Katherine Blackmore

Course Director
2D Animation

Katherine Blackmore earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and has been a professional artist for 20 years. She moved to Orlando, Florida in 1995 to practice traditional animation at the Walt Disney Feature Animation Studio, where she was a Clean-up Animator for eight years. Her screen credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. Outside of her teaching role at Full Sail, Katherine continues to do freelance illustration, drawing and photography.

Pedro Flores

Course Director
Compositing Fundamentals

Pedro earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from the University of Puerto Rico, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He has more than 11 years of industry experience working in the fields of graphic design, advertising, broadcasting, and simulation – with a credit list that includes Citgo, 7-Eleven, Texaco, and Coca-Cola, among others. Pedro joined Full Sail in 2004, where he has taught multiple courses, including Model Creation, Shading and Lighting, Production Modeling, Compositing and Scene Finishing, and Compositing Fundamentals. In 2005 Pedro received Full Sail’s Top Gun award for his achievements as an outstanding educator.

Matthew Smith

Associate Course Director
Animation Preproduction

Matthew is a professional artist with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and an Associates Degree in Computer Science from Full Sail. He has a background in such diverse areas as photography, sculpting, drawing, painting, animation and graphic design. Outside of Full Sail, Matthew runs a small graphic design business focusing on music packaging, DVD packaging, logos, posters, apparel, photography, and motion graphics.

Ricardo Tobon

Course Director
Motion Capture, Software Technology

Ricardo holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Computer Art, and has worked in the visual arts and entertainment field both in the United States and South America. Ricardo designed the Motion Capture and Software Technology courses at Full Sail University, and is also the author of The Mocap Book: A Practical Guide to the Art of Motion Capture. Ricardo is an active member of the Motion Capture Society, and was a key player in the founding of the online motion capture resource MocapClub.com; he currently serves as the Chair for the project.

Jeff Parrott

Associate Course Director
Level Design, Shading and Effects for Games

Jeff worked in the video game industry following his graduation from Full Sail’s Computer Animation program, with credits that include such titles as 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank, and Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier. In addition to his teaching role at Full Sail, Jeff also co-founded and is currently Art Director for 24 Caret Games, LLC, which developed the Playstation 3 game Retro/Grade. Jeff has also written tutorials on Alias/Autodesk Maya about Unreal importing/exporting, normal mapping, and creating lightmaps with Mental Ray.

Chad Pollpeter

Course Director
Principles of Design

Chad Pollpeter is a professional artist with more than 14 years of experience teaching traditional art. He joined the Full Sail staff in 2006, and continues to create new work, exhibiting it throughout the southeastern United States.  Chad’s paintings have been shown in museum and gallery exhibitions and been featured in national publications.