Professional Career
I'm Alexander Kvasnicka, currently residing in my birthplace, Vienna, Austria. With a career spanning over 20 years as a 3D generalist, I've worked across diverse sectors, including film, advertising, architecture, and videogames. Recently, my focus has been on real-time graphics, specifically in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Concurrently, I've developed expertise in concept creation and art direction.
My professional journey commenced in the year 2000 in my hometown, where I acquired proficiency in 3D modeling, rendering, and animation. In 2004, I ventured to Madrid, Spain, working as a freelancer on commercials and visual effects for movies. While I relished the sun and the warmth of the people, my intense two-year work schedule prompted me to seek a change of pace. Returning to Austria, I took a hiatus from work and delved into the realms of new media and cyberanthropology. Throughout my studies, I maintained a connection with the latest trends and tools in 3D by working part-time as a tutor and supervisor at a digital film and game school.
Upon completing my studies in 2012, I resumed my career as a freelance 3D generalist, refining my skills across various aspects of 3D production. I collaborated with local and international clients on diverse projects, ranging from architectural and product visualizations to holographic advertisements, 3D mappings for live events, and 3D asset creation for videogames and real-time experiences. My fascination with VR led me to collaborate with a San Diego-based indie game developer on three VR titles in 2016. Since then, my focus has been directed towards creating real-time art assets for XR and videogames.
In 2017, I became part of the Vienna-based XR agency svarmony, formerly known as innovation.rocks. Over my five years of employment, I not only deepened my skills in real-time asset production but also shifted my focus towards conceptual work. As the Art Director of the 3D department, I was responsible for crafting innovative user experience designs, visual guidelines for team members, presentation mockups, and the development of prototypes to explore new ideas in the emerging field of augmented reality.
Since 2022, I have been a member of vrisch, a Viennese creative agency specializing in applied VR experiences. Within this small, collaborative team with flat hierarchies, creative and production processes flow freely. As a result, each team member contributes beyond their job description, taking on new challenges and responsibilities. In this dynamic environment, I have contributed to concept art, game and puzzle design, level design, storytelling, as well as playtesting and QA.
Skills
As a 3D generalist, my expertise encompasses various strengths, including poly modeling (both hard surface and organic), optimizing and retopologizing high-poly and CAD data for real-time and mobile applications (which involves normal-generation and lightbaking), mixing and matching pre-existing 3D assets, shading and texturing (utilizing PBR), achieving photorealistic and artistic rendering, non-character rigging and animation, as well as creating dynamics and VFX.
In my capacity as an art director, I specialize in crafting visual concepts and guidelines for both clients and team members. I employ a diverse range of tools and visual communication forms, spanning from initial napkin sketches to digital illustrations, moodboards, AI-assisted concept art, 3D renderings, UI mockups, and even paper prototyping.
Beyond my proficiency in 3D and conceptual skills, I am adept at post-production, compositing and editing. My experience as a freelancer has honed my abilities in self-organization and project management, enabling me to handle projects of varying scales.