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3DTotal: Now then Rudolf, I think you’ve been around in the CG game even longer than me! I started 3dtotal.com back in 1999 and if I remember correctly, you were one of the first artists in the gallery. If you had to sum up your life from then to now, what have been the highlights and milestones of your career?
Rudolf: Yeah, we’ve both been around for quite a while now, haven’t we? [Laughs]. It’s really hard to pick something specific - so much has happened since I first started out. The privilege of having been featured in numerous books and magazines, as well as getting some really nice job offers, are some of the definite highlights. As far as milestones are concerned, the switch to Cinema4D was probably the biggest. It has completely changed the way I work. |
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3DTotal: Do you notice any changes after you get published? Would you say that artists can expect to get more work offers etc with this kind of exposure?
Rudolf: Absolutely. I’ve had numerous jobs where the employers have spotted the work in magazines, books, online galleries, forums and so on.
3DTotal: A lot of people know you as “Rochr” which is your forum posting name. Do you think CG forums have helped you a lot with your art? Or are they more useful as a place to gain exposure?
Rudolf: For me personally, CG forums have been a tremendous help in so many ways. I’d probably not be working with CG if it weren’t for the forums and all the great people I’ve meet over the years. Their knowledge and support has really helped me every step of the way. I most likely wouldn’t have that many clients either if it weren’t for the exposure you can get thanks to forums. I think it’s a superb way of easily being able to show your work to a very large audience. |
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3DTotal: It’s good that you recommend artists to use the numerous forums around. Do you have any tips for getting the most out of them? Or it is a straightforward case of “post your work and read the comments”?
Rudolf: I believe that to really benefit from a forum, you’ll need to interact with people. There’s just so much knowledge, and so many tips and tricks out there that will improve your work. Interacting with other artist is also a huge help when you hit a creative dry spell. We all have them and being around art and discussing it is a definite helper for boosting the creativity.
3DTotal: You have an obvious love of futuristic environments, but they all tend to look a little run down and polluted. Why do you go for this style?
Rudolf: Some of my big inspirational sources are movies and games such as Blade Runner or Nomad Soul. They all have that certain atmosphere I love, mainly thanks to that dirty, worn down environment. This kind of scenery allows me to combine both sci-fi and my interest in old architecture with some industrial elements, to depict places that look familiar even though they don’t exist. Rather than building shiny, high-tech environments, I create a future grown old. |
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3DTotal: I think most artists would agree that this approach can make the most interesting images! For a typical image how to you approach it? Do you have a clear idea of what it will look like before you start and in what order do you tackle the different parts?
Rudolf: For the most part, I have a rough base idea thought out before I get started on the modelling/ The order may vary depending on the scene, but I normally start out with a key model and work my way out from that, moving from the base architecture and the larger and smaller props, to details and the stuff furthest from the cam. Once that’s done I go with textures and lighting before continuing with what I have in Photoshop. |
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