Charlie Kellner
ckellner@pacbell.net

Objective

To create modern-day legends that will be remembered a generation from now.
 

Professional Experience

Languages: C, C++, MFC, Assembly (x86, 68x, SIMD, RISC).
Internet: VBScript, JavaScript, HTML, XML, Shockwave/Flash.
Components: DirectX, Windows Media, QuickTime/Draw, RTime, RenderWare.
Tools: Dreamweaver, Homesite, Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, Painter, KPT, Bryce,
Studio 3D MAX, Sound Forge and various audio/video editors.
Hardware: Discrete Electronic (analog and digital) and Mechanical design experience.
 

Employment History

Ask Jeeves, Inc., Los Gatos CA. 9/2000-present
UI Engineer: Design and implement user interfaces for the Ask Jeeves Advisor web technology, and supervise a three person team. Designed and co-implemented a streaming video version of the Advisor for a well known client as my first project.

iPlay Inc., Oakland CA. 1999-2000
Senior Software Developer: Re-architected and programmed Bompers from a 2D prototype into a 3D web based game using RTime networking, Direct3D and streaming media.

ePlanet Interactive, San Mateo CA. 1997-99
Lead Programmer: Sole programmer and designer of FaceMe, a state of the art multi-player morphing video chat featuring real time face tracking. Contributor to PowerStation, ePlanet's interactive vision authoring SDK. Programmed several demonstrations of technology and provided mentoring and assistance for in-house content developers. Sole inventor of two patent applications.

Viacom New Media, Buffalo Grove IL. 1995-97
Programmer III: Lead programmer of REX (Your Interactive Pet Dinosaur). Designed and programmed AI and 3D systems. The 3D animation blended multiple actions for each moving part to get a complex, realistic look. The AI was trainable and could generalize past experience to similar objects it hadn't seen before. Objects used realistic physics for collision and traction, and the engine could be easily reused with new models and styles of animation under an artist's control.

Mammoth Micro Productions Inc., Golden CO. 1994-95
Game Designer and Lead Programmer: Lead programmer and designer of The Pagemaster StoryGame. The StoryGame Authoring System allowed the traditional tasks of cel animation, scene composition, logic programming, scripting and sound design to be performed collaboratively over a local area network. The StoryGame Engine supported continuous interactive play testing from the first available text script and storyboard sketches to the final product.

Digital Pictures Inc., Menlo Park CA. 1991-94
Senior Software Engineer: Sole programmer and co-designer of Sewer Shark for the Sega CD, and primary programmer of Sewer Shark for the 3D0. Designer and programmer of the Flying Colors motion video encoder, the DigiChrome multi-platform video codec and the InstaSwitch CD control system used in Digital Pictures' products. Sole inventor of two patent applications. Sewer Shark was chosen by Sega to be included in the box with the first release of the Sega CD system.

Authorware Inc., Redwood City CA. 1990-91
Senior Software Architect: Lead design architect of Authorware's education authoring system for the IBM PS-2 Multimedia PC. Authorware and Macromind merged to form MacroMedia.

MacroMedia Inc., San Francisco CA. 1989-90
Software Engineer: Programmed the first generation of the Director Windows Player, which duplicated the Macintosh Director's playback capabilities and visual effects on the Windows 2.x platform. Portions of my 2D graphics code were licensed to Microsoft for incorporation into the first release of the Windows 3.1 multimedia system.

Epyx Inc., Redwood City CA. 1989
Senior Programmer: Designed the system architecture for Super Temple, a large scale extendable fantasy role playing game. Programmed a boogie board event for California Games II, and contributed to the game play and level design of the LYNX games Electrocop, Rampage and Gauntlet II.

Hasbro Electronics Inc., Foster City CA. 1988-89
Senior Programmer: Co-designed and programmed the original version of Sewer Shark for the ISIX NEMO interactive videotape system, as a crash priority project. The first 15 minutes of the experience were fully operational and debugged in six weeks, including a new stream control language, event compiler and interpreter. The final version of the 34-minute interactive movie was completed in the following six weeks.

Axlon Inc., Sunnyvale CA. 1988
Senior Programmer: Designed a laser disc based interactive movie authoring system, and re-programmed a real time control system for Robopup, an early robotic dog (a next generation Petster). Contributed to the mechanical and electronic design as well as the onboard controller programming. After the improvements, Robopup was able to successfully navigate the cluttered Axlon warehouse end to end without getting stuck, follow an ultrasonic leash, and play simple games with real people.

Lucasfilm Ltd., San Rafael CA. 1983-87
Designer/Programmer: Programmed the high-speed graphics, sound and motion control systems for the first generation of Lucasfilm games. Rescue On Fractalus featured the first real time fractal landscape in a video game. Koronis Rift and The Eidolon had depth shading and perspective scaling cel animation. Battlehawks 1942 added a fast 3D object management system, and Labyrinth introduced multi-plane backgrounds. Created the Animation Cel Editor system and the first real-time game engines for the Atari, Apple and Commodore home computers. While there, I programmed the first generation portable theater testing computer for the THX audio division, and also constructed prototypes for several proposed location based attractions.

Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino CA. 1979-83
Senior Engineer: Designed and programmed application software for the Apple II, and system software for the Apple /// and first generation Macintosh. Lead programmer of the Apple PILOT and SuperPILOT education authoring systems, which included Animatrix (a character based animation editor), the Hi-Res Character Generator and the Apple Pascal Toolkit. Programmed a fast assembly level 2D/3D graphics subsystem for the Apple /// Raster Graphics Toolkit. Wrote several Apple II games, including Apple Bowl, an early high resolution graphic game with a 3D bowling alley and accurate pinfall. Received the Apple Spirit Award for outstanding performance, and two Engineering Contributor awards for significant design contributions to the Apple /// and the first generation Macintosh.

While there, I invented the alphaSyntauri, the first inexpensive digital music synthesizer for the common man. I modified and reprogrammed a Syntauri into an ultrasonic dolphin talker for the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, Florida. I also designed a custom "listener" board that tracked vocalizations over a wide frequency range, with real time frequency translation. They used the bidirectional talker system in a two year study to prove that dolphins communicate cognitively. The system was mentioned in the NOVA segment Signs of the Apes, Songs of the Whales as "The computer that talks to dolphins".
 

Education

B.S. Physics -- Oregon State University, Corvallis OR. Math minor, extensive coursework in computer science, logic and higher math. Member Phi Eta Sigma honorary fraternity.

A.S. Computer Programming -- Chemeketa Community College, Salem OR. While attending, I taught two evening programming classes and a daytime computer operations lab, and also supervised the campus data center.