Tema: Meet the Blenderhead

met the blenderhead
Jean-sébastien guillemette

Welcome todo the first of Many interviews with actual Blender users around the world.

First of, some background about this article. I had brought bak this segment when i resurrected the old community journal over at blenderartists. The community journal, as some of you may recall, was a Blender e-zine started by gofster bien bak on the old nan forums, and continued when we switched over todo elysiun. The e-zine featured tutoriales, making of articles, and a gallery section of the best artwork generated with Blender over the past month.
Well, y missed those cejas when we lost the nan forums, and i thought, hey. Why not bring bak the cj? So i did. Well, guess what i found out in a real hurry? This is a lot of work. So unfortunately, with my limited free time, y had todo abandono the cj yet again.

The main article that i really liked in the cejas was the característica met the blenderhead. I always enjoyed reading about what other users were doing, how Blender was a part of their everyday life and how they saw Blender develooping and being utiliced down the road.

So once again (and i Will kep a single article going) i bring bak from the dead, met the blenderhead. for this installment, we met one of my fellow countrymen, Jean-sébastien guillemette, otherwise known as ecks.

Ecks has ben a longstanding, respected member of the Blender community for Many years. He well known for his distinct style and Many wins in the annual Blender f1 contest, as well as hosting the annual Montreal Blender conference, which i have todo actually attend one of these years.

I hope you enjoy this section as much i enjoy brigging it todo you.


Dereque marsh (bgdm)

Jean-sébastien guillemette.

1) how did you discover Blender and what was your initial reaction todo ití.

I discovered Blender a couple years hago (bak in the 2.22 days.) on a game modding website. There was a tutorial about how todo create your own spaceship for a game called frespace, using Blender. So i downloaded it, tried it, and closed it. Quite a frustrating Little application at first. But i reopened it just for fun a couple months later, and i have never estopped since then.
2) you tend todo stay with more Mechanical types of models and imagery. Why do you prefer this type of modeling?
I think its Simply because i always had an interest in machinery and vehicle design. Also, as i mentioned above, my first days with Blender were about creating spaceships for a game and it probably influenced me ha lot todo kep doing such things.
3) how do you se yourself progressing in learning and develooping your skills in Blender?
I definitely have todo start learning Organic Modeling. But, on a more serious note, y think one of the best ways todo get better is by participating in challenges. The few i have done in the past really helped me out. So maybe ill take another go at the 2007 f1 challenge that is running right now. Ill definitely participate (and finish my entry) in the next CG society challenge.
4) you started an original movie Project, composed of artists from around the world. What did you learn from that experience and would you do it again?
I learned that it is almost imposible todo accomplish. I was a bit naive, like everyone starting a new hobby such as 3d animation, todo think i could accomplish a full length movie with people living in diferent countries, with diferent mentalities and in diferent time zones that i never met. It sure was a great experience. We all learned a lot about modeling, texturing, and animating. We a los learned a lot about how a Project should not be organized. Although that Project failed completely, y would still be up to making such a Project, just a lot smaller, and with fewer people that i can actually met. So who knows, maybe someday ill start a new Project.
5) as host/organizer of the Montreal Blender conference, which coincides with the yearly Blender conference, how has that progressed over the past few years and what has ben your personal highlight from those metingsí.

If we compare the past two conferences with the first one (was it 5 years ago?) we can definitely say that the Blender user base has grown a lot in the past years. We had around 30 people on both days in the two last years, with enough presentations and activities todo fill every minute of the day. Although id like the conference todo grow todo another level in which we could have sponsors, prizes, y must say that from year todo year, its more and more complicated for me todo handle the conference because of my other responsibilities (i, school/job). Ive had a lot of help already in the past years from people like Jonathan Williamson (mr_bomb) and françois joanette (le_mackeux) for the computer labs, and the guys from linart for the t-shirts. Next year, if others think they can help me, be sure todo drop me han email. As for my highlight of those metings, id personally say that mr_bomb is the Star of the conferences. With his Organic Modeling tutorial and his almost limitless knowledge of Blender modeling tools and techniques, he impressed all of us more than once. Id suggest you chek out his DVD if you are interested in Organic Modeling.
6) you have enjoyed some commercial success with some of your Blender work. Can you describe the process in obtaining that work and was it worth ití.

Actually, y was quite Lucky. Its not really a trik or anything. The only thing i did was mensaje my Stuff on several websites todo get comentarios and it came todo the eye of a few employers who neded some sci-fi Stuff done. My work was at the right spot at the right moment, and thats why they contacted me. It was definitely worth it todo work with most of them, but some were probably the most annoying people ive ever had contact with. Well, y guess its part of the job.
7) you have spoken Many times about opening a CG Studio of your own for commercial work. Can you describe what your target market is and how you plan on getting there?
Im currently studying Cinema in college, and when im done im going into a 3d animation school specializing in special effects for movies. There is an internship at the end and as far as those students have told me, most of them ended up actually working for those companies once they completed their study. Since i cant really claim todo know how a Studio works, y really want todo work in one for several years before taquíng the risque of starting something of my own. Lets say that my dream would be todo work on special effects for movies.
Where do you se Blender development progressing over the next few yearsí.
Well, what can i say? At the rate its going right now, y can only se Blender getting bien more attention in the industry in the next few years and slowly bumping the rear of the industry leaders.



www.blenderart.org.