Alan Franco Díaz

Technical Artist and 3D Modeler

I build worlds that can be played: 3D assets, materials, shaders, UI and procedural tools for Unreal Engine and Unity.

This planet is a real-time GLSL shader. Change the sliders, or move your cursor over it to move the light.

About me

Portrait of Alan Franco Díaz, smiling, in black and white

Hi, I'm Alan, a Technical Artist and 3D Modeler based in Zapopan, Mexico.

I connect art and technology: modeling, texturing, lighting and integrating full scenes in Unreal Engine, and turning hand-crafted assets and animation into responsive builds in Unity, including UI and gameplay animation.

I started as a 3D modeler making game environments, then led technical art and production teams at Orange Planet Labs and UNIAT, and most recently worked as a Technical Artist at Age of Learning. I like owning the implementation end to end, from asset integration and state machines to UI behavior and performance.

I'm open to new opportunities. Feel free to reach out.

Software

  • Unreal Engine 5
  • Unity
  • Blender
  • Substance Painter
  • Substance Designer
  • 3ds Max
  • ZBrush
  • Marmoset Toolbag
  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator
  • Premiere
  • Figma
  • Rive

Production and collaboration

  • Jira
  • Confluence
  • Miro
  • Trello
  • Notion
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Office
  • Google Workspace

Skills

  • High and low poly modeling
  • Procedural content creation
  • Generative modeling
  • Materials and shaders
  • Post processing
  • Scene lighting
  • Fluid simulations
  • Pixel art
  • Real-time performance optimization
  • Tools development
  • Machine learning
  • Web design and development
  • VR/AR development
  • Level design
  • Environment production
  • Team management
  • UI and animation implementation
  • State machines
  • Art pipelines

Projects

Leo the Truck, a yellow machine with a green cap and a pink truck gathered next to a yellow panel on sandy ground

Leo the Truck Reskins

Licensed reskins of existing ABCmouse games, built entirely on the art side in Unity: new state machines and a piece-randomization system, with zero engineering changes.

Role
Technical Artist
Tools
Unity, Rive
Year
2026
View full case
A glowing crystal sword next to three earlier stages of its shader, from a flat blue blade to the final crystal

Magic Crystal Sword

A procedural crystal shader in Blender's real-time renderer: emissive glow, layered transparency and arcane patterns, all built from a labeled node graph.

Role
Modeling, texturing and shader
Tools
Blender (Eevee)
Year
2025
View full case
Stylized swamp house on stilts with a boat, lit by warm windows and glowing green and orange light, with a person paddling on the left

Swamp House

A 2D concept by Mathias Fekete turned into a low-poly 3D environment where lighting does the storytelling: warm window glows against cool swamp greens and blues.

Role
Modeling, texturing and lighting
Tools
Blender, Photoshop
Year
2025
View full case
View all projects

Experience

  1. Age of Learning

    Technical Artist

    • Implemented and optimized 2D and 3D assets, animation and UI in Unity across multiple titles in the ABCmouse app, building state machines and prototyping gameplay directly from Rive-authored animation for engineering handoff.
    • Led art implementation on a licensed collaboration between the flagship product and a major children's animation franchise: built new state machines and a piece-randomization system to create full game reskins without altering the original game's logic or layout.
    • Developed and maintained production pipelines and templates, including AI-assisted workflows, to improve output quality and consistency.
    • Designed and prototyped UI and interaction flows in Figma and Rive, and worked with engineers to debug, profile and optimize visual systems.
    • Acted as a key technical liaison between production and project managers, flagging integration risks early (for example, Rive-to-engineering handoff timing) to keep the roadmap realistic.
  2. UNIAT

    Director General, Guadalajara Campus

    • Led academic and administrative operations for the Guadalajara campus while staying hands-on in game and art production projects.
    • Built strategic industry partnerships connecting university training with the games, film and digital entertainment sectors.
  3. UNIAT

    Director of Partnerships and Development

    • Coordinated academic and professional projects with students, supporting asset preparation, pipelines and technical processes for production-ready integration.
  4. Orange Planet Labs

    Technical Art Lead / Program Manager

    • Led production of 3D content for games in Unreal Engine and Unity, including modeling, texturing, lighting and full engine integration.
    • Led a team of artists and worked with developers to keep asset and UI integration seamless across multiple concurrent student and professional projects.
  5. Alsain Soluciones Audiovisuales

    3D Modeler and Texture Artist

    • Modeled and textured game environments, working with designers to create visually compelling, production-ready spaces.
    • Focused on low-poly modeling, game design and game art.

Education and languages

  1. UNIAT

    Bachelor's Degree in Video Game Art

    Training in game design and development, with an emphasis on 3D modeling and game engines.

Spanish (native). English (fluent), my daily working language at Age of Learning.

Contact

Have a project or an open role in mind? Let's talk.

francoda3d@gmail.com

Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico