{{Article|rw|good}}
{{Otheruses|Birdwell}}
{{RWP Infobox
|name={{PAGENAME}}
|image=Ken Birdwell.jpg
|imagesize=250px
|birth=
|occupation=*Senior Software Development Engineer
*Software Developer
|timeperiod=October 1996 – 2016
}}
'''Ken Birdwell''' is an engineer who worked at Valve.
==Biography==
Ken had worked at many wide range of projects before joining Valve in October 1996 as one of the first employees. Since then, his primary focus has been animation software. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the WikipediaEvergreen State University|Evergreen State University.{{IA|19980111062524/http//valvesoftware.com/people.htm|Biography|Valve's official website (January 11, 1998)}}
==Work==
===''Half-Life''===
Ken has designed and implemented the animation system and many other engine components of ''Half-Life'', which was used by designers to create complex characters and scripted sequences. He worked on most of the weapons, and secondary artificial intelligence functions of several enemies, including Apache and Black Ops|Female Assassin.{{IA|19990421040723/http//voodooextreme.com/articles/interview_kb.html|Interview with Ken Birdwell|Voodoo Extreme (1998)}} He worked with Harry Teasley to put the Half-Life SDK|''Half-Life'' SDK together.{{IA|20010308092225/http//planethalflife.com/wavelength/april22ulog.htm|Chat log|Wavelength (April 22, 1998)}} He came up with the original concept of the The G-Man|G-Man.{{IA|20110303035301/http//computerandvideogames.com/152674/interviews/marc-laidlaw|Interview with Marc Laidlaw|ComputerAndVideoGames.com (December 23, 2006)}}
===''Half-Life 2''===
The non-player characters in ''Half-Life'' were well received by the players. Ken began research how he might create life-like in-game characters. He spent some time working with WikipediaKen Perlin|Ken Perlin, and studied a research done on facial expressions by WikipediaPaul Ekman|Paul Ekman. He developed the facial animation system, and is responsible for most of the acting system that underlie the characters in ''Half-Life 2''. He also coded and developed the artificial intelligence for the cut Hydra.''Half-Life 2 Raising the Bar''
==Trivia==
Ken's List of minor Black Mesa employees appears in ''Half-Life'' as an Easter egg in the Sector C|Anomalous Materials Laboratory on a locker. There is a player model using Ken's likeness in the Half-Life (multiplayer)|multiplayer portion of ''Half-Life''.
==Gallery==
FileKen.png|The "Ken" Half-Life (multiplayer)|player model.
==Selected gameography==
*''Half-Life'' (1998)
*''Half-Life Opposing Force'' (1999)
*''Half-Life Blue Shift'' (2001)
*''Half-Life 2'' (2004)
*''Half-Life 2 Episode One'' (2006)
*''Half-Life 2 Episode Two'' (2007)
*''Portal'' (2007)
*''Portal 2'' (2011)
==Official biographies==
{{CollapsedBio|19980111062524/http//valvesoftware.com/people.htm|January 11, 1998|Ken Birdwell - Senior Software Development Engineer|Ken has contributed to a wide range of projects in the last 15 years. These include in-circuit emulators (CodeTap), 3D surface reconstruction (Surfgen), 3D prosthetics design tools (Shapemaker), and satellite networking (Microsoft's Broadcast PC). He also wrote one of the first graphical shells for multiplayer on-line games for Compuserve's Sniper. Oddly enough, Ken has a BFA from Evergreen State University, where he studied painting, photography, and animation. Ken has designed and implemented the animation system and many other engine components for Half-Life.}}
{{CollapsedBio|19990418093112/http//valvesoftware.com/people.htm|April 18, 1999|Ken Birdwell - Senior Software Development Engineer|Ken has contributed to a wide range of projects in the last 15 years. These include in-circuit emulators (CodeTap), 3D surface reconstruction (Surfgen), 3D prosthetics design tools (Shapemaker), and satellite networking (Microsoft's Broadcast PC). He also wrote one of the first graphical shells for multiplayer on-line games for Compuserve's Sniper. Oddly enough, Ken has a BFA from Evergreen State University, where he studied painting, photography, and animation. Ken designed and implemented the skeletal animation system and many other engine components for Half-Life.}}
{{CollapsedBio|20050807013702/http//valvesoftware.com/people.html|August 7, 2005|Ken Birdwell - Senior Software Development Engineer|Ken interrupted his fine art studies to join Gabe at Valve as one of their first employees. With a background mostly in simulation and medical software, Ken's primary focus at Valve has been Animation software, and is responsible for most of the acting systems that underlie the characters in Half-Life 2. Ken is the only Valve employee to actually grow up here in Bellevue, and spends countless hours regaling his office mates with tales of what the town was like "when I was a boy".}}
{{CollapsedBio|20070818032221/http//valvesoftware.com/people.html|August 18, 2007|Ken Birdwell - Software Developer|(''No changes.'')}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{LI|url=pub/ken-birdwell/3/997/95a}}
*{{YouTube|url=FerAlK9GRSY|text=Ken Birdwell interview}} (from ''Half-Life Preliminary Findings'')
*http//gamasutra.com/view/feature/3408 The Cabal Valve's Design Process For Creating ''Half-Life'' on Gamasutra (December 10, 1999)
{{RWPeople}}
{{DEFAULTSORTBirdwell}}
CategoryFormer Valve employees