Hi there! I'm Brad Schmitz, and I'm currently an associate software engineer for ClickTime in San Francisco, CA. I graduated from Miami University (OH) in May 2021, with a BS in Computer Science, a BA in Interactive Media Studies, and Minors in Music Composition and Music Performance. I'm a huge nerd for technology, design, and music, and my main focus has been to find ways to make these realms intersect. My main skill is in programming and software development, but also am skilled in software such as Unreal, Unity, TouchDesigner, Maya, Blender, and Ableton.
My main areas of interest include...
Video and motion design
3D design
Augmented / virtual Reality
Computer graphics
Web application development
Music composition and production
When not working, my hobbies include music performance (I play guitar, saxophone, and piano) & production, playing video games, working out, and simply vibing.
Software / Languages Used: Unity Game Engine, OculusVR, C#
Overview: A simple archery demo in virtual reality. The player has 10 attempts to hit a target ~25 meters away, and receives a score based on how well they did. Included in the project are major VR concepts like haptic feedback and realistic bow pulling and firing.
AR Looper
Year Created: 2019
Software / Languages Used: Unity Game Engine, Vuforia, C#
Overview: A music augmented reality application. This application allows people to point their phone at a printed-out piece of paper and make their own simple music loops. Users can select from five instrument sets, with five instruments per set (25 instruments total). Users can also add a lowpass, highpass, and reverb filters to their remix.
Parkinson's VR Training
Year Created: 2020-2021
Software / Languages Used: Unity Game Engine, OculusVR, C#
Overview: A virtual reality training simulation that was developed as part of a research project to determine the effectiveness of virtual reality for training nursing students. This particular scenario involves effectively handling a Parkinson's patient, and includes immersive and interactive actions for the user - giving medicine through a syringe, performing auscultation, talking out loud to other characters, and more.
Armada Cleanup Crew
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: Unity, C#
Overview: A Katamari-esque game, in which you control a sphere tasked with cleaning space junk off the space armada's mothership. However, for your promotion, you have to defeat the other sphere(s) who want to also get promoted. You have 90 seconds to clean off as much junk as you can! Whoever has the most junk after this time is declared winner! See the readme file in the repository for all credits about the sounds, songs, 3D models, and other assets.
Ninjas vs. Knights
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: Unity, C#
Overview: A third-person shooter capture-the-flag game, in which you and a team of AI-controlled ninjas must travel to the enemy castle and steal their flag. However, at the same time, a team of AI-controlled knights is trying to the steal the flag from your village! Show them who's boss by capturing their flag and brining it back to your base. You can pick up and fire a vareity of guns to help secure your chances of capturing the enemy's flag. See the readme file in the repository for all credits about the sounds, songs, 3D models, and other assets.
Gathering at the Poet's Shack - Web App
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: NodeJS, ExpressJS, AWS, MySQL, AR.JS
Overview: A web application used for The Gathering at the Poet's Shack. The website is a simplified social media app, where users can submit poems and view poems submitted by others, complete with an engaging visualization and auto-generated song. Additionally, the website has an AR library called AR.JS built into it, which allows users to point at specific QR codes and see videos.
Appalogue
Year Created: 2019
Software / Languages Used: Ruby on Rails
Overview: A basic app catalogue web application, developed as a course project for a class. For this project, I was in charge of the user interface design, app view / creation / deletion, user login, user permissions (admin, moderator, etc.), and star reviews. The UI was created from scratch using HTML / CSS, while features like user login and star ratings were handled by Ruby gems (Devise and jQuery.raty, a jQuery plugin).
When first visiting the site, users can see a list of all apps available on Appalogue. However, to interact with some of Appalogue's features, users must first create an account using an email address. Once logged in, users have the ability to leave one review per app by viewing the app's info and leaving a review (a star rating and a comment). If the review is offensive or of poor quality, a moderator can remove the review. When logged in, users can also submit app requests to be added to Appalogue. These requests can then be approved or denied by an admin. If approved, the app is then shown to all users on the Appalogue home screen. Users may also search for apps in two ways: using the search bar to search by app name, or using advanced search (in the bottom navigation area) to search by other fields, like developer or price. Lastly, there is a Help / FAQ page in the bottom navbar, if the user is confused or needs additional help.
The Simpsons in Statistics
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: R, R Shiny
Overview: An R Shiny dashboard developed as a course priject. This app uses information from TMDb and data.world to see how the popular American animated sitcom The Simpsons has changed in its 30+ year run. Included are analyzations and visualizations of ratings over time, number of guest stars, and popularity/frequency of guest stars, directors, and writers. Users can also select which seasons they would like to display to help compare seasons.
Gathering at the Poet's Shack
The Gathering at The Poet’s Shack took place on November 16, 2020, from 7:30pm-10pm in Bishop Woods at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Our goal was to promote the democratization of the arts, creating a more open and vibrant public discourse through the use of technology, and allowing all voices to be heard and to celebrate poetry and creativity throughout time.
Shack Video
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner, Adobe AfterEffects, Notch
Overview: The main attraction for The Poet's Shack! This video was created using lots of various motion design tools (Notch, TouchDesigner, AfterEffects), then was composited in TouchDesigner. We then used a built-tool in TouchDesigner called Camschnappr to projection-map the shack video to our 16-foot-tall wooden shack.
The poems chosen for the video are from various Miami University students, faculty, and alumni.
Upham Hall Poem Visualizer
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner, Python
Overview: One of the attractions at the event, which took poems from our web application and displayed them against the building, complete with visually-engaging backgrounds. We used the Python "requests" module to call a simple API, then used the acquired data to display the poems.
Upham Tunnel Starfield
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner
Overview: One of the attractions at the event, which was projected onto the ceiling of Upham Hall to simulate stars. However, the main feature of this visualization was interactivity via a Kinect Azure: whenever the sensor detected the presence of someone, their silhouette would be shown in the starfield, made of stars.
Visuals
Dear Dictator (Saint Motel)
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: Adobe AfterEffects
Note: These are meant to be played on a vertical phone screen, so open in fullscreen for the best experience. Optionally, you can find the accompanying song online and view the visual as you listen along!
Fort Knox (Goldfish)
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner
TROJAN HORSE (SEBASTIAN PAUL)
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner
2001 - A Doge Odyssey
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: Adobe AfterEffects
NYC Dragon Attack
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: Adobe AfterEffects
He-Man Cube
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: Notch Builder
Glitch Planet
Year Created: 2020
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner
Dynamic Audio Visualizer
Year Created: 2021
Software / Languages Used: TouchDesigner
Space Taco Stand
Year Created: 2021
Software / Languages Used: Autodesk Maya
Miami University Sundial
Year Created: 2021
Software / Languages Used: Autodesk Maya
Steampunk Mobile Fortress
Year Created: 2021
Software / Languages Used: Autodesk Maya
Music
From The Ground Up
Year Written: 2019
Software Used: Ableton Live, Max4Live
Fun Facts: The name of this piece has a double meaning:
1) nearly all of this piece was written using audio sythesia, via the help of a Doepfer Analog Modular System and Max4Live
2) the song is meant to convey feelings of "ascending", from on-the-ground spy song to heavenly chorus
Pixel Jet: Title Theme
Year Written: 2013
Software Used: FamiTracker
Fun Facts: I wrote this as the main theme for a Scratch video game I made in 2013, which was a winner of the National Stem Video Game Challenge!
Heist (for string quartet)
Year Written: 2020
Software Used: MuseScore
Fun Facts: Hope you like odd time signatures - this song is pretty much entirely in 7/8 time!
Devoid (for piano)
Year Written: 2015
Software Used: FL Studio
Fun Facts: The title "Devoid" has two meanings, which are its original meaning (empty), but also "de-void" (remove the void from). This piece switches between the meanings: starting off empty, then building, then becoming empty again in the end.
Forge
Year Written: 2020
Software Used: FL Studio (EastWest Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra soundfont)
Fun Facts: This song is a composition for symphony orchesta, meant to convey the dark and metallic nature of an evil metal forge. This is done through the heavy use of percussion (including an anvil) and lots of deep instruments and voices (including a male choir).
Landward Ho!
Year Written: 2017
Software Used: FL Studio (EastWest Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra soundfont)
Fun Facts: This song is a composition for symphony orchesta, meant to sound like a film score piece. This song tells the story of a ship leaving port to discover new lands, expericing various emotions along the journey, including homesickness (~1:05) and discovery (~2:41).
