all times.
- Demonstrating ability to meet deadlines and communicating with production and other departments
Hair and Fur Groomer
Guru Studio
01.2022 - 10.2023
- Created grooms first in Maya Xgen, and then again in Houdini once new Houdini Solaris Pipeline was established.
- Communicated effectively with modeling, surfacing and rigging teams to address grooming challenges.
- Working with TDs to test workflow in new Houdini Solaris pipeline and reporting back required changes.
- Matched the look of previous grooms done in Maya Xgen with Houdini when transferring grooms was not efficient.
- Created entirely new grooms in Houdini once Houdini Pipeline was created and completed.
- Streamlined the transfer process of hair grooms from Maya Xgen to Houdini, enhancing efficiency.
- Assisting with overall character look development for the fur, hair, or feathers on stylized or semi-realistic CG characters.
- Demonstrating ability to meet deadlines and communicating with production and other departments
3D Modeler and Designer
Wild Vale Jewelry
02.2020 - 12.2021
- Designing and Modeling jewelry with Zbrush and Blender
- Ensuring printability for streamlined workflow
3D Artist
Rocket Science VFX
10.2017 - 02.2020
- Houdini Hair Groom setup and Simulation
- Maya ncloth
- Maya modelling of hard and soft surfaces
- Maya mash and layout integration
- Speedtree vine and tree creation with Redshift texture caching
- Some Houdini smoke and particles
- Layout and basic animation of jointless assets
- Golem Rigging and cached cloth simulation
Finaling Artist
Awesometown Entertainment
05.2017 - 07.2017
- Create permanent pose space deformers that allow animation to achieve specific target shapes.
3D Generalist – Character Finalist and Effects
Toonbox Entertainment
05.2016 - 05.2017
- Create permanent pose space deformers that allow animation to achieve specific target shapes.
- Produce nCloth simulations
- Groom and simulate hair and fur animation in shots - Yeti
- Troubleshoot technical issues as they arise
- Tweak animation for perfect contacts or small fixes required before lighting
- Layout for matte painters in Art Department
3D Generalist
Bitebank Media
09.2013 - 02.2016
- Medical Animation – responsible for entire 1 to 3 minute shorts from Storyboarding and Layout to Compositing.
- Http://bitebankmedia.com/patient-education/webstreams/
- Skills – realistic character/object modelling, Scene Layout, UV mapping, texturing, Camera and Character Animation, nhair, ndynamics, Lighting, Rigging, Rendering in Mentalray, Compositing final renders , basic python
- Programs used - Maya, Photoshop, Realflow, After Effects
Education
3D Animation
Centennial College
Toronto, ON01.2013
Bachelor's Degree - Fine Art
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
Halifax, NS01.2006
Skills
- Expert in Houdini Hair Grooming,
- Expert in Maya (Generalist)
- Expert in Photoshop
- High Proficiency in Adobe After Effects,
- Employment experience with Redshift, Yeti, Zbrush, Realflow, Golem Rigging, Speedtree, Houdini FX, Nuke
- Strong ability in problem solving aided by Generalist background
- Send me your problems others can't figure out
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
Timeline
Lead Hair Groomer
Guru Studio
11.2023 - 10.2025
Hair and Fur Groomer
Guru Studio
01.2022 - 10.2023
3D Modeler and Designer
Wild Vale Jewelry
02.2020 - 12.2021
3D Artist
Rocket Science VFX
10.2017 - 02.2020
Finaling Artist
Awesometown Entertainment
05.2017 - 07.2017
3D Generalist – Character Finalist and Effects
Toonbox Entertainment
05.2016 - 05.2017
3D Generalist
Bitebank Media
09.2013 - 02.2016
Bachelor's Degree - Fine Art
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
3D Animation
Centennial College