About Author

Hi, my name is Niko Mäkelä.  I’m a 3D generalist and animator with passion for characters, creative projects and teaching.  I’m obsessed about getting to the core of things, exploring concepts and common techniques rather than the tools.

CGmascot Blog is my educational take on Computer Graphics with character, animation and game art focus.  I write about the things I’ve learned in hobbies or work(really they are the same thing).  I don’t claim to be the highest authority on anything but I do stick to subjects I know well.  Occasionally I may take a sidestep to a more personal ground(projects and such), but they usually connect well to blog topics.

Like many in this field, I am self taught.  Officially I have a BA from Cultural Anthropology and big pile of other mixed studies like Multimedia(BA equivalent).  Practical things I learned more in projects and by just practising than in any classroom.  Self-learning has become a habit and I wish to share it, too.

My main milestones, at the time of writing(Septemper 2011), are Gunshine.net – a free to play MMORPG, 2 little animated short movies, Ultima 6 Project – a freeware single-player role-playing game, 3D visual effects for a few small films and visual 2d/3d design for 2 learning games. Currently I work at a game company Supercell as a 3D artist/animator.

I live in Helsinki, Finland with my little family.

Companies/Teams

http://www.supercell.net
http://www.u6project.com
http://www.uphillfilms.net

Feedback and contact

You can comment on any blog article.  I value feedback and any useful input.  You can also contact me in person here.

Releases, interviews and awards

Ultima 6 Project role-playing game, released July 5th 2010 for Mac and PC.  See info about my part.

Gunshine.net, a free to play MMORPG that runs directly in a browser, released to Open Beta in spring 2011. The game features a lot of my models and animations from backgrounds to big boss characters.

Intel’s Animate This! Digital Art Tutorial Challenge.  3 consecutive wins, spring 2010.

My interview at Digital Arts show on Intel’s online television, summer 2010.

My personal animation production Flight or Fight festival results.  Read story about film creation process here.