3D Total: Tell us a little about yourself.

David Titus: My name is David Titus, I'm a self employed/freelance 3d animator and media designer living in Nova Scotia Canada. I started doing the freelance thing about 7 years ago or so, and have been pretty lucky to have kept busy and found some great clients. Things were pretty slow in the beginning of course, but that's typical. One thing I found that really helped my career was having kids. Nothing like the added pressure of having to feed two small children to get you to a new level of productivity.

An early environment shot, made to look like a photo.

3DT: What first attracted you to working in 3d?

DT: I was actually first interested in traditional modeling and stop motion work, which stemmed from my love of Star Wars, which I saw on release back in 1977 when I was about 8 years old. From the day I saw that film I wanted to work in the industry and back then it was all hand built models and stop motion. I spent a lot of my young life pursuing that, going so far as to shoot several Super8mm stop motion films and rigging up a very early black and white (!) video camera in a small studio space I set up in my bedroom. My parents thought I was a little strange, but at least it kept me out of trouble. I was doing computer animation back then to in a very limited way, making simple sprite animation of pac-man chomping his way acrossed the screen on my TI99/4a computer. I had no idea computers would become so prominent in the effects industry back then though. My attention really moved to 3d animation when I saw some of Pixar's early works like Luxo. I realized that model making was likely going to take a backseat fairly quickly so I scrambled around trying to find a way to learn the 3d ropes. I had heard my local Art college (the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design) had an SGI set up for computer animation so after high school I went there but soon found out the system they had was antiquated and they taught nothing related to 3d (they were actually using the SGI unit as a coffee table). I stuck it out there though and studied design and photography for two years, which has done me a lot of good I think. So I spent my days at school learning photography and design and my evenings at home teaching myself 3d, which is definitely the hard way to do things.

3DT: Who would you say your influences are?

DT: My influences are varied, and really have little to do with 3d. Men like Stan Tippet, Walt Disney and director Stanley Kubrick are all big influences in my work in one way or another. Mr. Tippet's work with stop motion has always inspired me, and it rather pained me to see him having such a hard time on Jurassic Park early on when Spielberg decided to go the 3d route. Disney is a favorite person of mine and I highly recommend any animators out there spend some time with "The Illusion of Life" book, which has nothing to do with 3d, but everything to do with animation and making your characters come alive. Lastly Kubrick has always been a big influence as his directorial style just agrees with me. His work always pushes the boundaries in everything from character development and story to technical things like lighting and shooting. There's a scene in Full Metal Jacket where the men are in their barracks and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is going on about loving the virgin mary. Some of the shots rotate around the characters and if you pay attention, you'll realize there is no lighting in that scene aside from the naturals and what's given from the overhead lights. Despite this the scene is perfectly lit and small almost unnoticeable things like that are a testament to Kubrick and what he can get from his crew. In another of his films he lit an entire scene with nothing but candles. That's very impressive stuff.

Looking u p close shows the texturing detail.

3DT: What is the single most useful thing you've learned in 3d?

DT: The single most useful thing I've learned in 3d would have to be subdivision modeling. Before I picked that up making characters, especially faces was a royal pain in the butt. I experimented with patch modeling, nurbs and all the rest but none of it felt quite right. sub-d's are a god send. :)

3DT: What made you decide to base your short, "Become War", on the Vietnam war?

DT: Along with visual effects I've had a life long interest in military history. The Vietnam war is one topic in particular that I know a great deal about on many levels and have always wanted to write a story about.

Helicopter controls.

3DT: What has been the biggest challenge on the project so far?

DT: That would have to be simply finding the time to make the sort of progress on it that I'd like. At this point it's all me, and a complete labor of love so it's purely a matter of working on it when I can get the time. Aside from all the typical things to do on a project like this (writing, modeling, animation, sound recording etc etc) I'm also pursuing it in other areas. I'm in the midst of writing a proposal for Telefilm Canada in the hopes of finding some funding, and have talked to a few broadcasters about it as well and got some good responses. If I can get funding I'll do this full time, and hire several animators and the like to take a lot of the workload off and step up production many notches. If I don't get funding I'll continue as I have been, going it more or less alone and subcontracting work out for it as needed. The story will be told one way or the other, I believe in it too much to let it sit..

3DT: You're documenting the process of making the film on your site. Does this add to the workload or do you work on the site to take a break from 3d?

DT: I find working on the site a great break from 3d. Sometimes I need to get away from modeling etc and do something else, and updating the site is a great way to do that yet still remain productive with regards to the film.

A shot of the helicopter.

3DT: Between client's work, Become War, the Become War site, the officers club site, family & other projects, how do you find time for it all?

DT: That's not the half of it. Client work takes up a big part of my day, but being self employed means I also have to do the finance, marketing, sales and all of that other good stuff as well. There are periods of days where I don't see anything related to BW at all, but I can usually find time for it now and again. 9am to 5pm are more often than not clients and business related at the office. 5pm to say 8pm are me and the kids, which I think is very important. Once they're in bed it's back to the computer at the home office (I can't get away from computers can I?) and either more client work or, god willing... some Become War work. That sort of schedule is typical but there are times when I can get a lot more work done on it that others. I obviously have a very understanding wife. She puts up with my being at the computer so much very well and is very supportive. I couldn't have gotten anywhere without her.

3DT: The idea of 'competing' against another artist making a short is an interesting one. Has it helped with motivation at all?

DT: I've found it helps a lot actually, though some people misunderstand the point of it. The Short Film Face Off site was set up between Tito Belgrave and I not as a place to prove who's short film is "better" but merely to provide unified updates and to let us kick one another in the butt now and again to keep things moving. I'd say the biggest failing of this type of solo driven short film is lack of interest or drive after a period of time. I'd bet a good 90% of these types of projects are started with much fanfare, yet never completed. I'll definitely finish Become War, and I really think Tito will finish his short film... I'll just finish mine first. :)

An early test render of the lead character.

3DT: The current deadline for Become War is Sept 1st, 2003. Are you on track?

DT: Yes I am. It's a big job, but I've pretty much got it all laid out in MS Project and things are following the projected plan nicely at this point. The one area which I'm lagging in is in completion of the proposal I'm writing, but that should get wrapped up soon as well.

3DT: What will make Become War different from other 3d shorts?

DT: Become War isn't a 3d short film exactly, it's a character driven film that just happens to be done in 3d. The story could just as easily be told with real actors or in book format but 3d happens to be my main medium. I've tried to write it such that the core of it is really all about these men and what they go through and learn during their ordeal. I haven't come acrossed many 3d short films where acting and character development are really central to the experience and that's where I'm trying to go with this. The story and characters behind it all are (I hope) compelling and if all goes well the fact that it's done in 3d will quickly become transparent as the viewer gets pulled into the lives of these men.

Facial animation tests.

3DT: Overall, what has been your favourite project to work on & why?

DT: My favorite project, aside from Become War, has to have been creating the box art for the Playstation 2/Nintendo64/Gameboy Color games. That gave me a lot of satisfaction, and the clients involved were very good to work with.

3DT: Does it still give you a buzz to walk into a games store & see your artwork on a cover?

DT: Well, yeah it does actually. I was in Walmart with my kids one day shortly after Army Men II : Sarge's Heros was released and was showing my son the box on the shelf. A small boy, say 8 years old or so shoved up in front of me, pointed to the Army men box in the display and yelled for his mom to come look. He was going on and on about how cool the game looked, and how much he wanted it. I just stood there smiling thinking it was pretty neat he seemed to like my box art.

3DT: What are your plans for the future?

DT: Finishing Become War one way or another is my main priority. Aside from that my plans have me continuing with my regular work load and growing the business. There are some great contacts in my office building, and I've found being over there (after having done the work-at-home thing for so long) is really opening doors for me and my business. I'd like to get into more TV related work, and the thought of doing some more artwork for console or PC games is appealing as well.

3DT: Thanks.

Looking rather surprised.