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CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST · AI/ML ENGINEER

Crafting immersive, intelligent worlds where narrative, code, and art collide.

Hi, I'm Nidhushan Kanagaraja, an NYU Computer Science graduate working on applied AI/ML systems, data-driven platforms, and experimental digital experiences.

4+ Playable experiments
3 MR / 3D films
1 Research Paper
4 Editorial features
Portrait of Nidhushan

Mixed Reality & 3D Filmmaking

Fusing volumetric capture, cinematic framing, and AI tooling to build soulful immersive stories.

Immersive

Short Film - Unreal Engine Cinematics

"Echoes of Wonder" is a visually captivating short film exploring themes of self-discovery and transformation. The story follows a protagonist guided by a glowing orb through surreal, transformative realms. Using Unreal Engine, the project combines virtual production, dynamic worldbuilding, and advanced post-production techniques to create an immersive storytelling experience.
 
♦  Preproduction & Previsualization: Project Structuring, Scene Assembly, Shot Setup, Sequencer, VCam.
Tools: Perforce, Unreal Engine Sequencer, Cine Camera, Take Recorder.
 
♦  Worldbuilding: Terrain Sculpting, PCG, Advanced Materials (RVT, Triplanar Mapping.)
Tools: Gaea, Unreal Engine Material Editor.
 
♦  Immersive Integration: Green Screen, Motion Capture, LED Wall.
Tools: MotionBuilder, Unreal Engine IK Systems, nDisplay.
 
♦  Post-Production: Compositing, Depth Matching, Color Grading, Real-Time Rendering.
Tools: After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Unreal Engine Lumen.
Immersive

World Building in Gaea

♦  Utilized fractal noise algorithms in Gaea to establish base terrain features, ensuring natural variation in elevation and structure.

♦ Applied advanced erosion techniques to simulate realistic landform processes and weathering effects.

♦ Generated high-resolution heightmaps, refining details using multi-layered filters and node-based workflows for seamless export to 3D environments.

♦ Integrated the heightfield data into Unreal Engine, leveraging tessellation, RVT, and procedural texturing to enhance realism and maintain performance.

Immersive

Effects and Lighting

♦  Niagara FX: Created dynamic portals and atmospheric effects using Niagara, with emitters configured for vortex forces, point attraction, and torus shapes, paired with animated translucent materials.

♦  Lumen Lighting: Implemented Lumen for real-time global illumination and reflections, fine-tuned with post-process volumes for cinematic depth and mood.

♦  Audio Reactivity: Developed blueprints to sync particle behaviors and emissive material parameters to audio amplitude, enabling real-time audio-driven visual effects.

♦  Portal Transitions: Designed interactive portals using Niagara FX and blueprints to trigger seamless level transitions with dynamic visual and auditory feedback.

Playable Experiments

Generative storytelling, procedural systems, and tactile feel across indie releases and festival demos.

Time Rewind cover
Feb 2024

Time Rewind

Use delayed shadow mechanics to solve puzzles

Tainted cover
Mar 2024

Tainted

Collect 3 artifacts without getting caught!!

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Research & Writing

Selected publications exploring creative AI, narrative agents, and human-machine interaction.

Moonshine: Distilling Game Content Generators into Steerable Generative Models image 1
Moonshine: Distilling Game Content Generators into Steerable Generative Models image 2

Moonshine: Distilling Game Content Generators into Steerable Generative Models

Aug 2024

♦  Synthetic Dataset Creation: Generated a large dataset using a constructive PCG algorithm, with content labeled by a Large Language Model (LLM) to facilitate text-conditioned generation.

♦  Model Training: Conditioned two PCGML models—a diffusion model and the five-dollar model—on the synthetic dataset to enable content-specific generation.

♦  Text-to-Game-Map (T2M) Task: Introduced T2M as an alternative to text-to-image tasks, allowing for the generation of game maps based on textual descriptions.

♦  Evaluation Metrics: Assessed the models' performance by comparing variety, accuracy, and quality against the baseline constructive algorithm, demonstrating the effectiveness of the distillation process.

Articles & Features

Extended essays, interviews, and editorials.

Let's build something luminous

Available for research collaborations, immersive commissions, and creative tech residencies. Drop a message and I’ll respond within a day.