JAB Media Services.com
John Albert Burnham
Independent
3D Generalist / Illustration / Digital Content Creator
Technical Training / Mechanical Simulation
Image rendered in Maya / Arnold
Welcome to JAB Media Services.com
Hello everyone, my name is John (A) Burnham, I have been in the field of multimedia since 1988. I've worked for many popular companies over the years, but in 2020 Covid-19 help bring that all to a halt. The Covid-19 pandemic caused personal conflict for me in many ways. The situation forced me to take a hiatus from all that I held dear, and my DCC career was one of them. Today, with all of that turmoil behind me, I'm now looking to re-enter the job market again and get back on the horse. Admittedly I've been out of the scene for a while, but the good news is that I'm exponentially more experienced and knowledgeable than I was before Covid hit! I've been fortunate enough to obtain many current software packages (with amazing new features!) and along with the power of YouTube I've diligently taught myself a plethora of new skills and abilities. My knowledge base covers endless subjects, but I still consider 3D animation and rendering to be my true love.
Out of all the 3D software packages Autodesk has to offer, Maya remains my program of choice. I have ventured deep into learning the Arnold renderer and all the AOV attributes that make it shine, VRED Presenter and Keyshot Studio, along with many plugin effects like Mocha Pro, Bifrost (much like Houdini) and other built-in effects that Maya contains. Open-source applications like Davinci Resolve and Blender I've installed and reviewed, but only Resolve do I intend to give any real attention to. 3DS Max has always been part of my knowledge base, but I've not had my focus on it for a while now.
I am looking for work, and I will not be choosy about employment options. I would just like to get back at it no matter what is available. I'm very interested in technical illustration or 3D data prep (and/or acquisition) but I'm open for anything!
John A Burnham
Current Employment Interests:
- Illustration
- 3D Data Pull (acquisition)
- 3D Data Prep (Cleaning)
Last Updated: 6.24.2026
Work Status: Available for work
Desired work: Illustration or 3D data management
Emp type: Freelance / Contract / Hire
Env type: Remote or Onsite (locally)
Hourly Rate: TBD
To open an additional page of personal information
and work history about John A Burnham.
Services and Knowledge
JAB - Skillsets and Software
Skillsets Overview
- 3D and 2D animation, Rendering
- Compositing, motion tracking and rotoscoping
- Math data prep (face correction)
- Static graphics
- Illustration (details below)
- Interactive graphics
- Video editing
- Audio production / manipulation
- Website creation (Word Press)
Skillsets details coming soon.
Reels coming soon.
Software Overview
- Maya, 3DS Max, VRED, KeyShot
- Arnold, Vray, Corona, Maya vector renderer
- Deep Exploration
- After Effects, Boris Effects, DaVinci Resolve
- Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid, Resolve
- Adobe Animate (HTML5)
- Full Adobe Suite, CorelDraw
- MEL, Javascript
- Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Waves, Fabfilter
- Team Center, RTT Deltagen, JTtoGo, Deadline
Software Details coming soon.
John Albert Burnham
313 - 296 - 2823
john.b@jabmediaservices.com
Illustration
Vector Based Images
Since 1993, I have been creating illustration images in one form or another for the automotive industry, the US military or for other business areas. Although most of my experience has been while using Adobe Illustrator, I also have a fair amount of time with CorelDraw.
Illustrations can be created for a project from a simple verbal explanation, overlay drawings from supplied goby's (hand sketched or photo) or directly exported from a positioned camera model via CAD software.
Software
Application
Overlay Drawings
The following three examples are vector-based illustrations I created in Adobe Illustrator. By importing the reference art, drawing the edges, contours (even gradients) over the top of it will result in a final light weight line-art version of the photo or sketch that, once exported (without the reference art) the final piece can easily be imported for display on a website, printed manual or color brochure.
Illustration parameters include line weight and cap type, color style, dotted line separation distance, (LOD) level of detail and other parameters. All of which can vary per employer, but is typically stated in a supplied production style guide.
Example References: These three examples have been created by me from random images that I personally selected off the web to be my reference art (I am not aware of their original creators). Through a series of visual dissolves, these embedded gif files reveal the stages of overlay creation; A - the reference art, B - drawing overlayed, and then C - the final black and white version for export.
Electrical Schematics & Symbols
Although not required to be an illustrator, electrical knowledge is always helpful when working on any project that entails schematic drawings or circuits for continuity. I've had electrical knowledge since I was young, so I am very comfortable creating and animating electrical circuits.
Power Supply - Bridge Rectifier
Example Circuit Schematic
To achieve a 12VDC (direct current) output from a 120VAC (alternating current) source, a diode configuration circuit called a "bridge rectifier" is incorporated to pass only the upper portion of the reduced 12VAC sign wave thus forcing the AC signal to flow as DC. A step-down transformer reduces the voltage from 120VAC to 12VAC while a ceramic capacitor (C2) is added to smooth out the rectified current.
A pending animated version of this circuit is still to come. The example will be a demonstration of my existing "Flash" style skillset usage utilizing HTML5 (instead of Action Script 3) in Adobe Animate.
Typical Electronic
Schematic Symbols
Electrical schematics are like building blueprints. The lines clearly show the path of electricity while interfacing with the components it flows through along the way. The symbols shown above are only a handful of such components, but I thought it important to show my knowledge and awareness of them.
My Father: The neighborhood Television & Radio repair man
During World War II, my father was a Sergeant in the Army and a communication & electronics repair expert. After the war he started a television and radio repair service and did his work at both a shop and at home. Because of this, at a young age I was exposed to electronics and electrical test equipment such as voltmeters, oscilloscopes and tube testers. As I got older, I became technically interested in electronics and somewhat educated myself on the subject. Ohm's law, understanding diodes and bridge rectifiers, resister color codes, reading schematics, etc. This knowledge has been continuously helpful to me in many aspects of my career while creating multimedia assets.
Hand Sketched Art
Color illustrations can also be created from supplied sketch art. For the Clown example below, I unfortunately do not have the original sketched art, but all colors and shadings were matched to meet the original artist's rendition. I then supplied the final Adobe Illustrator file to the client, as well as an editable EPS file and a printable color PDF file for any promotional use.
Final art: The Fun House Band Clown
Real world use: The "Fun House Band" clown logo utilized on the bass drum head and a larger printed banner style display.
Exported CAD Data
Illustration art can also be created quickly from CAD 3D files (of programs such as NX, IDEAS, CATIA, Creo Parametric, etc.) by essentially exporting a camera positioned CAD models wire (lines) and spline information as "vector" information to an .eps or native .ai Illustrator format. This exported file can then be opened in a vector art manipulation program such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw for further editing.
Creo Parametric Program
Creo Parametric Display
Illustration job posts mention Creo Parametric quite a bit, but much like IDEA's, NX and many other CAD software I've interfaced with, the export process to a vector file format with Creo is not much different.
My knowledge of Creo Parametric is minimal, although I did experience the demo years ago. As I understood it, Creo Parametric is a powerful engineering software that is much more than a CAD editor as it includes a high-end rendering engine (such as KeyShot) which I am familiar with.
I am not a CAD designer but given the need and the opportunity to embrace the software's interface for productivity, I am more than confident I can get up to speed with the Creo Parametric process and become efficient at vector exporting quite quickly.
A word about 3D animation
Can a piston engine and all its moving parts, be animated...
with only two rotational keyframes?
It absolutely can!
*** To view this and many other animations I've made, please click this link to my YouTube Support Channel. http://youtube.com/@JABMediaServices-k6d
The power of Autodesk Maya 2020 (+)
Camshafts, pistons, rods, valves, lifters, combustion and pretty much anything else can be animated off just two rotational keyframes that drive the crankshaft. Those crankshaft key frames make up the 360° cycle and act as a driver to animate everything else associated with it.
Because of this configuration, moving the second keyframe (of the rotation) forward or backward in the timeline, you increase or decrease the speed of the crankshaft's playback which in turn affects everything directly proportional to its movement. This dynamic connection allows precise control over the engine's speed making animations (such as a quick engine rev, down to a slow idle) conveniently easy.
I accomplished this animation using Autodesk Maya 2027 with the help of:
- MEL script expressions
- Driven Keys
- Parenting and AIM constraints
- Curve Warp
- MASH
- Wire deformers
- Cluster deformers
- Utility nodes
- The animation was textured, lit and rendered using the Arnold rendering engine.
- Individual engine assets and AO passes were rendered into .EXR files using AOV render layers.
- The combustion process was composited in Adobe After Effects using Bifrost renders from Maya. * **
- Animation was assembled and output in Adobe After Effects 2025
* The final Bifrost combustion composites are currently not in the final animation.
** The combustion matte's and Bifrost graph were driven by the Crankshaft key frames, rendered and then composited in After Effects.
Computer Graphics
Technical Training Needs Graphic Support!
Contact: John Albert Burnham
If you are in need of graphical / animation support for any of your projects, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm located in Plymouth Michigan with a strong internet connection to go remote if needed.
313 - 296 - 2823
john.b@jabmediaservices.com
* All images shown on the site were created by John Albert Burnham either privately or from previous projects while employed.
** Any images shown on this site are copyright protected by their appropriate corporate owners. Re-use is strictly prohibited.
*** All CAD models on this site are copyright protected by their appropriate corporate owners. Names of the modelers are not available.
© Copyrights 2026 - Burnham Alive! LLC