3DE – First of all; we thank you for accepting this interview with us. Will you please shortly introduce yourself?
My name is Alexander Beim. I live in Hamburg, Germany. Since 2001 Ive been a CEO of LotusArt. I also work also as CG artist, generalist.
3DE – When and how did you begin to deal with 3d art?
Since I was a child, I was artist. I painted a lot and have won some children painting awards in my town. So goes life further, and at the age of 12 I began to study painting at the art school. That’s exactly where I understood that talent is not enough and that knowledge is very important in art. Knowing of proportions and painting techniques make the work much more professional. From time to time I also played computer games. So I thought how many possibilities are in the computer. Later I went to a computer school where 3D was also taught. I was really fascinated with it. I realized that 3D was exactly what I needed.
3DE – Did you improve your 3d knowledge by online tutorials-books or did you ever take an 3d course?
Yes, we only had one month of 3D at school. Of course it was too little. After finishing the school I continued specializing my knowledge in 3D. I spent many hours a day working on the PC to learn to create pictures not with crayon or brush but with a computer mouse. Now more with stylus.
3DE – Which softwares do you use?
I’ve been a 3D artist and artist in general for quite a long time. During that time I have always expanded my skills. There are quite a few programs in my tool palette now. My main programs are Maya and ZBrush. For a long time I started with Cinema 3D, then I switched to 3DS Max and later to Maya. I also work with Substance Painter. Motion builders are often required for animation. Of course, I also use numerous image and video editing programs. When I work as a freelancer in the customer company, I also have to know the programs that the company uses internally.
3DE – What kind of workflow do you follow during the creation of a scene of yours?
Depends on whether this is an order or a personal project.
3DE – What are your motivations while working on a new scene?
Well, that’s always a discovery. There are people who want to know what is hidden in the depths of the ocean. Or whether there is life on other planets. It’s the same with me, I want to discover what I’m capable of. That is the first. If it is a personal project, I would like to show my own ideas or feelings through my work to others. And the third, I want to learn new functions and new opportunities. It is the best method to learn something in which you have a practical exercise.
3DE – Do you ever loose your motivation and passion of 3d sometimes? If you do, how do you deal with it and get back into your mood?
Ha ha, of course. Creativity needs a lot of psychic energy. You always have to learn a lot and develop something new. New methods, experimenting with materials, trying to solve certain tasks. Of course, in the long run the motivation sometimes goes down. Here I found only two solutions for myself. One is to just let it go. Simply do not do creatives. Do something completely different. Walking, playing the piano, playing sports, lounging. After some time you have longed again and want to do something cool in 3D again. But if you have no possibility for the break and there are still 5 or 7 orders to be made, this does not work here. Then I collect all my strength, after a good meditation) and simply do something stubborn when I don’t want it, and I don’t like it at all. You know “Just do it!”. After some time, when I can already see the results of my work, I get a desire to improve it. I get new ideas and again I forget to eat something, because it is absolutely exciting to continue to bebite.
3DE – When we check your works; we see that you mostly deal with famous-character likeliness works. Is there a special reason for this?
Not really. Maybe I like to set big goals for myself. The other, I like the people they I try to revive in 3D. Very often I have very little reference photos or not at all. There is a lot of freedom for the imagination and creativity. I always try to be really an artist and not just a photo camera that can do something photorealistic. Nowadays there are a lot of cameras that can copy reality much faster and easier.
3DE – How can you achive this much accuracy to the real people on your character works?
It’s really not that easy. I can list what it takes. Knowledge is very important. You should know the proportions and anatomy. And there is still a lot to learn here. Then you should be very precisely. Since the human face is somewhat inaccurate, the portrait no longer resembles the original. One should study almost the all details of the head with the mind. You should take as many references as possible showing the face from different angles. Then you should define a pipeline with the latest methods in 3D possibility. Unfortunately, since you are working in Zbrush, you cannot see what the character looks like in Maya. You should export the model between Zbursh and maya as often and as often as possible. So you can see better, if there a mistakes in your model, which without material and without light you can’t see. And for the conclusive you should have a feeling, how you can let the model looks alive. How to give character to character.
3DE- How long does it generally take to create a character from scratch?
If it is a concrete person who should be similar to the original then it will take me about 2 months.
3DE – Which one is more important? The software or the talent of the artist who uses that software?
Everything is important. Every aspect is like a stone in the tower you are build. Talent is the foundation, knowledge is on the lower floors. Software and its possibilities are higher floors. Every aspect that is beneficial makes the tower taller and the result of your work better.
3DE – What are your advices to newbies?
Do what you love, even if it doesn’t bring the results you expect. If you like it, just do it!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW..
