Riki: Around the year 2000 I was attending the Art Institute of Houston and that is where I was introduced to 3ds Max and 3D graphics in general. That was also the time I started using computers, so as you can imagine it was all a bit overwhelming but extremely exciting at the same time.

Riki: My first job out of College was at Timegate Studios where I worked very hard on “Kohan II” and “Axis&Allies”. From there, I went to Midway Games and was privileged to get straight into Unreal Editor 3 working on “Stranglehold” and then “Blacksite: Area 51”. I then got a job at Sony Online Entertainment working on their highly anticipated DC Universe Online. I have worked on other things besides these but many of them were canceled or never received funding. While working at Midway Games and SOE I had an idea to make a ‘nextgen’ asset creation tutorial so I started Eat3D.com literally from scratch and it has been an amazing experience so far.

Riki: For the last five years or so I have been using primarily 3ds Max and Mudbox to create environment assets for games. Before then, I did FX and animation work and I really enjoy how much you can do with 3ds Max without relying on 3rd party software. I remember firsthand how revolutionary 3ds Max was when releasing Texture Baking in 3ds Max 5. Since then, it really has been THE tool for creating game assets.

Riki: I love how fast things change and improve over time. I’m one of those guys who is never settled with how I do something. If I find myself doing something the same way over and over, I go out of my way to research new and more efficient ways of doing it. In particular, 3ds Max has made some amazing improvements with 3ds Max 2010. It’s so exciting when a new release comes out. I’m such a nerd with technology. I really enjoy learning new ways of doing things, and of course teaching to other people what I learn.

Riki: I’ve never really given predictions much thought, but right now I would have to say there is a real-time rendering revolution that is coming like a storm. You can see so many people working on this and I think easily within 5 years we will no longer be waiting for renders-- it will all be interactive.

Riki: I don’t have anything new to say but I will say what has been said so many times before. An important key to entering this field is that you have to enjoy it like you would a hobby or something you would do for fun. Also, you need to stick with it even if you don’t feel like you are progressing as fast as the next guy, and “work” very hard. There is no real secret to success; it all comes down to hard work and enjoying what you do.