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 Where
are you from and where are you living today?
Born, raised and living in Calgary, Canada. I escaped for about 5 years
and lived in Victoria and Vancouver but a job offer pulled me back.
How old are you?
41.
What
can you see from where you sit now?
The window in my office looks out on some trees, houses and a patch of
sky. Nice fall colours today. Plus there is a lot of junk on and around
my desk.
Coffee,
tea or something stronger?
Sure.
What
was your first ever interest/experience in 3D/CG?
 Back
in 1986 I think it was, I took a computer course at the University of
Victoria and they had a bunch of Macs in the lab there. Some of the geeks
gave me some programs for making 'art'. There was Mac paint and I think
superpaint and there was a 3D program called super 3D, maybe? I made a
few things with those programs and in about 3 days realized that computers
weren't ready to make art yet. So I forgot about computers until I came
back to Calgary and started working and got a computer in 1994. I saw
Bryce 1 in a magazine and ordered it, then later came Poser 1 and I got
that. So I made lots of shiny balls and checkered floors. For a couple
years I made a cartoon series with Poser and Bryce, it was called Psyclones.
There were about 30 images that came out of that. Billy was born out of
this cartoon series.
Do
you use Cinema 4D as a hobby, for learning, or for pro work?
Hobby. I have BFA in visual arts from UVIC, but I work full time outside
the arts. At some point I want to mount a show of prints made in Cinema.
My job provides me well enough that I don't have to try and make it a
commercial endeaver. That allows me to do anything I want with the art.
My main goal at the moment is to get together a big enough body of good
looking work to mount a print show at some point.
When and why did you decide to make Cinema your weapon of creative
choice?
Right around the time of Cinema v7. I had tried out Lightwave but the
interface seemed crazy. There was not too much else really good for Mac
at that time. Maya came to Mac a little later.
What
other 3D software have you used/still use, and why?
Occasionally I use Terragen and the Cinema plug-in for it, Terra.
Which
Cinema 4D version do you use currently?
9.1 the 9.5 upgrade is in the mail... wha hoo!
Which
platform do you use/prefer - Mac or PC?
Mac at home, windows at work for buisness, I haven't been able to talk
them into going Mac yet.
Any
particular reason for your platform choice?
I started out on Mac and have gotten really comfortable with it. It is
pretty much bulletproof.
CRT or LCD and why?
I have an Apple 20 inch Cinema display and an old 17 inch Sony. The Sony
has always had very accurate colour so I have used it for checking that.
Default scheme and layout or custom?
Default with one extra palate for extra tool and object icons.
What's
your favourite model/image you have ever created and why?
I guess I would have to say the Perseus
image. It just came together really well thematically and pictorially.
That image was based on a painting by Max
Beckman about the Perseus
myth, but I think it still holds its own with all that baggage. And
even though I have gotten technically a lot better since then, the
picture has grown on me a lot. It printed really well too. |
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Besides
yourself, do you have a favourite Cinema 4D artist that you admire or
are inspired by?
Shakes, 3DE, robotalk, strata.
What
gets you inspired and when? Are you a night person or a day person?
I am a vampire, I do all my work at night. I am trying to change that
but old habits die hard. My muse tends to visit in the evening. Lately
I think my biggest inspiration has come from Max
Beckman, I just dig those old paintings. I surf a lot too, looking
at 3D art and 2D digital art. I also use Google and sometimes eBay to
surf for images of various things to use as research in my 3D. I like
to type a random word into Google images and see what comes up.
Tell
us about your (very) unique style! Where does this style come from and
how did you arrive at it?
When I started working in Cinema I decided that I would concentrate on
still life. Hard shiny stuff is the easiest thing to do in 3D so still
life objects were a good place to start. A big part of the struggle for
me is just making the stuff look good but I decided that I wanted to try
and do realism as best I could. The realism brings in a wider audience,
people relate to it more easily. Which I hope can help a bit since my
stuff tends to be really niche work. I guess only a pretty limited sensibility
can appreciate what it is about. Also I am trying to master the ability
to make realistic looking but totally imaginary toys. I have limited hours
and I sort of feel like I am just getting started in 3D even though I
have been at it a long time.
Who
is Billy and what’s really going on in that basement of his?
Billy is that kid who lives down the street and burned down the community
hall.
I havent got a clue what is going on in his basement, I have only ever
seen one wall and a patch of floor. I think some bad things will be coming
out of that basement pretty soon, he has been behaving himself and the
pressure is building. I suppose Billy is my artistic alter ego and my
excuse for every inanity that I put out. If something goes wrong it is
Billy's fault.
Why
toys?
 Toys
are cool! Everything in life can be played out in toys. There is a toy
for everything. It is amazing that there is this whole explosion of toy
making going on right now, pick up Juxtapose magazine sometime and check
all the crazy freaky toys available now. Plus I like the idea of using
toys to illustrate deeper themes. Ideally I want to create a seemingly
innocent image of toys that harbors a more profound story line. Of course
it doesn't always work out that way and sometimes it is just about having
fun. I love it when I can fool people into totally getting wrapped up
into the story that is playing out and still maintain the look of a static
still life tableau of a toy arrangement. They are just toys on a floor
right? That is why I always like to add some everyday elements like rocks
or tools, in order to ground it in that other reality. When I flip through
my gallery some of the images are very much about still life and others
cross the line into theatre. I wish I was technically better and able
to produce more realistic images to better ground the toys in a rational
reality. The mind will always build the story.
Very
often your images contain elements of violence and just as often it’s
accompanied by a touch of bizarre humour. Any thoughts behind this?
The world is about competition, confrontation and conflict and the violence
in the images is just a signifier for this. Plus I like the straight up
shock power that a little blood brings. It also ties in with the juvenile
manner under which I operate. With all the violence and fear mongering
out there picturing it is also my way of exorcising it.
Someone
once said that ”soapy is an acquired taste”. Just like whisky
it takes a certain amount of time to really appreciate the stuff. Do you
ever start out a project with a certain reaction in mind or do you leave
that bit completely to the viewer?
 Sometimes
I just try and make the most crazy, insane image I can. I guess it started
out as a reaction to all the normal kinds of art you always see. For a
while I was doing these acrylic paintings that were designed to be anti-
aesthetic and ugly, I tried really hard to make the ugliest, anti-art,
anti-design paintings possible. The irony was that the harder I tried
the more elegant the paintings became, well to my eye anyways. But I came
to really enjoy the idea of intentionally getting very reactionary about
my aesthetic approach.
With the
3D work I started out on a whim doing really juvenile stuff and just continued
along those lines. So sometimes it is about just making really dumb or
violent images like a teenager might. Most 3D is about realism these days
and while I think that in and of itself is a cheesy thing to do, 3D can
take you anywhere you want to go why limit yourself to reality? But I
embraced realism since it still tends to fly in the face of most serious
art criticism these days and I guess I secretly like it...
Another genre
I tend to like is kitsch. While I havn't really done any thing super kitschy
I wouldn't be shy if something comes along. But in spite of these leanings
my intention is not to play tricks on the viewer or fling mud in their
eye, it is more an attack on the art establishment and just my working
method. A way of building things that I hope will turn out cool. Sometimes
people try to call bullshit, like as if an image is a bunch of meaningless
pap, they could be right, but I always have an explanation or back story.
Even with all the games in the beginning stages a narrative usually develops
along with the image. So when they try and call me out I always have something
to say. But then I admit that is another game of semiotic hogwash. Anything
can symbolize anything. A lot of the times my signifiers are pretty personal
and decoding the images according to my designs is fairly impossible.
But then one of my goals is to make images that have a lasting effect,
that is, I want them to have multiple interpretations dependent on the
viewer. Sometimes even what a picture means to me can change over time.
I try not to build one-liner pictures although I have done a few. Of course
sometimes a good joke is called for. A lot of times I am poking fun at
one thing or another, even in the context of a darker theme. I keep a
list of ideas for images and a lot of those are straight up one liners
but quite often as I work on one of those it develops into something else
or births new ideas in the process.
 I
said earlier that I consider my work a hobby but it isn't exactly like
that, but thinking that way allows me to make the craziest stuff I want.
My art making practice is more of an obsession than a recreation. I always
feel like that elusive masterpiece is just around the corner. The next
image will be the one! Then sometimes I think 'oh shit nobody will ever
like this crap'. But then I keep moving and it doesn't matter. I have
to please myself not some perceived audience. So I try and make stuff
I can look at and enjoy. I think I could probably do pretty well at making
mainstream wow wee art and get more kudos, but ah, no. Or I could soften
up, I change my taste in art every ten minutes anyway. Maybe sometime
down the road I will try to make the work more audience friendly who knows?
I run this internal conflict through my mind fairly often, I guess it
goes with the reactionary modus operandi I am following at the moment.
Of
all your character's, do you have a favourite??
Rubberman.
I like the blank stare he has, really good for the villain. Technically
he is not a very good model but I am more interested in the story I guess
and he has had lots of fun milage. Oops, I forgot about Billy of course.
Billy... how could I forget him? He has been around since the very beginning
of my 3D work and has gone through 3 revisions in poser. Now that he is
behind the camera calling the shots I can't decide whether or not to model
out Billy in Cinema. Billy has been the unseen overlord entity since I
started in Cinema
Any
favourite C4D trick you would like to share?
I am so technically inept I am embarrassed to try and answer this one.
I tend to do everything the hard way. Thats why I hang around here and
try to pick up good tricks.
List
your 10 favourite C4D tools you couldn't do without and give a brief explanation
why on each please.
- BodyPaint
multi-brushes - how sweet is it to paint to multiple channels
and multiple models at once! Awesome for painting things like chipped
paint in one motion. It has never been easier to splatter blood all
over the place...
- BodyPaint
UV mapping tools - pretty easy for unwrapping objects once
you get the hang of it.
- Bones
- even though I don't do animation I put bones in most of my characters.
They work great for posing and even as an modeling aid.
- Extrude
- everything gets extruded at some point doesn't it?
- Knife
Tool - it rocks since they put in the loop cuts etc.
- Loop
Selection
- Sub
Poly Displacement - if you set it up right it isn't too much
of a speed hit but can create some really nice surfaces.
- HyperNURBS
- Bridge
Tool
What
features would you like to see added to future versions of Cinema 4D?
Just because I love BodyPaint so much I would like to see continued improvement
in that module. I think that good textures are half the battle.
Given
the time, what aspect of Cinema (and related modules) do you feel you'd
like to learn/perfect next?
I just ordered Hair and the 9.5 upgrade so I will be trying out Hair and
the new Sky making thing. Plus I want to get better at making procedural
textures, that is a deep area I haven't really started to touch yet.
What
Cinema 4D related forums/communities do you frequent/recommend?
Renderosity and CGTalk.
What
advice would you give to someone thinking of learning/buying high end
3D software and the choices they could make?
Get Cinema, duh...
Tell
us something cool/interesting that you have done with Cinema!?
I did a shiny ball hovering over a checkered floor that was bitchin! But
my hard-drive crashed and I lost the file...
Tell
us something funny!?
I know that the minute I email this interview off I am going to think
of something really funny but right now I feel like a dolt.
Any
closing thoughts, comments or tips!?
Never pet burning dog, and don't fry bacon naked.
Big thanks
to Cartesius and Kromekat for doing such a great job here at Renderosity
Cinema forum. [Thanks! - Cartesius & Kromekat]
On behalf of the Renderosity
Cinema 4D community, we'd like to thank you for answering these questions,
and sharing your thoughts with us!
Thank you!
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