daniel dixon

Animation Review Tool

Flash, Flex, PureMVC, Rails, Flash Interactive Server

Created a Flash intranet application using the Flex and PureMVC frameworks for ReelFX Entertainment that integrated with their existing production pipeline management Rails application and Flash Interative Server. The tool allows an animation supervisor to cue up an animator's work, watch and seek frame-by-frame, draw annotations, and record it all along side his video feedback through a webcam.

Member-Management Web Apps Framework

XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, EXT, YUI, JSP, SpringMVC

Helped explore options and then develop a framework for a series of future and soon-to-be-released web applications while at DAXKO. The gracefully-degradable frontend used Java Server Pages along with a combination of EXT-JS and YUI to create an enhanced interface. The backend consisted of SpringMVC, Hibernate, and many other libraries.

Auburn University Interactive Campus Map

Flash, C#.NET, MS SQL, Illustrator, Visual Studio w/ SourceSafe

A database-driven Adobe Flash application with a C#.NET and MS SQL backend that I solo developed as part of my co-op job for Auburn University's Office of Information Technology in 2004. I maintained the application until my departure in 2006.

• Winner of the 2005 NACIS Web Mapping Competition for the Interactive category.
• Helped me win the 2006 Auburn University On-Campus Student Employee of the Year award.

launch www.auburn.edu/map

FraNerdity Greek Member Management

PHP, MySQL, Dreamweaver, XHTML, CSS, Photoshop

A web-based member management system designed for managing many aspects of a Greek organization (budget, dues, study hours, chores, etc.) that I co-developed with a brother in my collegiate fraternity.

• Inspired the Interfraternity Council Club System (the commerical project below)

Interfraternity Council Club System

PHP, MySQL, Dreamweaver, XHTML, CSS, Photoshop

A web-based member management system designed for managing both the social fraternity presidents and the staff of an interfraternity council (rosters, budget, calendar, etc.) that I co-developed in the spring of 2006.

Auburn University Presentation Player

Flash, XML, Illustrator

An XML-driven presentation player for managing the media, chapters, and play functions of a web-based presentation. I solo developed this application as part of another project for my co-op job in the summer of 2004.

view player

Information Security Awareness Month

XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, Photoshop

Worked on a small team to produce and market a one-month awareness campaign on information security for students at Texas A&M. We created ficticious yet humorous stories, relevant videos, and an online weekly quiz with the chance at prizes, all to inform student how to protect themselves, their computers, and their online identity. I lead the team in Flash and Coldfusion development, but had my hand in all other areas.

Information Security Awareness Training for Students

XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, Photoshop

Worked on a small team to develop engaging, online, information security training for students at Texas A&M. The state requires each student to complete this training each year and prior years have received much criticism. Our goal was to create entertaining yet throughly informative training, and the user response has proved that we were successful.

Auburn University Website Redesign

HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver, Photoshop

Served on a committee to create a conceptual design and then acted as lead developer to turn it into code for mass implementation across the entire Auburn University website. Created templates and documentation for department webmasters to use, as well as helped redesign main pages.

• Helped me win the 2006 Auburn University On-Campus Student Employee of the Year award.

launch www.auburn.edu

Eagle Eye News

PHP, MySQL, Flash, XML, Streaming Media

A streaming multimedia news site with a custom backend for managing stories, shows, podcasts, RSS feeds, and user statistics that I developed and maintained from the fall of 2003 to the summer of 2006.

launch eagleeye.auburn.edu*

*All content after May 2006 is not reflective of my efforts as this site has been passed on to the new Technical Director.

AU ACM Student Chapter

HTML, CSS, Flash

An informational student chapter website with custom Adobe Flash animation that I created and managed from the spring of 2005 to the spring of 2006 while serving officier positions.

launch eng.auburn.edu/acm*

*All content after August 2006 is not reflective of my efforts as this site has been passed on to the new President.

OneDanShow.com v1.0

Flash, PHP, MySQL

A completely Actionscript-drawn, full-Flash website with a PHP and MySQL backend that I created as my personal portfolio before my trip to the SIGGRAPH 2004 conference and as a graphics programming experiment.

launch version 1.0 (requires Flash 7)

Fluid-like Flocking Particle Simulation

C++, OpenGL, GLUT

As an assignment for a Physically-Based Modeling class, I created a flocking simulation to animate particles in a fluid-like motion along targets following a generated spline. The program had a series of parameters to stylize the look, including color.

Spiral Extrusion Tool for TopMod3D

C++, OpenGL, QT Framework, TopMod3D

As an assignment for a Computer-Aided Sculpting class, I designed an extrusion tool that creates a spiral (or helix) from a selected polygon and the given parameters. This tool was built for TopMod3D, a topographical modeling program developed at Texas A&M.

• This assignment received an A in Computer-Aided Sculpting class.

OpenGL Virtual Library

C++, OpenGL, GLUT, Blender 3D, Xcode, Visual Studio

As part of a series of homework assignments, I recreated the second floor of Auburn University's RBD Library using OpenGL and GLUT, complete with a drivable book cart, adjustable lights, collision detection, and a positional camera. To ease development, I implemented a .obj file parser so that I could create my models in Blender 3D.

• Each homework assignment received an A in Fundamentals of Computer Graphics class.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Maya 8, Premiere Pro

With the assignment to produce an adaptation of a nursery rhyme, I created a one-minute twist of Hickory Dockery Dock without the traditional mouse or clock. This was developed and animated over a semester while I officialled learned how to use Maya and really see what I could do as a 3D animator. Overall, I'm quite proud of the end result.

watch on vimeo.com

Eagle Eye News Intro & Motion Graphics

AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, Blender 3D

Over my three years as Technical Director for Eagle Eye News, I created two show openers and multiple motion graphics using the entire Adobe Video Production suite.

watch example 1watch example 2

A Monster Attacks Auburn

Flash, AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, MIDI Keyboard

A two-minute, hilarious cartoon that I co-created in the spring of 2004 about Auburn University's beloved mascot, Aubie, as a superhero that saves AU from a huge monster. This special "Director's Cut" was done in the spring of 2005 for entry into a local film festival. The whole process was purely for the fun and experience of it.

• This animation won an Honorable Mention in the Jay Sanders Film Festival.

watch this cartoon (requires RealPlayer)

Aubie's National Mascot Competition Video

AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Audition

I created brief opening sequences and the motion graphics for the two-minute video submissions of Auburn University's mascot, Aubie, to the 2005 and 2006 UCA National Mascot Competitions.

• The 2005 video won Aubie a first place bid before traveling to the competition and helped him become the 2005 UCA National Mascot Champion.
• The 2006 video won Aubie a third place bid before traveling to the competition.

watch 2005 opening animation

Introduction to Computing (Revision)

AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Maya Complete, Photoshop, Canon XL1

A video and web presentation created during the spring of 2005 for all new students attending Auburn University's Camp War Eagle (orientation) to learn about all the computing resources available to them and how to get started. This revision involved a complete reshoot and new production from the original listed below.

watch the web version

*Only the video content is reflective of my efforts as the player controls were designed by another person.

Spots on the AU Football Game Jumbotron

AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Photoshop

There isn't much like having 87,451 people see your work at one time and cheer for it. I've created or worked on few spots for the stadium jumbotron during Auburn University home football games.

watch sample spot

Superhero Intro for a Youth Conference

Maya Complete, Premiere Pro

In the summer of 2005, a youth pastor asked me to create a 60-second opening for a summer junior-high conference that involved elements from Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, ending with a challenge for the youth to be heroes, too.

watch intro

Introduction to Computing (Original)

Flash, AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Blender 3D, Canon XL1

A web-based video and motion graphics presentation created during the summer of 2004 to inform new students to Auburn University about all the computing resources available to them and how to get started.

view player

Spots for Live Performances

AE Pro, Premiere Pro, Maya Complete

Through my involvement with faith-based organizations, I have created multiple videos to coincide with onstage dramas and dances.

University Registration System Design

Visio, Word, Powerpoint

In the fall of 2005, three classmates and I produced the requirements and specifications for a complete university student registration system through use cases, conceptual domain models, system sequence diagrams, design class diagrams, and other UML diagrams and procedures.

• This project received an A+ in Software Modeling class.

Voice-Location Tagging

GPS, C#, Microsoft Speech Recognition API, Visual Studio 2008, Flash, Yahoo! Maps

A classmate and I came up with an idea to automatically tag locations someone visits based on what he says there. We then developed a prototype system to be worn by a user to convert his speech to text using a headset microphone and the Microsoft Speech Recognition API and to capture his location using a Garmin GPS unit. This data was then post-processed and clustered to show the terms that described the significant locations of the user on a map visualization. A user study tested the prototype during campus tours of Texas A&M University.

• This project received an A in Location, Location, Location class.

Galaga Cell Phone Game

C++ on Symbian OS, Visual Studio .NET w/ Subversion

Three classmates and I are created a port of the classic Galaga game to the Symbian OS as part of our Senior Design project for the fall of 2006. Tasks included design, development, development plans, documentation, customer presentations, peer evaluations, and more.

• This project received an A in Senior Design class.

"Adaptation for the Short Film" Project

Canon XL2, Premiere Pro

Three classmates and I took a short story and adapted it into a short movie though development meetings, storyboards, scripts, location scouting, casting, shooting schedules, recording voiceovers, post-production, and more.

• This project received an A+ in Adaptation for the Short Film class.
• This project is still ongoing as we're reediting for submission to film festivals.

Stories for Eagle Eye News

Canon GL2, Premiere Pro

Sometimes setting down the Technical Director reins to act as a reporter, I have created multiple 60- to 90-second news stories for airing on Eagle Eye News via on-campus and off-campus television, as well as Internet streaming video.

watch example one (requires RealPlayer)watch example two (requires RealPlayer)

"Amplify" Mission Trip DVDs

Canon GL2, Premiere Pro, Encore DVD, Photoshop

Through faith-based organizations I'm involved with, I've participated in week-long mission trips, like to Hurricane-Katrina-devastated News Orleans to help rebuild homes. I also acted as a videographer, taking around 15+ hours of footage and creating production-quality DVDs.

Miss Auburn University 2006 DVD

Canon XL1, Premiere Pro, Encore DVD, Photoshop

A free lance project that I co-produced that involved capturing the Miss Auburn University 2006 pagent with a multi-camera setup and then creating a production-quality DVD.

Untitled 3D Animation Project

Maya Complete

Two other aspiring animators, a film major, and I began work on a 3D animated short about batteries with the working title of "Acid Trip" in late 2004. We created concept art, character development and pose sheets, a script, and rough CG models, even animatics. However, even after I took a screen writing class to finish the script and found access to a copy of Maya 6 Complete, we concluded that this project was beyond our ability and the time that our majors would allow. I have kept everything and hope to one day see this project revised.