From the desk of

Mick Punk
mick [at] mickpunk.com
San Francisco, CA, USA

Experience

Studio G Video Technology Specialist. ASG LLC, Google Mountain View, CA, December 2009 - present (at Google since March 2010)
  • Manage video ingest for all incoming media (including Panasonic P2, RED, Sony XDCAM, DPX, Quicktime, MPEG2&4, Cannon 5D and 7D). Work includes backing up for archival, conforming and troubleshooting.
  • Train all new editors on how to use the SAN system and follow network protocols. Act as the first stop for editors and animators when problems arise, triaging to Technical Operations when appropriate.
  • Perform HD video capture from image scalars, decks, etc. for team of post-production specialists (up to 10 editors and 5 graphic artists working simultaneously).
  • Encode deliverables when necessary. Maintain servers for high priority cluster compressions.
  • Manage archival LTO tape machine (StorNext) and monthly Iron Mountain delivery. Oversee 15 terabytes of data per month.
  • Perform a broad range of technical, compression, editing and quality assurance tasks for miscellaneous high priority tickets.
  • Act as backup Video Engineer during live broadcasts.
  • Edit and encode events for @Google talks & CEO keynotes.
YouTube MOC Video Operator. Google Mountain View, CA, August 2009 - November 2009
  • Defined and enforced both the process and standard of quality for ingesting YouTube content.
  • Processed Digibeta, Hard Drive and Aspera deliveries of content for ingestion and compliance with the YouTube encoder.
  • Collaborated with PSO and YouTube engineers to optimize the Media Operations Center infrastructure by recommending and setting up hardware and software.
  • Provided troubleshooting and technical support to account managers.
PSO MOC Video Operator. Google Mountain View, CA, January 2009 - September 2009
  • Corrected issues in submitted TV ads and determined what was acceptable with respect to quality.
  • Monitored the flow of TV assets and ensured ads were processed in a timely manner.
  • Provided troubleshooting and technical support to advertisers and account managers.
Intern Editor. dvGarage San Francisco, CA, October 2008 - June 2009
  • Performed Final Cut Pro editing and Motion design for MacBreak tutorials.
Master Encoder. BitTorrent, Inc San Francisco, CA, May 2007 – October 2008
Video Consultant. BitTorrent, Inc San Francisco, CA, December 2006 - May 2007
  • Handled physical deliveries of Hard Drives, DVD-R, Digibeta. Source formats and containers typically included MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DV, wmv and various flavors of QuickTime.
  • QC'd "to-be-encoded content." Shared duty for pre-encoded content, checked for obvious problems including: integrity, aspect ratio, cropping, framerate, bitrate, duration, seekability and buffering.
  • Encoded content into a wmv container for selling, a flv container for ad supported streaming, a mp4 container for devices, and created a mp4 trailer, where applicable, on a per partner/title basis.
  • Resolved problematic content that did not cleanly or completely encode.
  • Owned and maintained the Encoding Spec - guidelines for partners submitting pre-encoded content.
  • Shared responsibility for editing metadata.
  • Ran content ingestion scripts.
  • Researched best practices - remaining aware of new developments - and advised accordingly.
Web Design Consultant San Francisco, CA September 1996 - December 2006
  • Acted as a Freelancer, Startup and Fulltime Web Designer for consumer and corporate websites and web based applications. Visual, Interaction, Information Design, and HTML implementation for various clients including: Antara Biosciences, Moderati, Inc., Pelegen Sciences Inc., Arturo Vega's RamonesWorld, Switchouse Inc., Electronics For Imaging, Inc., @art, The Krannert Art Museum, and Netscape Communications Corporation.

Software Used

  • Final Cut Pro, Premiere, After Effects, RedCineX, Anystream Agility, Episode Engine & Episode Pro, QuickTime, Compressor, Windows Media Encoder, VisualHub, FFmpeg, MPEGstreamclip, AviSynth, DGindex, VobSub, BeSweet, x264, Avidemux, MP4BOX, YAMB and various other related applications, plugins and utilities. Aspera, and other file transfer applications. Familiar with the command line.

Hardware Used

  • MacPro Towers and Xserves
  • Dell Tower running Windows 7
  • StorNext SAN for shared and archival storage

Education

  • BFA, Graphic Design, School of Art and Design, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. May 1996

References

  • Available on request.