Software: Autodesk 3ds Max
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Richard Tilbury
I trained as a painter initially, studying Fine Art at Bath Academy. I then worked as a mural artist in London for a while but with the advent of the Playstation I realised
there were opportunities for artists within the games industry. I promptly enrolled in a part time course in 3dsMax and after getting some work together applied for an MA in
Computer Animation at the NCCA. Having finished the course I found my first job in the CG industry at Elixir Studios working as a texture artist on their first title,
Republic: The Revolution. I then became a character artist before leaving for a position as resident artist at 3D Total. I now produce content across both 2D and 3D including,
concept work, digital painting, 3D characters and environments, as well as working freelance.
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The Area:
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Hello Richard and welcome to the AREA. I noticed that you have a large portfolio featuring paint work and prior to working in CG and 3D, you had more analogue roots. What did you
initially set out to do before using computers for CG?
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Richard:
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Well I trained as a painter but unfortunately a degree in Fine Art is not a particularly viable subject from a commercial standpoint. Generally graduates have to adapt and modify
their skills to find work and as I didn't want to become a teacher which is the most obvious route, I went through a period of not really knowing what career to pursue. I had a
spell as a mural artist which was interesting but it did not allow as much creative freedom as I would have liked. I certainly knew that following an artistic path was something I
aspired to and I think had I not moved into 3D I would have become a traditional illustrator of some sort.
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The Area:
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What made you decide to pursue a change in career from 2D to 3D?
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Richard:
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I think that without doubt the advent of the Playstation had a huge impact on my artistic career and definitely opened my eyes to the scope for artists within the games industry. Up
until that point I had never considered this as a potential area to apply my painting skills. I discovered that there were actually jobs being advertised for artists and the fact
that it was linked to computer games meant combining two passions I had enjoyed during my childhood.
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The Area:
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Did you have any previous knowledge or experience of working in 3D at the time?
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Richard:
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None at all. In fact I went to my girlfriend's office at the time to have a go at using a computer and she gave me a crash course in using Windows – I was utterly unfamiliar with
PC's!
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The Area:
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How did you prepare yourself for learning 3D and what was the reason to choose 3ds Max as your primary 3D tool?
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Richard:
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Well before applying for any art jobs I realized I needed to have some knowledge of 3D. Before investing in a computer I thought it would be wise to give this new 3D stuff a go and
see if it was actually something I found interesting. I chose to enroll on a short course in 3ds Max as this seemed to be the most popular package relevant to the games industry.
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The Area:
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So essentially you had a crash course in Max. We all know 'easy' it is to learn 3D in a short amount of time ;-) What was the duration of the course and how well were you prepared
at the end of it?
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Richard:
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The course comprised of a two hour session once a week for twelve weeks. We were essentially provided with a computer, a copy of 3ds Max and a tutorials manual. There was no
official teaching as such, simply access to the software and some time to experiment. It was very cheap as a result but was enough to convince me that it was worth learning. I then
applied to do an MA in Computer Animation and in the meantime applied for a couple of jobs and actually got some interviews. I was accepted onto the course and eventually graduated
but had I been offered a position at a company I would have chosen this route.
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The Area:
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What area of 3D did you focus upon?
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Richard:
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The course introduced me to Photoshop where I learned a few things about texturing and digital painting. The tools felt strange to begin with but I think my numerous hours spent
painting proved invaluable. Modelling and texturing were the key areas I focused on even though we were required to produce an animation project, but texturing was certainly a
discipline that enthralled me the most due to my background.
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The Area:
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Was it difficult to find work after school?
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Richard:
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I would say initially, but perseverance and a little luck always help. I didn't send my showreel to every company I could think of as I was targeting ones that I thought would suit
my interests and skill sets, and only then a few at a time. I recall seeing an advert for a position at Elixir Studios but it specified experienced artists only and so I ignored it.
However a friend and fellow graduate told me that he had been offered an interview and so I promptly applied and was fortunate enough to get the job working on their first game.
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The Area:
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Can you tell us about the work you did on the strategy game "Republic: The Revolution" during your time at Elixir Studios?
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Richard:
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I was primarily employed as a texture artist and worked on every asset from characters and vehicles to environments and props. I remember after a couple of weeks the principal
texture artist decided to leave and so I was given the task of continuing to develop the range of characters. At that point their design style had only recently been established and
there were only a handful of variations. I looked at the character textures and believed I could improve them and so took a slight risk. As opposed to mimicking the style I had been
provided, I created a prototype version which I felt was more convincing and yet still in keeping with the overall feel of the game. There followed a meeting between the lead artist
and the bosses and the outcome was a decision to give me sole responsibility over the entire range of character heads and allowed for the adoption of my proposed style. It was great
to have been afforded carte blanche so early into the job and have complete control over a significant part of the project.
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The Area:
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The levels and environments in your portfolio come alive, thanks to the detail you set in lighting and texturing. Do you feel that your background as a painter enhances your skills
as a 3D artist?
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Richard:
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I would say my painting background has been a definitive factor with regards to texturing. All of my time spent drawing, observing the world around me and consideration of topics
such as colour theory and tonal values etc. has proved relevant when creating textures. I doubt that much of my traditional training has helped with the actual 3D as I have always
been accustomed to working within a pictorial plane.
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The Area:
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What sort of aspects do you pay particular attention to when planning and executing a scene?
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Richard:
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With respect to creating a scene I find that good lighting and textures are paramount, however this is dependent on the type of project and proximity of the camera to the subject.
After building a simplified version I tend to decide on a camera position first of all so that I do not spend time modelling details that will not be apparent in the final render. I
will then add some provisional lights to get a feel for the overall mood and for where the main shadows will fall. With both these elements roughly established I will begin
texturing the geometry starting with the largest areas first as these have the greatest impact. From then on it is a process of refinement, similar in a way to building the detail
in a painting.
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The Area:
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What do you use as your primary renderer?
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Richard:
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I use mental ray due mainly to its use of Indirect Illumination and the ease with which Final Gather has now been integrated into the Render Frame Window. It allows me to make quick
changes to some of the key attributes and experiment with different settings which certainly help simplify what is essentially a very technical process.
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The Area:
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Some of us may recognize this image of the ship interior, but for those who are unfamiliar, can you tell us about the image and what was it created for?
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Richard:
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The ship interior was the basis for a series of lighting tutorials which ran in 3D Creative magazine. The only criteria was to create a scene that could form a model for learning
how to set up a variety of lighting conditions. They varied from a sunny afternoon to moonlight and culminated in an underwater version. It was this last topic that inspired me to
design a nautical theme as it was perfectly feasible that such an environment may well reside at the bottom of the ocean eventually. As the tutorial focused on lighting I did not
unwrap any of the original geometry, rather I chose to apply tileable maps and create most of the detail in 3D. I wanted the scene to appear reasonably simple from a texturing
perspective so as not to distract from the key issue of lighting. The scene you are looking at now is a revised version I did for a texturing tutorial later on and so parts of the
geometry have been mapped and utilize blend materials and masks. The entire scene was built within a day or so within Max and the mapping/ texturing probably took a further 1-2
days.
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Image Description: Spaceship
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The Area:
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Can you also tell us about the spaceship and Sci-Fi images?
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Richard:
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The spaceship was designed as a training DVD which covered modelling, mapping and texturing for 3ds Max. I had already produced a previous DVD on organic modelling and texturing
which incorporated a creature head and so the spaceship in contrast was to adopt a mechanical theme. The Sci-Fi image was an idea I had about promoting 3D Total's total texture
collection. I designed a very basic corridor that was detailed using a number of their texture collections with the aim of promoting the range. The geometry was kept deliberately
simple in order to emphasize the value of texturing. This particular project could in fact have been appropriate within a game context due to the techniques used.
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Image Description: Sci-Fi
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The Area:
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The image showing the carved rock-phase is very interesting. What was the visual direction inspired by?
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Richard:
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This image was inspired by The Fellowship Of The Ring film and was made during my spare time. It was a personal project which was intended to show an example of an environment as
part of my portfolio. At the time I had a few characters and plenty of textures but no real scenes to speak of.
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The Area:
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As a freelance artist, what kind of challenges do you come across in your daily work and how do you overcome them?
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Richard:
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Well my freelance work is primarily 2D now and is almost exclusively concerned with digital painting. I would say the biggest challenge by far is finding time to complete the work.
My young son occupies most of my spare time and weekends and so I am inevitably chained to my computer most evenings.
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The Area:
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What are you currently working on at the moment?
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Richard:
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I am currently collaborating on a couple of texture products for 3d Total and have some 2D projects in the pipeline for various publishers but unfortunately I am unable to disclose
anything more until the material is made public.
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The Area:
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Richard, thanks for taking the time out to chat and share your experience here with us on the AREA. Cheerio!
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Richard:
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It's been my pleasure – thanks for taking an interest in my work :-)
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