Hello!
My name is Austin, and I'm a software developer in the film industry. I currently work at Laika Studios.
Software Developement
My career has been in pipeline developement at VFX and production companies. I've made custom internal tools for all departments at a production company primarily using Python, TypeScript, and a little bit of Rust.
Some particularly interesting work projects include:
- A custom Timecard web app using Autodesk's Flow PT (Shotgun) as a backend so we could easily link and explore time spent to actual work done by artists.
- A proxy for Hiero's "Sync Session" tool, so we can allow hundreds of people to connect to a single review session.
- A Rust framework to allow us to write code once in Rust (with minimal boilerplate) and call that code as a library from TypeScript and Python, with proper types and async support.
- A UI framework in Python that allows you to write QT-esque code once, and deploy the same app as a desktop QT app or as an web app.
Outside of work, I run a free app called BlueNotify that gives post notifications to over 8000 Bluesky users and sends over 150k notifications a day.
I also tinker with experimental video games that I occasionally present at Open Sauce. Some past projects include Eat Me!, a multiplayer platformer that can support up to 10,000 players in a single server, and Save the Baby!, a ridiculous "Social Experiment" where attendees of the convention need to work together to keep a virtual baby alive for many days.
Some technologies I've used:
- Python
- Rust
- TypeScript
- NATS
- Postgres
- Flutter, Dart
- Godot, GDScript
- Java
- Docker/K8s
Education
I went to film school at the Academy of Film, Theatre, and Television in Sydney, Australia.
Personal
I love writing music, watching movies, and long distance running.
I'm currently working on an album of "Outlaw Country" music, and writing a script for a found-footage time travel dinosaur horror movie.