Michael Z. Huber is a computer graphics animator and effects supervisor, based in the San Francisco bay area. Born in the Arizona dessert and raised in the Silicon Valley, he is the product of an engineer father and an artist/actress mother. It seems only fitting that his line of work involves the marriage of art and technology on a daily basis.
Michael's interest in animation began while attending film school in San Francisco, where he studied stop motion animation, cinematography and film production. He eventually transferred to San Jose State University, where a new program called "CADRE" (Computers in Animation, Design, Research and Engineering) was introduced, which was one of the first places to study computer animation. He furthered his own education by investing in animation software, called "HASH", and continued to teach himself enough computer animation to start a freelance animation company, called Gravity 3D.
Having been in the visual effects industry since 1994, Michael's freelance projects for commercials and videos eventually led to major motion picture and video game projects at Digital Domain, Centropolis FX, Disney, and Electronic Arts. The various positions he held ranged from senior artist, visual effects supervisor, art director, lead lighter, and character animator. He has worked on over fifteen feature length films including The Matrix, Minority Report, Black Hawk Down, Titanic, The Fifth Element, and Godzilla. He has been fortunate enough to work for directors such as Wolfgang Peterson, Ridley Scott, Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, and Steven Spielberg.
Michael's most rewarding project, however, was his own independent animated short film, called "Shade" (1999). Completed in just under eighteen months, with a team of five, and with a budget of $50,000.00, Shade was nine-and-a-half minutes of solid computer animation done in HD resolution. That budget and timeline is nearly unheard of in the industry. The film has won awards including "Best Animated Short" at the Canadian international Film Festival, and a "Silver Star" at the Houston International Film Festival. Shade was also picked up by the Sci-Fi channel, where it was featured in the series, "Exposure". The film's success led Michael to accept a position as a delegate and guest speaker by Tokyo Communication Arts, where he traveled to Japan and gave lectures on his work in visual effects and animation. The "Shade" experience, as a whole, is when Michael discovered his love of teaching.
At present, Michael is heading up another short animated film, with a production team made up of students at Cogswell Polytechnical College-Project X. The goal is to rock the world of computer animation with the film's great design and overall production value.
