Hello dear readers and members!
NGHS has had the honour of interviewing Grant Warwick, a talented freelance 3D Artist.
His works are completely stunning, and I hope you'll learn a thing or two by reading this interview!
Enjoy the read!
First off some basic information about yourself.
Name: Grant Warwick
Age: 21
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation: Freelance 3D artist
Portfolio URL: http://sathe.cgsociety.org/gallery/
Other sites you want us to link to:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2655243/
http://conceptships.blogspot.com/
Tell us a little about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?
I grew up in Orlando, Florida and later left for Sydney, Australia where I grew up. Out of highschool I began working at Fuel International in Sydney on Film and TVc's. I was there for 2 and a half years before leaving
to take on a Freelance career which I have been doing for ther past year and a half. I am heavily inspired
by Science Fiction. I am a huge film fan and always am watching them while working on modeling.
How long have you been modeling? And what made you start?
I have been modeling for almost 6 years now. I was introduced to 3D during a work orientation week each student must go through by a parents friends son who was working as a freelancer at the time. If i remember correctly it was a 3D bowl that got me hooked.
Victory!
What are your tools of the trade?
I use photoshop for scene mockups and concepts although I use this for retouching and postwork for freelance jobs more than any other reason.I do all my hard surface modeling in 3dsMax with stock tools and use Zbrush for organic work.
At the moment there is quite a few programs that have the ability to match max's toolset but none without extensive addons or alterations to the stock setup.
This is why I beleive it is fundamental software to anyone starting out but I also suggest for anyone wanting a job in the industry to learn maya at a later date as even though
I am Bias towards the Max modeling toolset it is not the best overall package which i would have to hand to Maya.
What are the most difficult things about hard surface modeling, according to you?
Visualising curves. I use to focus on topology and cleanliness but hard surface modeling gets pretty repetitive and once you figure out how to avoid topology or cleanliness problems in the first place it all comes down to design.
Which part do you find the most fun, and the most boring?
Everything. Nothing. Quote:
Love knowing you can get paid to do what you would honestly do for free.
Could you tell us about your workflow, from concept to getting the model into an engine?
Depending on how complex a scene is I will prepare a rough mockup in photoshop, although most of the time I will just Wing it and start modeling withno reference as its often not needed. I don't work in games so I have never had to deal with game engines however working in film has forced me to be very conscious of the cleanliness of a model and I always check for things that can get you elbowed in the head from producers like overlapping verts.
Do you draw your own concepts?
Rarely. I simply suck at 2D work but I am currently trying to learn it.Besides 3D, have you done any real sculpting or other art forms?
I used to do quite a bit of sculpting with Airated concrete and Oil Paints but that was a long time ago when i was 14,15 so I probably remember it being more than it was.Are you self-taught, or did you go to an art school?
I am self taughtWhat do you, personally, think makes a great Hard Surface modeler?
Attention to detail.Do you think anyone can become a 3D Artist?
Ive seen a lot of people try and fail hard because they just aren't into it. They look at it as something "cool to do" and not because they love it.so when it comes time to do 20 hour days to learn something, they just dont do it, nor care too.
Ultimate to anyone out there getting started REALLY ask yourself why you are doing it. if you are simply looking for a job it's probably not enough.
Who are your idols when it comes to CG?
Stan Winston, Bay Raitt, Rene Garcia, Fausto de Martini, Vitaly Bulgarov, Damien CanderleAnd who are your favourite concept artists?
All the people who are on http://conceptships.blogspot.com/ but especially Andree WallinDo you have any favourite movies, books or works in other medias that inspires you that you'd like to mention?
Some of my favorite films would have to be Gattaca, Alien, Escape from L.A and Pulp FictionDo you have any special techniques you'd like to share with the world?
You can see my exact methods in the 3 part tutorial series i released over at Digital Apprenticehttp://digitalapprentice.net/Community/ ... Itemid=154
Do you play video games?
Only a couple.If so, what are you playing at the moment?
Supreme CommanderWhat's your favourite game(s)?
Call of duty 2 by faaarrrr. We used to play at Fuel after hours and its the best fun Ive ever had.Quote:
So be a fun person to be with, don't take it so seriously and get a Nickname fast 
What would you like to tell the artists out there that are trying to get a job in the Films industry?
Start off simple and expand. I got into fuel out of highschool with a very bad set of work. (very bad). But I think to an employer they value potential over your folio. Reaaallly show them you want it. do backflips in the meeting ot whatever just let them know if they give you that job you are going to do whatever it takes.
When I started I was on very little pay, but it didn't matter, there was not much work to do, so I just cleaned the kitchen, Made friends with the people there and let everyone know that I would help them with anything even if it was ridiculously stupid.
Then at the same time i saw many people come in under the same setup and just fade away, they would sit down at their desk with nothing to do and browse Google all day.
Those type of people don't last long starting out. So be a fun person to be with, don't take it so seriously and get a Nickname fast
A few quick questions:
Box or Plane Modeling?
Plane modeling.
PC or Console for gaming?
PC
Mac or PC for working with graphics?
PC
Japanese or American Games?
American
Zbrush or Mudbox?
Zbrush
Anything else you'd like to say to the readers?
Love knowing you can get paid to do what you would honestly do for free.
