Pegbar and Grill

Pegbar and Grill


Series 2, Episode 11: Jonathan Topf

January 07, 2019

***PLEASE NOTE THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED IN 2017. PLEASE ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES FOR OUR RIDICULOUS LATENESS IN RELEASING IT.***

Jon Topf is a games designer, developer, animator, and a former member of The Line. Most recently he was lead developer for Monument Valley 2.

Jon talked to us about how he first got into coding as a teenager and how he started his career as a mechanical engineer, before eventually getting into animation. He has worked as a VFX artists, and directed commercials at Studio AKA, before joining UsTwo Games.

During his time at UsTwo, he created an IOS game in his spare time called Trick Shot. After this, he was appointed the director and lead developer of the sequel to the hugely successful phone game, Monument Valley.

Jon Topf
http://jonathantopf.com/

Monument Valley Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC1jHHF_Wjo

Tim Cook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cook

MC Escher
http://www.mcescher.com/

Trick Shot
http://trickshotgame.io/

UsTwo Games
https://www.ustwo.com/

Gear VR
http://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/gear-vr

Maya
https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/maya/overview

Open source rendering software
https://www.creativebloq.com/3d/top-free-rendering-software-cg-artists-91412918

Python
https://www.python.org/

Side FX Houdini
https://www.sidefx.com/

Arrival
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_(film)

Trick Shot
http://trickshotgame.io/

Script Notes Podcast
https://johnaugust.com/scriptnotes

http://scriptnotes.net/304-location-is-where-its-at