Oct. 21, 2015 CAREERS: How a history buff moved from the physical world to the Mercedes dash
Mike Jagodzinski teaches modelling and sculpting at The Digital Animation and Visual Effects school in Orlando, FL. Every 12 weeks, he starts with 40 plus students of all backgrounds. Throughout the course, he sees the variety in moments when and the reasons why students have their breakthrough moments, where the seemingly complex becomes suddenly clear. Even for those who struggle, under his supervision, he guides them to that a-ha moment, knowing that eventually it will come.
And he should know. The first time Mike tried his hand at 3D modelling, he did so as a hobbyist, looking to do some 3D work around a WW1 aircraft. He downloaded a trial copy of MODO 301, watched some videos and got he got so frustrated that he walked away. I remember thinking this is NOT for me,' said Mike.
But apparently, it is. Mike just contributed his skills to the highly successful Project Dash, the collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and The Foundry to create the next generation UI/UX interface for the in-car experience. Mercedes represents just one of many of the global brands known for design and performance where you can see Mikes 3D design skills in action.
For Project Dash, Mike needed to recreate the car from CAD data into a usable Mesh. In particular, he focused on the rear fins and the front slats of the car, which he found the most challenging aspect about the project. I remember thinking, Oh man there's a lot to do. I have to nail the shape and form of the car.'
Even though he worked on Project Dash, the unveiling of it within the Mercedes show car concept blew Mike away.
The day they unveiled the show car concept, I saw the video and thought oh, that's so awesome. The UI elements are just perfect with the 3D elements of the car.
Mike Jagodzinski
As a designer, Mike loves how the underlying strategy of Dash has the potential to impact the design process, both in terms of what it offers and how the industry closely watches Mercedes' innovation.
I can see you can do different iterations and animations of model. Dash allows the UI designers to add elements to their items. If you have to model, rig, animate and render it, just takes time. Now, the speed of iterations are much quicker than what you could previously do. I'm excited to see how far Mercedes goes with it. People generally follow trends like what companies Mercedes do.
Mike's path started with love of history and interest in models of planes and tanks. At the time, he worked in the automotive industry. And, he was, in his own words a bit bored. After his first failed attempt at 3D design, he gave it another go, watching tutorials, playing and experimenting. Finally, he decided to commit to becoming a professional 3D artist I realized that I needed to choose. Either stick with what I was doing or jump whole hog into 3D. I chose 3D.
Since then, in addition to Mercedes, Mike has done work with SkullCandy, Vitamix, 3D Artist Magazine, USMC, and various flight simulator creators and law firms.
While modelling an M-4 Sherman Tank, Mike realized he wanted more texture on the model he had created. After watching videos of Justin Holt and his work with MARI on the movie Battleship. Mike downloaded MARI and started working with it. Mike's work so impressed Jack Greasley, head of new technology at The Foundry, that he asked him to create some of the MARI training videos.
I hope that my trajectory shows that you shouldn't set limits.
Mike Jagodzinski
As you can tell, Mike it a bit of a self-starter. But as an instructor, he says there are multiple paths to becoming a 3D artist. In fact, there are times he wished he could have had a teacher or supervisor to help him out.
There have been times when I've spent 3-4 hours working on something and it would have been helpful to have had someone to help me through the process.
While the students taking Mike's class eventually specialize in either visual effects or games, his biggest piece of advice to them is to remain open to any and all possibilities.
Every student has to take my class and I make a conscious effort to not force students to choose between the two industries while in my class. I hear students say I want to go into either VFX or games' and I think, Guys, that's not the only direction you can go. Don't limit yourself. There are more choices than just A or B.' And always be open to new opportunities.
I hope that my trajectory shows that you shouldn't set limits.
You can see more of Mike's work here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Oct. 21, 2015 CAREERS: How a history buff moved from the physical world to the Mercedes dash
