Frequently Asked Questions

Here you will be able to find answers for the most common doubts concerning my work and my experience with CG. You will also find clues on how to begin, the most suitable programs, indications of basic bibliography, mainly for the beginners. I hope you find here the answers for your doubts.

Good reading!

Techniques

P: Which the programs you use in your daily work?

R: Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, Painter and Zbrush.

P: Which the reasons that took you to choose those programs?

R: In the producer where I work we have the 3dsmax and Maya as 3D softwares. 3dsmax has very fast render and a lot of options of excellent renderers on the market (VRay, Final Render, Brazil), however, all are plugins. For illustration works and simple animations 3dsmax, in many cases, is fundamental, reducing a lot the time of production. Unhappily, he still doesn't has a very fast viewport and their resources for characters animation, that they are many,in practice they are shown not much optimized, turning the animation process very slow sometimes, when working with complex characters. For that reason, I chose Maya, that is an optimized program (guaranteeing a very fast viewport), extremely custom (that guarantees a very intuitive and fast workflow) and with many resources inside the software box, sparing investments in a lot of plugins for generation of special effects as fur, cloth, paint effect, fluids, mental ray etc. Maya is, together with XSI, the most complete solution for characters' of the CG animation market, containing an immense amount of tools for rig.

After Effects is easy and powerful, besides being perfectly compatible with Photoshop, what activates in a necessary way the transcription of a layout to the animated final version of the project.

Photoshop doesn't need comments, because already it turned an indispensable tool for the digital artist.

I use Painter, because it's the software that best simulates the real artistic materials. I use for illustration and for texture painting that need more artistic expression.

ZBrush is my new work tool. I use it for illustration, texture painting and as a tool for artistic modelling (revolutionary!). ZBrush ROCKS!

P: Which 3D software would you indicate for a beginner?

R: When you are beginning, the softwares are very similar in capacity and resources. Nowadays, all the great software houses make available free versions for students. I advise to the beginner to download these versions and test this softwares until finding what goes more compatible with your personal taste, having taken care of just not following the easiest", but "the most intuitive". I advise you to test 3dsmax, XSI and Maya.

P: Do I work with engineering / architecture. In your opinion, which is the ideal software for me?

R: 3dsmax, because of integration with softwares as Autocad and powerful available renderers in the market, besides great plugins packages designed for this area.

P: My dream is to work with three-dimensional characters' animation. Which is the most suitable software for me?

R: My recomendation is: learn Maya. XSI I just know for their resources, that are impressive too, but I still didn't have contact with this software. Project:Messiah was already shown quite powerful, but I know some great animators that have migrated for Maya and they are satisfied.

P: Do you know if exist any free tool for CG production? Is it good?

R: Today you can have access to some great free tools in internet. Good examples of softwares with great quality and many resources that can be downloaded for free are Wings 3D and Blender. Make a simple search in internet, donwload those programs and test them. I guarantee that it will be worthwhile.

P: Which the ideal machine to work with CG?

R: Mainly for 3D, the ideal is you to buy the fastest machine than you can. For several applications, 1GB of RAM is already turned default, but I consider 2GB the ideal volume of RAM memory to work with more complex files. Besides the processor speed, a good video card will make an enormous difference. I can indicate GeForce 4 or superiors, with 128mb or more. Their cost-benefit is excellent.

P: Would you indicate some book for who is beginning to work with CG?

R: Certainly, but I don't recommend books about CG but art books, that will give a more solid base to the applicants of the digital arts.

A book that should be considered basic for any artist or applicant: The History of the Art", by E.H. Gombrich, LTC Publisher. Another very interesting book is: "Syntax of the Visual Language", by Donis A. Donis, Martins Fontes Publisher. Art/artists books published by Taschen are always welcome for they be accessible and they have great texts and impression. If you will work with anatomy, acquire a good atlas of medical anatomy. The artists' books, like Burne Hogarth are very good, but they don't follow the real anatomy. In spite of they be didactic, they have lots of the artist's idealization, where the illustrations are taken by your own style. Acquire a good photograph manual, no matter how much you are not a photographer. Some clues about photograph (lenses, depth of field, framing etc) they will be important for the development of your digital work. Don't spare visual references. Collect everything that you can and store in your HD or in a CD for subsequent consultations. Instead of books, seek in the internet for tutoriais and specific articles for your immediate needs. That will avoid that you are dispersed with contents without importance, that unfortunately will be forgotten in a short period. Before seeking for the internet, read the manual of the software that you chose to work. That is, with certainty, the most complete bibliography than you can find.

P: Which the best way to learn CG?

R: Working a lot, without waiting for information and ready solutions. Be devoted, research, participate at national and international forums. Concentrates on your work. In my case, have an animation project (short film in process) motivated my learning. Seek your own motivation. Define a goal, no matter how simple it is. After reaching it, look for a more difficult one. Don't try to "run over" your limitations. Live together with them until that they are part of the past.

P: Know how to draw can help in my 3D artwork?

R: Certainty! If you have a good volume notion, acquired by drawing, as well as a good perception and observation, you certainly will learn faster, besides getting to execute exactly what you have in mind, starting from a previous drawing. With time, you will notice that your drawing can be spared, but certainly the acquired knowledge will guarantee a good work (modelling, texturing or both).

P: Will you make some tutorial explaining about your facial rig system? When?

R: My system is very custom and, for that, instead of tutorial, I intend to write an article describing the theories behind that rig. Like this, instead of the people they simply copy my system, they can have insights on how to improve my setup or adapt it in the best way for their needs. That article will be illustrated and it will highlight the main points of the system. Unhappily, I don't know when I will begin to write it.

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Professional

P: Do you teach CG in private classes?

R: Now, not. Hereafter, there is a possibility.

P: How long are you working with CG?

R: I began to work with CG there are more or less 10 years, when I bought my first PC, 486DX2 66Mhz 8MB RAM. Before that, I had already had contact with the AMIGA computer, where I saw 3D graphics for the first time, and it was since then that I noticed my passion for CG. My first software in PC was 3D Studio 3, with which I developed my first animations. One year later, me and more 3 friends opened a small company for production of CG to the local TV. We produced some pieces for a good time, until our company to be assaulted and we have 80% of our equipment stolen. Finally, the partnership ended and the members go on your own way and just I insisted on work with CG, as pleasure, not work. From there for here, happened some radical changes in my life but didn't I abandon CG

P: Which 3D softwares you did already work?

R: 3D Studio 3 and 4, Softimage 3.8 and 3.9, Lightwave 3D 5.5 and 6.0, 3D Studio Max (all versions), Maya (all versions) and ZBrush 1.55b (recently).

P: Did you already take some 3D courses?

R: I took two courses, working in Banco do Brasil. The first was about Softimage 3.8 and the second, Maya 3.0, both basic ones. None of them taught me something very important, that I didn't have previous knowledge just by opening the software manuals. I never took specific courses, so I cannot indicate one. All my technical knowledge I acquired reading the manuals of the softwares and making tutorias that found on net. The internet today is a rich barn of information, therefore, run!!!

P: Would you indicate some site where I could learn and get information about CG?

R: The main ones:

Brazil:
www.3d4all.org
www.3donline.com.br
www.3d1.com.br
www.redpixel.com.br

World:
www.cgtalk.com
www.3dtotal.com
www.cgchannel.com
www.cgchat.com

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Personal

P: Which aspects of the production of CG give you more pleasure? Modelling, texturing, animation, rig?

R: Everything! I don't have preferences, because I love and I see art in all of the aspects of the production.

P: Which artists inspired you?

R: My main inspiration sources will always be the "traditional" artists, like Velázquez, Caravaggio, Dali, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Picasso, Goya, Bosh, Lautrec, Van Gogh etc. most of the digital artists I admire more for the technique than for the style, that I value a lot. Visit the session LINKs to know some of them.

P: When your short film "Senzaazione" will be ready?

R: When it's ready :)
Actually, I hope to finish it in 2 year maximum period, always depending on the amount of free time that I have to develop it.

P: Are you egocentric? Your portfolio has a lot of prizes and highlights printed every place...

R: It is a very simple subject, that I will answer with other question: which the function of a portfolio? Well, a portfolio exists to show your best works and the highlights, prizes, interviews or published texts. That practice type is quite common in other artists portfolios. I love to share all and any conquest and, for that, everything that happens in professional terms and even some personal events are posted in this site, for the simple fact of being a portfolio, not a commercial site. As an egocentric guy, I would not be so concerned in sharing knowledge with the people, that can be seen in the tutorials session and in a vast content for several sites and forums around the world, right? :)

P: Why don't you answer e-mails?

R: I can only apologize, because they are many and definitively I don't have time enough to answer, due to the amount of time consumed by personal projects, work in the company, university, my sites updatings, texts / publications / interviews, leisure with my wife and, more recently, the time solving several details before leaving my country to work in a great animation project for about 1 year. This session of FAQs was developed to try to answer your most common questions sent by e-mail.

P: Which your part in www.3d4al.org CG forum?

R: I am founder and administrator of the forum and, now, it is where my new works can be seen with more frequency.

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Curiosities

P: Are you indian? Your name seems indian...

R: No. I am Brazilian with origin Portuguese, Spanish and French. My name is a gift from my father and a homage to the great indian philosopher Jidu Krishnamurti, great influence in their philosophical studies. I have a lot of pride of my name and the history behind.

P: Why the nickname "Antropus"? is it Pronounced "Ântropus", "Antrôpus" or "Antrópus?"

R: Antropus is the word in Latin for ântropo, that refers to the man in the human beings sense of all. As my work involves the "beings'" creation, almost always humanoids, I see a lot of my work proposal on it. That sounds as "antrôpus" but I prefer a third form, that it sounds simpler: "Antrópus", like "antrópico", direct reference to everything that links to the man (human being).

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