Team Projects at IDIA Lab

While working with the team of artists, programmers, and designers at IDIA Lab at Ball State University,
I have had the opportunity to help produce a wide variety of virtual worlds, simulations, and apps.

1915 World's Fair

Description :

A historical recreation of the Panama Pacific International Exposition at the 1915 World's Fair in San Francisco.
Developed as a multi-user version in Cryengine2 and a VR experience in Unity.

Role :

Collaborated on modeling, texturing, and set up of game engine scenes.
Developed game engine lighting scheme, set up VR build, optimized build.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/idia-lab-simulations-in-blue-mars/

Hadrian's Villa

Description :

A large scale historical recreation of Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, Italy.
Developed as a multi-user virtual world with a solar tracking feature designed to test ancient solar alignments.
Also featured as rendered animations used in the Roman Engineering episode of History Channel's The Universe

Role :

Collaborated on modeling, texturing, animation, set up of game engine scenes, lighting, scripting, optimization, and testing.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/virtual-hadrians-villa/

Ball Glass Factory

Description :

A historical recreation of the Ball Glass Factory in 1930s Muncie, IN.
Developed as a multi-user virtual world with in-world links to web content.

Role :

Collaborated on modeling, texturing, animation, set up of game engine scenes, and lighting.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/virtual-middletown-living-museum-in-blue-mars/

Stonehenge

Description :

Rendered animations used in the Stonehenge episode of History Channel's The Universe and in BBC's program The Sky at Night.
Also, an interactive simulation with a solar tracking feature designed to test ancient solar and lunar alignments.

Role :

Collaborated on modeling, texturing, animation, and rendering of shots for the animations.
For the simulation, collaborated on modeling, texturing, set up of game engine scenes, lighting, scripting, optimization, and testing.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/virtual-stonehenge/

Mounds State Park App

Description :

An iOS app designed as a virtual guide to Mounds State Park in Anderson, IN.
It uses GPS and sensor data to deliver contextual content and an augmented reality experience to the user as they traverse the park.
Developed the project as a template for future virtual companion experiences.

Role :

Primary app developer, including game engine scene development, sensor integration to track position and rotation, scripting of app functionality, and user interface development. Collaborated on modeling and texturing of 3D assets.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/launch-of-virtual-companion-ios-app-by-idia-lab/

Virtual Broad Art Museum

Description :

A virtual simulation of the Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University with several virtual interactive art exhibits

Role :

Collaborated in texturing and cleanup of museum model, game engine scene development, and scripting of virtual interactive art exhibits

More Info...

http://idialab.org/vbam-virtual-broad-art-museum-commission/

Byodo-In Temple

Description :

A historical recreation of the original context of the Amida Buddha statue located at the Ball State Museum of Art.
Developed as a multi-user virtual world in Cryengine 2.

Role :

Modeling and texturing of temple, and integration of Buddha statue model. Development of lighting, terrain, and game engine scene.

Virtual Nursing Simulator

Description :

A 3D health care simulation with interactive training scenarios which teach about strategies to ensure patient safety.

Role :

Collaborated on scripting the functionality of interactive scenarios, modeling and texturing of health care environments, game engine scene development, lighting, and testing.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/virtual-nursing-simulator/

Meridian of Augustus

Description :

A celestial tracking simulator of the Meridian of Augustus site in ancient Rome designed to track the movement of the Sun and test its effects on the site.

Role :

Collaborated on game engine scene development and scripting of interactive functionality.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/virtual-meridian-of-augustus-presentation-at-the-vaticans-pontifical-academy-of-archeology/

Hero's Horizons Android Game

Description :

A 3D Android adventure game centered on teaching life skills to youth..

Role :

Collaborated on game engine scene development, animation, shader and lighting setup, game scripting, script implementation, optimization, testing, and bug fixing.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/heros-horizons-a-real-time-3d-adventure-game/

Pantheon

Description :

A multi-user virtual world of the Roman Pantheon.

Role :

Collaborated on modeling, texturing, animation, set up of game engine scenes, and lighting.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/virtual-roman-pantheon-in-blue-mars-cryengine/

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

Description :

A historical recreation of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West show's 1899 stop in Muncie, IN.
Developed as an open-world 3D interactive simulation.

Role :

Collaborated on game engine scene development, lighting, animation, scripting, optimization and testing.

More Info...

http://idialab.org/buffalo-bills-wild-west-gets-a-virtual-makeover/

About Me

In 2008, I graduated from Huntington University with a degree in Digital Media Animation.

Since then, I have been working for the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts (IDIA) at Ball State University as a Virtual Worlds 3D Modeler/Animator and Production Specialist. I have been a invovled as a developer in a wide variety of interactive simulations, virtual worlds, 3d animations, mobile apps, as well as planetarium show content, virtual reality and augmented reality projects.

After starting out with a focus in environment modeling, texturing, lighting, and animation, I expanded into game engines and interactive content, working with every step of development from initial content creation and level setup to scripting and optimization.

Regardless of the medium, I am intrigued by storytelling, in all of its forms.

Contact

If you'd like to contact me, you can email me at :

neil@neilzehr.com