bil maher

I'm William Maher. I'm a creative who's worked with many well-known companies and was the designer and voice of the first speaking character in the history of 3D CGI. My experience ranges across a wide variety of creative endeavors, from my early days in comics and magazines to my pioneering work in computer graphics, animation, and videogames. I've worked to develop concepts for clients like Cinemaware, Electronic Arts, Walt Disney Imagineering, The Learning Company, PF. Magic, Warner Bros./Reprise Records, Radical Entertainment, and Apple. I started as a cartoonist and writer and was one of the first to see the potential of computer graphics in animation. In 1982 I wrote and co-directed "3DV", the first computer-generated series pilot and my character designs and animations have been featured at Siggraph, on American network television and "live" at the 1992 World's Fair. As one of the first artists to collaborate directly with programmers, I helped to define tools which have become established parts of bitmap and vector editing software and worked with the group who prototyped z-map modeling. Since then I've done concept art and show design at Disney Imagineering, designed lots of gameplay and animation for arcade, online, and platform game systems, and got into Flash animation and website development. In recent years I created and taught a four semester Game Design, Character Design, Animation and Story Structure program at The Center For Digital Imaging and Sound in Vancouver, BC. Hundreds of my students have gone on to game industry careers both here in Canada and abroad. And I make a wicked low-sugar spaghetti sauce. You bet. Right now I'm writing and designing a couple of interactive stories and a mobile game, messing around with ZBrush and Mudbox, and am interested in upgrading my limited web design skills so I can understand and take advantage of HTML 5. My friends call me bil. Nice to meet you.