Brief background history:

I’ve been in the visual storytelling business for over twenty years in London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and now mostly remotely from my home in Santa Fe. I began as a storyboard artist, illustrating tv commercial ideas in color for advertising agencies, which they would present like a comic strip, or edited on video to play as an animatic (very limited animation with sound). The combined visual and verbal narrative would lead their clients to understand, remember and hopefully buy into the advertiser’s ideas.

Then I drew shooting boards for the commercial directors who would film the ads. They had to be more spatially accurate and specific in terms of geography and placement, but also executed quickly as black and white sketches. I’d work with photos of locations to ensure the drawings would accurately demonstrate what the camera would see.

Then I also worked with film and tv directors. As technology improved I started recreating the sets and locations digitally in 3D, so I could position digital mannequins and move them around, use specific digital lenses and put those virtual cameras anywhere that would best tell the story. Importantly, those shots would actually be capable of being replicated in the real world.

So how does this help you?

Well, you might want your audience to experience an event from a specific point of view. That can be achieved via scene reconstruction and animation. You can demonstrate certain things that may either confirm or refute given testimony, for example.

The clearest explanation might be from an overhead, ‘all seeing’ viewpoint, or from a particular person’s point of view.

You can examine questions and present answers visually that suddenly become very obvious to the audience.

Could the vehicle have stopped at the stop sign and then hit the cyclist at 40 miles an hour at point B?

Could the driver have avoided the person in the road? You could show a driver’s eye view of the event, animated to replicate the given speed and approximate lighting conditions.

I am not an engineer or a physicist, but I have a lot experience telling stories visually, and with a high level of accuracy.

I can take information, including point cloud data (.PLY) and recreate and animate scenes and events. 

And I can make it believable to give you memorable forensic visualizations.

I have even made two aliens playing spitball ping pong to the death feel believable. That’s what animation does. It tells a story that you can believe. And when it’s made in collaboration with, and backed up by factual accuracy from reliable sources, you’ve got a powerful tool at your disposal.

For situations where my skills could help, I’d love to help. And of course I’d never misrepresent the facts.

email 

310 795 4763

The video below is a general sampling of my 3D modeling and animation work for demonstration purposes, rather than forensic visualization specifically.