James will be leading Building Worlds: A Decade of Growth

James Hodgart joins us from Walt Disney Animation Studios to speak about his journey in 3D Environments over the last decade. Hailing from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, James will discuss lessons learned, pushing boundaries as an environment artist, and how to help build an effective and empowered team as a supervisor.

Thursday 20th February 16:30 – 17:30

James Hodgart is an environment model supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He first joined the studio in July 2022, taking visual development art and sculpting it into intricately detailed CG environments, such as natural terrain, architecture, and props for “Moana 2.” He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and grew up in Renfrewshire before studying computer animation at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. He found his way to being a modeling artist from an early interest in architecture, where exposure to 3D computer renders inspired his interest in animation. Hodgart had a brief stint in architectural visualization before moving to Axis Studios in Glasgow, eventually becoming a CG supervisor. He then moved to Vancouver to work for Industrial Light Magic before joining Walt Disney Animation studios, where he is currently environment model supervisor on the upcoming Tiana series for Disney+.