Game Franchise · 2007–2015
Rock Band
A music-driven venue system that changed environments, lighting and cameras for every song, set inside a band's rise to fame.
Rock Band passed $1 billion in North American retail within 15 months of its late-2007 launch, sold over 1 million units on Xbox 360 and PS3 in its first months, and moved more than 40 million paid song downloads in its first 15 months. I worked on Rock Band 1 to 3 plus the LEGO and Beatles spin-offs.
Music drove color, lighting, avatar animation, post-processing and camera movement, so every track looked different inside one consistent system. A rise-to-fame story ran through world-map travel, venue progression and cutscenes.
What I Built
I designed and built the modular environment and visual control systems that let music drive the venues: direct MIDI control at first, later automated visual generation; venue pieces that adjusted color, lighting, animation, post and cameras per song; and player identity systems that put band names and logos into the stage design. I also wrote the environment and cinematic style guide materials for Rock Band 2 and 3.
Weekly DLC
New songs shipped every week. I moved DLC visuals from fully manual setup to automated first drafts of lighting, cameras and post, driven by cues in each song. Dedicated DLC art staff went from 4 to 1.
Licensed Brands
I handled 3D product models and in-world signage for licensed brands: the Fender family (Charvel, Gretsch, Jackson, Squier, SWR), Sennheiser, Shure, Ernie Ball, Electro-Harmonix, EMG, Ludwig, Pro-Mark, Roland/BOSS, Vater, Vic Firth and ZVEX.
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