Benjamin Frémiot

TouchDesigner and Tools Developer

Member Since 2022

Bio

Pretty new to TouchDesigner, I have a solid background of 15 years Tools development in the video games industry, also acting as Technical Lead and Team Lead.

I developed tools for Artists and Designers in different environments and fields: procedural middleware startup, companion app, mobile games, and AAA productions with procedural generation, Editor tools, DCCs pipelines, in-game cinematics.

I have a passion for Procedural Generation and spend the last 4 years focusing on Houdini and Houdini engine integration in several Game Engines and Editors at Ubisoft and on StarCitizen.

I also have an artistic-side that I started exploring a few years ago and that I want to develop more.

Which lead me to recently start learning TouchDesigner and discovering the world of immersive experiences. I find the mix of images generations and real life setup really exciting ^^

I feel that TouchDesigner is the perfect software that will allow me to combine my programming skills with my affinity for art to create visual experiences and support other creatives by developing and improving tools adapted to their needs and workflows.

Education

2004/2007
Telecom Nancy Software Engineer: + 2 years of class to prepare to engineering schools, in France

Work & Experience

Lead Tools Programmer Turbulent
December 2020 / August 2022

• Design and development of an in-house « Mighty
Bridge » micro-services tech to integrate Houdini into the
game editor pipeline (C++ / Python – GRPC)

• Maintenance and improvement of the Editor tools (C++ –
Qt)

• Hiring and management of a team of 4 Tools Programmers
• Workflow analysis and collecting user feedback & needs
• Management, Planning, Coaching, Code guidelines, Code
Reviews, User support

Generalist Programmer & Tech Lead (Production) Ubisoft Montreal
May 2018 / November 2020

• Houdini Engine integration and improvements (C++ / Python)
– Proof of Concept and automated generation pipeline with Houdini for the Black Sprawl in Rainbow Six: Extraction

• Design, Planning and Creation of Houdini Tools for
production
• Oversight of all the DCCs used on production (3dsMax,
Blender, Substance Designer, Photoshop, etc)
• Maintenance and development of tools in the Editor (C#)

• Coaching of junior tools programmers in the team
• Technical Directors and users support

• Projects: Rainbow Six: Extraction, unannounced project

Generalist Programmer (Technology Group) Ubisoft Montreal
January 2016 / May 2018

In-game cinematic pipeline (« Theater » team)
• Engine runtime (C++)
• DCC import/export (MotionBuilder – Python / C++)
• Production teams support

• Projects: Assassin’s Creed Origins, Assassin’s Creed
Odyssey, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, unannounced project

Tools Programmer & Lead Tools Programmer Ubisoft Mobile
November 2013 / October 2015

In-house cross-platform game engine for mobile productions:
• Node Based tool framework (Qt / QML – C++)
• Build/Deploy pipeline for mobile packaging (iOS, Android)
• In-house IDE enhancements

• Team lead in a 10 people team, split between Paris and Romania
• Roadmap, code review, prototyping, technology watch

• Projects: Assassin’s Creed Pirates, Driver Speedboat Paradise, Horse Haven World Adventures, Rabbids Appisodes, Smurfs Epic Run

Unity Developer Ubisoft Paris
April 2012 / November 2012

Ghost Recon Network companion app for Android, iOS and Web
• UI integration using NGUI
• Social features

Python Developer GamR7
April 2007 / June 2011

Procedural city generator “Ürban PAD”
• Procedural generation in the 3D engine (Panda3D)
• Collada export pipeline (Maya, 3dsMax, etc…)
• UI and node based system (Gtk, GooCanvas)
• Eden Games support for integration into their toolchain.

Professional Skills

C#
C++
houdini
Houdini Engine
Python
Qt
TouchDesigner
Unity