about
As a kid I recorded The Swan Princess voices with a cassette tape player, jumped out of playground swings from daring heights, and danced around the house to We Will Rock You. A gymnastics and Georgia Tech pole-vaulting career later, it’s no wonder I find myself at the intersection of athletics, performance, and technology.
Think of me as the Artsy-Technical Energizer Bunny for inspiring stories. As long as I keep bouncing back and forth between the creative and the technical, I can keep going and going and going . . .
acting
Natural Speaking Voice
- Age Range: 25 – 40
- Accent: Neutral American
Voice Qualities
- Fresh, Bright, Crisp, Smooth, Soft
- Genuine, Caring, Energetic, Quirky
Home Studio
- NT-1A Rode Mic
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Specialties
- Audiobooks, Animation, E-learning
- Children’s Literature, Young Adult
professional experience
Mocap Talent / Stand-In / Extra
- Portrayed tech demo characters (Optitrack / Perception Neuron suits)
- Stand-in for virtual photography shoots
- Extra for Floorplan Revolution promotional videos
education
atlanta voiceover studio, Atlanta, GA
- Intro to VO with Brian Bremer
Alliance Theater, Atlanta, GA
- Acting I with Allison Gardner
various classes, Atlanta, GA
- Girls will Be Boys with Lisa Biggs
- Private voice coaching with Sharon Corpening
3D work
Zayden’s Wish @ TRICK 3D
- Technical demo coordination and rehearsal
- Realtime pipeline debugging in Unreal Engine
Sky Rover Commercial @ TRICK 3D
- Optitrack on-set previsualization
Aflac Commercial @ TRICK 3D
- Optitrack mocap recording, Editing in MotionBuilder and Maya
- Pipeline development in 3ds Max and Maya
Terminus Presentation for TRICK 3D
- (Un)Realistic Expectations: Pushing Unreal 4 Beyond Gaming (Speaker)
- Dance, Mocap recording with Perception Neuron Unreal plugin
2017 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Opening
- Pipeline development, Lighting assistance in Maya
- Rendered with Mental Ray
Dancin’ Man @ Games That Work (serious game for IARPA)
- Optitrack recording and mocap editing in MotionBuilder
- Lighting in Maya, Rendered with Mental Ray
Delta Virtual Photography @ TRICK 3D
- Ran Optitrack’s Virtual Camera System (VCS) with MotionBuilder plugin
- Technical continuity, Script supervision, vMix video capture operation with live chroma key
Render Script @ Turner Studios
- Scripting, Debugging, Documentation in After Effects
Nor: A Cloud Story @ SCAD Atlanta (10 week collaborative short)
- Lighting, Shader network setup, Debugging character rigs in Maya
- Rendered with Mental Ray
skills
software
languages
professional experience
Unreal authorized instructor
- Training partner for Epic Games
freelancer
- Motion capture, 3d generalist, pipeline development, previs, volumetric capture
- Previous clients include Profile Studios, Millions of Tiny Robots, Arcturus, ProxiVP
Technical Manager, Trick 3D
- Facilitated on-set virtual production shoots, motion capture / calibration / cleanup
- VR / AR tech demos for archvis / cinematic previs, developed previsualization tools
- R & D project pipelines, Shotgun, public speaking, documentation
Effects Technical Assistant, Turner Studios
- R & D pipeline and tools for Nuke, After Effects, and Maya workflows
- Color management for ARRI Alexa / Nuke workflow
- Rendering, 3d tracking, lens distortion, alembic, Javascript, Python
Lead Mocap Technician, Games That Work
- Ran Optitrack capture sessions, processed and distributed motion capture data
teaching & research
adjunct professor, georgia tech / gwinnett technical college
- Taught Maya / Unreal for storytelling, WordPress web development
Motion Capture Assistant, ARTech Residency
- Facilitated Vicon Blade motion capture sessions
- Documented, processed, and archived optical data
education
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
- Master of Science in Digital Media (May 2014), 3.92 GPA
- Bachelor of Science in Computational Media (May 2011), 3.91 GPA Highest Honors
- Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA (ANIM, VSFX, TECH Courses)
Contact me
how can i help?
- Unreal Training / Pipeline Development
- Virtual Production / Motion Capture
- Voice / Motion Capture Performance
- ericapenk@gmail.com
- (770) 595-0934
Latest Posts
from my blog
UE4 Sequencer: Spawnables v. Possessables
Picking up from the previous Sequencer lesson, I add a new asset to the ongoing animation sequence: the spawnable. By the end of this lesson you’ll have a deeper understanding of good Sequencer practices and some new tools to add to your arsenal.
Intro to UE4 Sequencer
I start off by giving you a sneak peak of the finished animation from this lesson. After setting up the project, I go over Sequencer terminology, user interface, and basic concepts while forcing you to think about your project pipeline. Then I take you through the animation example, beginning with a review on basic viewport navigation and ending with a fully rendered animation sequence.
Space and Movement: Building Blocks of Visual Structure
Today, I will look at how director Tom Hooper uses movement and space to reflect the state of Bertie’s emotional well-being, his courage and progress overcoming his stammer, and his willingness to trust his peculiar speech therapist, Lionel Logue, all while building tension to best serve the climax of the film.
Read more