Skip to content
Richard Katz
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Art
  • About

Author Archives: katz3d

July 27, 2026
CATS

CATS: Core (Part 1)

Modules in this chapter: node.py name.py utility.py As mentioned in my description of the “Core” section of the project, I knew there were going to be a bunch of utility functions that I wanted to put together before getting started on any of the major parts of the system. Some of the functions were updated…

Read more

July 26, 2026
CATS

CATS: Character Animation Tool System

Introduction My name is Rich Katz, I’ve been in the game industry for over 28 years, first as an artist, then as a Technical Artist specializing in rigging, animation, tools, and pipelines for the past 20 years. I’ve built rigging systems and animation tools for several studios including at Zenimax Online for the Elder Scrolls…

Read more

June 9, 2021
Uncategorized

Explorer: The game I worked on when I was a teenager

I’ve been a professional game developer since 1997. I’ve shipped at least 10 games at around 10 different studios over the past 21 years, and now I’m living the dream as a Senior Technical Artist at Blizzard Entertainment. However, my first industry job wasn’t the first game I worked on. History Way back in 1987,…

Read more

June 9, 2021
Uncategorized

Creating an angle-driven node network in Maya using native nodes

We’re going to make a cone and some spheres. As the cone’s Y-axis points toward each sphere, the sphere will scale. Make a poly cone (driver). Rotate it 90 in X so it’s “pointing” along the xz (“ground”) plane. Create a vectorProduct node with the “Vector Matrix Product” operation, to isolate the driver node’s matrix…

Read more

March 29, 2021
Uncategorized

Welcome

Rebuilding my website.

5/5
  • CATS: Core (Part 1)July 27, 2026
  • CATS: Character Animation Tool SystemJuly 26, 2026
  • Explorer: The game I worked on when I was a teenagerJune 9, 2021
  • Creating an angle-driven node network in Maya using native nodesJune 9, 2021
  • WelcomeMarch 29, 2021