Jim's Resumé
Updated February 2007.
Jim Royal
1–1845 Notre-Dame-De-Graces
Longueuil, Québec
Canada J4J 3G5
450.670.1631
Summary
Technical writer, designer, webmaster, and photographer with thirteen years experience.
Major Sections
Experience
Digital Wind 2003–2007
Founder & creative director
Launched an independent company focused on marketing-communications, web & graphic design, web standards, and copy-writing. Built each client site using W3C standards and structured code for easy maintenance. Provided quality services to clients in multiple industries, including:
- Aspex Eyewear Canada
- eMisphere Solutions
- EveryPoint Logistic Services
- Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
- House of Travel
- Isaac Instruments
- Maya Heat Transfer Technologies
- National Research Council of Canada (Industrial Materials Institute)
- Project Chance Foundation
- Rogue Research
- Ross & Anglin Construction
- Simon Frasier University
- Tricordia LLC
See www.digitalwind.com for more details.
Autodesk (Media and Entertainment Division) 2005–2007
Marketing research
- Authored a 40-page research document about the video encoder market, used to drive decisions regarding video encoding in all Autodesk products. The report analyzed the demands of various application segments, growth drivers, and technology and market trends.
Lead quality assurance tester
- Performed QA testing and management for Autodesk Cleaner, a Windows and Macintosh application for processing video for CD, DVD, and the web. Provided technical expertise as subject matter expert. Uncovered more than 100 software defects, which were resolved.
- Traveled to India to work with the development team in Bangalore. Functioned as liaison between the management and the development team.
Production work
- Aided the production of Autodesk’s trade show demo reels by creating a workflow for converting client video content to the format used by the Autodesk framestores.
Actional Corporation 2002–2003
Technical writer
- Wrote and edited several manuals and online help systems for Actional SOAPstation, and XML-based data translation tool.
- Developed book design for Actional software manuals in Adobe FrameMaker format.
- Helped to develop workflow procedures for creation of PDF-based documentation.
eNGENUITY Technologies Inc. 2001–2002
Publishing, graphics, and web developer
- Designed, constructed, and managed five large-scale corporate web sites.
- Designed and published 44-page glossy Annual Financial Report (FY 2001), saving $40,000 over previous year’s edition. Received Platinum Award from the League of American Communications Professionals in their competition of the Top 100 Annual Reports for 2001.
- Developed and implemented corporate graphical standards, used by all departments for consistent corporate marketing and messaging.
- Designed, co-wrote, and published Shareholder’s Newsletter – a quarterly publication.
- Created PDF-based interactive training tool for the company’s sales force in aerospace and defense markets, intended to educate salespeople about new products.
- Created 2-D technical illustrations for several product manuals.
Softimage Co. 1999–2001
Education tools developer
- Designed and produced innovative video-based training modules for Softimage products (over 100 video clips in total) using QuickTime and HTML.
- Created company-wide workflow for the production of QuickTime-based training videos, intended to dramatically increase the production of educational tools.
- Designed and published more than two dozen PDF-based tutorials, intended to improve customer productivity and speed up adoption of Softimage products in the marketplace.
- Managed and kept up-to-date corporate web pages.
- Created numerous technical illustrations for several product manuals.
Courseware developer
- Wrote three training course workbooks for Softimage products
- Developed new, better organized templates for Softimage training workbooks
Eicon Technology Corp. 1993–1999
Senior technical writer
- Wrote, designed, and illustrated over three dozen complex technical manuals and online help systems on tight deadlines
- Managed a productive three-person writing team for over a year
- Developed prototype video-based education tools, intended to reduce support costs
- Scripted, photographed, edited, and provided voice for training and promotional videos
- Designed an internal web site and HTML-based training materials for Eicon Technology
Society for Technical Communication (occasional) 1996–2006
Former president & workshop author and presenter
- STC chapter president for 2004–2005 season; instituted new communications initiatives, including email newsletters, thus reducing operating costs significantly.
- Authored and presented six-hour seminar titled Paperless PDFs: Designing for the Screen.
- Authored and presented six-hour seminar titled Vectors and Bitmaps: Computer Graphics Techniques for Technical Writers.
- Authored and presented two-hour seminar titled CSS Best Practices.
- Authored and presented two-hour seminar titled Web Essentials: The Top Ten Countdown.
CKIS-AM Radio 1992–1994
News writer/announcer
- Wrote and announced the news on Oldies 990; first during overnight shift, and later Saturday and Sunday mornings
CKUT-FM Radio 1991–1993
Producer/writer/announcer
- Produced and hosted a weekly current events and interview show; interviewed three or four persons on-air each week, including politicians, activists, writers, business people, and astronauts
Skills
Technical writing
- Highly skilled with FrameMaker, Acrobat, Word, RoboHELP, Arbortext Edtior, QuarkXPress, InDesign.
- Natural voice for technical exposition.
- Extensive experience with Macintosh (OS 7 though X) and Windows (3.1 through XP).
- Experience with Unix and OS/2.
- Extensive experience in documenting networks, including X.25, SNA, and ISDN.
- Extensive experience in documenting video production and 3D animation tools.
- Experience documenting XML-based data translation tools.
Graphics
- Skilled photographer.
- Skilled in 3-D modeling and animation using Strata 3D Pro.
- Skilled in technical illustration and web graphics using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
- Some experience using SOFTIMAGE|3D.
Web
- Expert in W3C Web Standards: (X)HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), XML.
- Skilled with Adobe GoLive, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage, and BBEdit
- Experience writing Perl scripts
Video
- Expert QuickTime compressionist
- Experience as videographer using digital video cameras; shot three videos for Eicon Technology, other videos as personal projects
- Experience as digital video editor using Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere
- Some experience on Avid|DS and Avid Media Composer
Education
- B.A. Specialization in Journalism and Communication Studies — Concordia University
- D.E.C in Pure and Applied Sciences — Vanier College
- High School: honors in physics, electronics and English — Howard S. Billings High School