Jin Zhi

Dr. Jin Zhi

D.Des. | MSc | MFA | PG Cert in HE | UK HEA Fellow | BA (Hons)


Dr. Zhi is a leading visual effects artist with extensive experience in feature films, including the academy award-winning "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," "Prometheus," "Wrath of the Titans," and "John Carter." As a practical VFX and compositing supervisor, he has worked on numerous TV commercials for international brands such as Volkswagen, Adidas, Volvo, Lincoln SUV, Bosideng clothing, and Haier. He possesses a diverse skill set that encompasses on-set supervision, data measurement, 3D CGI & animation, high-end compositing, traditional life drawing, and conceptual design, among other things. He has a deep understanding of visual effects production pipelines.

Dr. Zhi started his academic career as a lecturer in 3D animation & VFX and later became a senior lecturer in film visual effects at UK higher education institutions. He has a PG Cert in Higher Education and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Additionally, he is certified as a Nuke Trainer by the Foundry in London, UK.

In 2018, Dr. Zhi relocated to New York City. He now serves as a full-time, tenured Associate Professor in mass communication at St. John's University, where he leads visual effects, compositing, and 3D CGI courses.


Education Background

Doctor of Design
Research focus: 3D CGI & Film visual effects & Compositing.
Seoul National University, South Korea

MSc in Visual Effects and Digital Compositing with Distinction.
University of Westminster, London, UK

MFA in Film Design
Seoul National University, South Korea

BA (Hons) in Graphic Design
Xi’an Academic of Fine Arts, China

Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education
University of Greenwich, London, UK

Professional Experience

Present
Associate Professor (Tenured)
The Division of Mass Communication
The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies
St. John's University, New York, United States

Visual Effects Supervisor | Compositing Supervisor (project-based)Black + Cameron Productions, Shanghai (December 2019 – Present)
Bevon Pictures, Shanghai (January 2018 – December 2019)

Senior Lecturer in VFX (full-time | permanent)Film Visual effects & 3D CGI course leader (MSc | BSc | BA programs)
The department of Creative Professions and Digital Arts (CPDA)
University of Greenwich, London, UK

Lecturer in 3D Animation and Visual Effects (full-time | permanent) Visual effects & 3D CGI course leader (MSc | BSc programs)
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD)
University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

Film (VFX) Compositor. The Moving Picture Company, London, UK

Film (VFX) Compositor | Stereoscopic Film Conversion Artist. CINESITE (Kodak Europe) Visual Effects, London, UK

Visiting Lecturer in 3D CGI and Visual Effects (Maya | Nuke) University of Westminster, London, UK
Compositor (freelance position) A short film ‘Fred’s Meat’ (funded by North London Film Fund, UK)

Doctoral Researcher at Seoul National University. Research field: Film visual effects and compositing | 3D CGI

Visiting Lecturer (in 3D CGI) Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea

As an artist working in various 3D Animation & moving image studios from 2000 to 2008 in Seoul and London.

Publications | Production Projects | Funding Projects

2022
Research paper:
A Study on Design A Highly Integrated Art and Science Course
2021 13th International Conference on Education Technology and Computers
Published by: ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Digital Library and indexed by Ei Compendex and Scopus.

June 2021 – 2023
A new book, entitled ‘Invisible Visual Effects for Film and TV’
Contracted publisher: Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
Estimated publishing date: 2023.

2022
A new book, entitled ‘Film Visual Effects – Principles and Case Studies’ was published in April 2022. Publisher: Tsinghua University Press (TUP).

April 2021 – July 2021
High-end VFX production | Client: Volkswagen SUV (China)
Collaboration company: Shanghai Black+ Cameron Advertising Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: VFX Supervisor, responsible for CG and live-action compositing shots.

March 2021 – June 2021
High-end VFX production | Client: Huawei MatePad Pro (International)
Collaboration company: Shanghai Black+ Cameron Advertising Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Compositing Supervisor, responsible for CG and live-action compositing shots.

2020
Research paper:
Measuring Reference Image Resolutions for Efficient Texture Mapping on 3D Modeling
CSSE 2020 (2020 International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering)
Published by: ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Digital Library and indexed by Ei Compendex and Scopus.

2020
Research paper:
A Case Study of Assignments Through an Online Mentoring Program
The European Conference on Education 2020
Published by: The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)

2020
Research paper:
Measuring Environment Color Reflection for Integrated CGI in Live-action Footage
ICMIP 2020 (The 5th International Conference on Multimedia and Image Processing)
Published by: ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Digital Library and indexed by Ei Compendex and Scopus.

November 2020 – January 2021
High-end VFX production | Client: Volvo SUV XC40 (China)
Advertising (media) platforms: CCTV (China Central Television) | Shanghai TV stations
Collaboration company: Shanghai Black+ Cameron Advertising Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Compositing Supervisor, responsible for CG and live-action compositing shots.

May 31, 2020 – July 19, 2020
High-end VFX production | Client: Adidas (China branch)
Advertising (media) platforms: CCTV, Focus Media, iQIYI, etc.
Collaboration company: Shanghai Black+ Cameron Advertising Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Senior Compositing lead, responsible for CG and live-action compositing shots.

April 20, 2020 – June 10, 2020
High-end VFX production | Client: C-BONS, China.
Production Category: Adolescent Women's Products
Advertising (Media) Platform: JD.com, Inc., world.taobao.com, Tmall.com, iQIYI network platform, etc.
Collaboration company: Shanghai Black+ Cameron Advertising Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Senior Compositing lead, responsible for CG and live-action compositing shots.

December 18, 2019 – January 15, 2020
High-end VFX production | Client: YILI Group, China.
Production: Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics sponsor promotional video.
Advertising (Media) Platform: CCTV (China Central Television), Focus Media China, iQIYI China, etc. media platforms.
Collaboration company: Shanghai Black+ Cameron Advertising Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Senior VFX Artist. Delivered a series of major live-action and CG shots.

June 3, 2019 – August 16, 2019
High-end VFX production | Client: Haier Group Corporation, China.
Production Category: Consumer Electronics (Washing Machine).
Advertising (Media) Platform: China Central (National) Television (CCTV), China Hunan Satellite TV, China Focus Media.
Collaboration Company: Bevon Pictures (Shanghai, China) Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Visual Effects Supervisor; Digital Compositing Supervisor; VFX Pipeline Supervision.

January 15, 2019 - April 29, 2019
High-end VFX production | Client: Ford (China) Co., Ltd.
Production Category: Lincoln SUV (China Branch).
Advertising (Media) Platform: China Central (National) Television (CCTV); China Hunan Satellite TV; China Focus Media.
Collaboration Company: Bevon Pictures (Shanghai, China) Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Digital Compositing Supervisor; VFX Pipeline Supervision; Compositing Productions.

October 15, 2018 - January 4, 2019
High-end VFX production | Client: Bosideng International Holdings Limited, China.
Production Category: Bosideng down clothing TV commercial.
Advertising (Media) Platform: China Central (National) Television (CCTV), China Hunan Satellite TV, Jiangsu Television, China Focus Media.
Collaboration Company: Bevon Pictures (Shanghai, China) Co., Ltd.
My (production) roles and responsibilities: Digital Compositing Supervisor; VFX pipeline supervision.

2019 International Poster Design Competition Participating Certificate Received.
Poster Design Scheme: i, Metro Poli 2019.

Funding Project: Visual Effects Online Mentoring Program. Funding Body: Seed Grant/Venture Capital Fund, St. John’s University
Award Amount: $3,125
Award Date: June 2021 – June 2022
My Role: Principal Investigator

Funding Project: 3D CGI & VFX Online Classes. Funding Body: Center for Teaching and Learning, St. John’s University
Award Amount: $1,400
Award Date: September 2019 – June 2020
My Role: Principal Investigator

Funding Project: Creative Skillset VFX Online Program. Funding Body: UK ScreenSkills
Award Amount: £ 70,000 (Approx. $ 96,026)
Award Date: 2015 – 2017
My Role: Principal Investigator
Project Leading Institution: University of Greenwich, London, UK.
A total of 8 peer institutions with over 200 students participated in this project.

Visual Effects Production Participation in Feature Films

John Carter (2012)Nominated: 2012 HPA Awards | Outstanding Compositing – Feature Film | Nominated: 40th Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in a Live-Action Production | Nominated: Saturn Awards | Best Special Effects
Involvement Details: Compositing lead (MPC).

2D to 3D Stereoscopic Compositing Conversion Lead (CINESITE)
Affiliated Organization: CINESITE (Kodak Europe) Visual Effects, London.
IMDb Link (search: Jin Zhi)

Wrath of Titans (2012)Involvement Details: Leading VFX Artist
Affiliated Organization: The Moving Picture Company (MPC), London.
IMDb Link (search: Jin Zhi)

Prometheus (2012)Involvement Details: Leading VFX Artist
Affiliated Organization: The Moving Picture Company (MPC), London.
IMDb Link (search: Zhi Jin)

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)Award: BAFTA Film Visual Effects 2012
Nominated: The 84th Academy Awards in Visual Effects
Involvement Details: Lead Visual Effects Artist in the Moving Picture Company (MPC), London.
Affiliated Organization: The Moving Picture Company (MPC), London.
IMDb Link (search: Zhi Jin)

Membership in Professional Societies & Certificates

European Association for Computer Graphics Professional Membership

ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Professional Membership

The UK Higher Education Academy Teaching Fellow

The Foundry (UK) Officially Certified Nuke (VFX) Trainer (search: Zhi)

10-months full-time intensive training course trained in Autodesk Maya and gained an Advanced Animation Certificate in Seoul in 2007.TVF 2211: 3D CGI (Spring Semester)
TVF3207: Film Compositing
TVF3209: Film Visual Effects Principles
TVF3211: 3D Animation (Fall Semester)

Courses Taught