Eugene Samofal: Interview with 3D artist

Hi everyone! We continue series of short interviews with the best artists from 3DModels competitions.

Eugene Samofal, author of the «Miniature car workshop», will answer six questions and give us a look behind the scenes of his work.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do and how did you become a 3D artist?

Hello, I’m a designer and marketer by education, but I chose an almost unrelated niche of 3D graphics :)

It all started back in 2014, when after graduating from college, I didn’t really see myself as a designer of electronic devices, and in my last year of study I started learning Cinema 4D and After Effects from YouTube tutorials. And in 2015 I found courses on Maya, and studied this 3D package in more detail.

Today, I work as a VFX artist (in Houdini), which is basically what I’m interested in.

Where did you find the inspiration for your latest challenge entry? What’s the story behind its creation?

For the competition, I decided to take a vivid memory from my childhood to draw inspiration from. So I immediately remembered my childhood days when I was bought a construction set from which I had to assemble a car, although I was not always good at it, but with the help of my parents it was an interesting event to complete it.

What software and plug-ins did you use to create this image? Did you face any difficulties, and how did you overcome them?

In my work, I used Cinema 4D because, in my opinion, it is the most convenient tool I have been familiar with for a long time. For rendering, I decided to use the Octane renderer, since I’ve been using it a lot since 2016, plus at my first job in 3D, Octane was our main renderer, so for 3 years of working with it, I have a minimum of questions about it. For the final processing, I used After Effects, which is not very logical in principle, but I know it better than Photoshop, so there was no doubt.

How often do you do personal projects and keep your portfolio up-to-date? Which one is your favorite?

Over the past couple of years, I haven’t really been able to do any personal projects because of the war in my country, and often there was no electricity for half a day, so participating in the competition was an opportunity to distract myself from the rather gloomy everyday life. But before that, I tried to participate in your contests regularly :)

Who or what has inspired or delighted you recently? Maybe it was a book, a movie, or an artist.

Lately, there hasn’t been anything that has captivated me, but I can say that I’ve been drawn to the world of 3D graphics in general. Back in 2013, when I watched the movie Pacific Rim in the cinema, I was very much taken by the atmosphere of the movie and the quality of the graphics at that time, the scale and attention to detail will forever be imprinted in my memory. After that, I had only one dream: to learn how to make giant robots that were as cool as the ones that beat up giant monsters. It was only later that I learned that one person would not be enough for such work:)

Please tell us your five short tips for creating 3D art.

1. – Find a source of inspiration, it will be difficult without it.

2. – Organize your library of materials and models.

3. – Before starting work, make yourself a board with references.

4. – Set a deadline, because a project can become eternal if it does not have a final date.

5. – It is good to have a list of tasks about the project to better orient yourself in the amount of work that needs to be done.