Top VFX Professionals from Weta Digital, CNN, and Electronic Arts Advance the CheckMate Industry Standard
June 12, 2012, New Orleans, Louisiana – TurboSquid, the world’s source for quality 3D models, announces the formation of the CheckMate Advisory Board to guide the future of the CheckMate 3D modeling standard. TurboSquid created the standard in 2011, and since that time, a variety of 3D model customers have sought to participate in the standard’s ongoing development. In response, TurboSquid convened a powerhouse of artists to form the CheckMate Advisory Board to take on this responsibility.
Board members include industry leaders from distinguished studios such as Weta Digital, Electronic Arts, CNN, Blur Studio, and The Mill. The first meeting allowed for a high-level discussion of topics, ranging from topology and texturing needs to in-house archive and resource management. “We’re proud to be invited onto the Advisory Board to help review the Checkmate standard,” says James Ogle, Lead Modeler at Weta Digital. “We’re happy to share our experience and contribute to criteria that will make the Checkmate standard valuable to a production of any size.”
CheckMate Advisory Board members are:
- Chris Bernier, The Mill
- Carlos Cristerna, Neoscape
- Jed Denjean, Blur Studio
- Mitch Gates, Encore Hollywood
- Viken Majoulian, Electronic Arts
- James Ogle, Weta Digital
- Fred Ruff, Bent Image Lab
- Rob Wright, CNN
The CheckMate Advisory Board is just one part of TurboSquid’s ongoing effort to further a universal 3D modeling standard. Recent events include the release of free tools available to all CG artists to test models for CheckMate compliance and a contest to generate more tools for 3ds Max for this purpose.
“We like CheckMate because it can be adopted by any industry that uses 3D models,” says Viken Majoulian, Technical Artist at Electronic Arts. “The Advisory Board opens up a communication bridge with 3D model creators and helps align the products to our professional standards.”
About TurboSquid
With a catalog of over 250,000 unique 3D models,TurboSquid is the world’s source for quality stock 3D. TurboSquid’s community of over 2.5 million artists and customers come from every line of production, including movies, games, news, advertising, architecture, engineering, simulation, and defense. TurboSquid introduced the CheckMate standard to improve quality across all production pipelines and make the lives of artists easier around the world.