As a Graphics Technical Artist at Blizzard, my job is to make sure our artists have what they need to make their art look the best in the game engine. Occasionally this means lookdev or creating bespoke shaders, but usually I am behind the scenes supporting our artists by adding features to a material, or making a feature-packed shader for VFX that could be used in many ways. As such, it can be hard to extract isolated pieces of work after a release because of the nature of the role. Thanks to the amazing artists on our team, I am glad that I can showcase some of my contributions to the Vessel of Hatred expansion.
1. Spirit Realm wildlife shader
A bespoke shader created for the spirit realm wildlife creatures that features iridescence and motion blur.
2. Spiritborn Ruler shader
A more general shader that was used in the skills shown above which allowed VFX artists to fade in and out certain parts (or the entire body of) a Spiritborn Ruler, like claws, wings, etc
3. Transformation shader and materials
Materials on the body and hair that allowed the corruption to visually transition in on Ah Bulan.
4. Feather material/shader
This feather material leveraged our hair shader techniques for a softer wing look.
5. Iridescence feature on materials
The iridescence feature with a ton of artist control, across different dye-color sets, to get a wide variety of iridescent looks from oil slick to ammonite to crow feathers to soap bubbles.
6. Vampire Enrage shader effect rework
A rework of the previous Vampire Enrage shader effect that allowed for more readability in different lighting scenarios.