| CGX
: |
Hi
guys. Please enlighten us a little regarding your work in XYBase.
What specific areas do both of you specialize in? |
| Lingesh
: |
We would like to be working
in a special effects laden Hollywood movie but at the moment
we concentrate on music videos, animated series (in the line
of 'Starship Troopers'), corporate stuff. Me ? I'm the VFX supervisor...I
tell people what to do...actually, I get to do scene setups
(lighting, texturing...) and animate inorganic stuff. I also
get to do the SFX stuff like explosions, lasers, and atmospheric
effects... |
| Murad
: |
I’m the manager of this
division and I tell Lingesh to tell people what to do! Ha ha
ha! |
| CGX : |
Tell us, how did
you get started in LightWave 3D? |
| Lingesh
: |
Well, at first we
were not sure which application we wanted to use, so we decided
to do a benchmark with two other major 3D applications. We discovered
LightWave was also able to do the same stuff the other two software
were capable of, and a lot cheaper too. So we decided to stick
with LightWave 5.6. |
| Murad
: |
Actually to be honest,
I was a MAX user for a long time (since the days of R4). We
were trying to render a scene in MAX which took 6 hours (with
only 35000 polygons and no radiosity !) when Murad said “Hey,
try this...” and shook a 5.5 box at me...Well, the rest...you
know.. |
 |
| CGX : |
Did you have any
background in 3D prior to using this software? |
| Lingesh
: |
Like I said.....MAX...mostly
for architectural renderings and walkthroughs.... |
| Murad
: |
Nope! I didn’t. Before
this I was a full time Software Engineer and my work was mostly
related to software development. |
| CGX : |
How long did it take you
to master LightWave? Was it easy to get the hang of it? |
| Lingesh
: |
About 5 to 6 months....It was
quite easy as I had the basic concept of 3D (after using MAX)
but switching from 5.6 to 6.5 … that's a different story.
6.5 is one cool tool, but after 5.6 I had to relearn quite a
lot of stuff. |
| Murad
: |
About 4 to 5 months. It was
quite a straightforward application and user friendly. |
| CGX : |
Some people believe traditional
art skills are not really essential to become a good 3D artist.
What’s your point of view on this? |
| Lingesh
: |
Well, without traditional art
skills, you can still learn the tools; maybe after a few years
of experience, you will actually inherit the skills... but it's
the traditional art training and skills that actually enable
you to have the intuition to set the mood of a scene or to look
at a scene and actually compose in your mind. Yes, it is not
essential but it would be an added advantage. |
| Murad
: |
I think with traditional art
skill, you can do a lot better but without it it doesn’t
stop you from producing a good animation. I think it will come
slowly as you go along through experience I guess. |
 |
| CGX : |
From a professional animator’s
point of view, how would you define a good 3D package or application?
|
| Lingesh
: |
A good 3D software should enable
the artist to achieve what he envisions with ease and it should
also be flexible enough to be used for creating challenging
stuff which haven't done before. What I mean is, it should enable
me to create a photo realistic meteor with relative ease. But
at the same time, I would want it to assist me in setting a
scene where a town is being devastated by a twister.... Am I
making sense here? |
| Murad
: |
Let Lingesh explain this. Heh
heh! |
| CGX : |
As a LightWave user, what
do you like best about the software? |
| Murad
: |
Compared to other applications?
It is quite fast and what's important is that the network rendering
is free!!!! He he he!! |
| CGX : |
What do you think of the
rendering engine? |
| Lingesh
: |
Cool....much faster than before...though
I feel we still haven't pushed it to the limits yet |
| CGX : |
What are both of your strong
points in 3D graphics? |
| Lingesh
: |
Well, I'm a mood setter....I
feel more comfortable at texturing and lighting. But I think
I am more of an effects person than a fully 3D character animation
guy. I enjoy doing weird stuff or trying to push the boundaries
with LW. So I guess you could say that I’m more adept at
effects. |
| Murad
: |
I’m helping Lingesh to
set the mood! He he! |
| CGX : |
In your work, LightWave is
mainly used for … |
| Lingesh
: |
Here, I think we use it mainly
for our 3D series and our music videos. Especially for Milinia.
Milinia has been a pure LightWave project ever since its inception.
I find that LightWave is really great when it comes to handling
millions of polygons without ever crashing and burning...and
that was 5.6. With 6.5 we can do a lot more things that we couldn't
before for our series like, pyrotechnics, better characters
and definitely better lighting. |
| Murad
: |
Like Lingesh said, we use is
for our TV series and all other aspects that require 3D animation. |
|
| CGX : |
Your ultimate LightWave production
would be … |
| Lingesh
: |
Hmm.....the ultimate production
would be an effects laden movie (not fully 3D) in the line of
Matrix or a movie which needs historical reconstruction of locations
or people, like say....'The Rise And Fall Of Malacca' for example...
|
| Murad
: |
Can we clone a human using LW6.5
no? Ha? Anybody? |
| CGX : |
Are there any 3D artists
whom you admire or who have inspired you in any way? |
| Lingesh
: |
Eni Oken, Igor Posavec, Doug
Chiang, Taron and list goes on... |
| Murad
: |
All the above except Ahmed of
Click Grafix. |
| CGX : |
Five years down the road
… |
| Lingesh
: |
I will still be in the industry.
Probably, directing one of my own movies. But still animating.
I hope to see or at least lend a hand in developing this industry
in Malaysia. |
| Murad
: |
I hope we are still breathing!. |
| CGX : |
Many 3D artists portray a
distinctive trademark in their work. What is yours? |
| Lingesh
: |
I guess that will be my lighting
and atmospheric settings. They're a lot moody, like the settings
for the Black Maria MTV 'Veto'. |
| CGX
: |
You draw inspiration from
… |
| Lingesh
: |
JRR. Tolkien, definitely. I'm
hoping to develop a fully animated 'Lord Of The Rings'. And
also, nature. Nothing beats her for inspiration. |
|
Click Grafix Sdn Bhd thanks Murad and Lingesh for their
time and effort in this interview.
For more information please email murad@xybase.com
or lingesh@xybase.com
|
