IFCC 3Q Interview // Oliver Villar
1. How did you get started in your field and what advice can you offer enthusiasts and beginners?
I’ve loved drawing since I can remember. When I was young I noticed 3D videogames and visual effects and I was really interested, but I didn’t know a thing about how they are made. At the age of 16 I stumbled upon 3ds Max and started learning by myself. It was overwhelming at first, but with some motivation I started doing some cool stuff (when I look back at my 3D works from back then, they’re actually crappy, but I thought they were cool :P). After several years working with commercial software such as 3ds Max, Maya and XSI, I found Blender and kept using it since then.
My advice for beginners is to understand that 3D (as well as other cool things in life) is complex. It doesn’t matter what you want to do, or what software you’re going to use, 3D is complex. There are no magic pills or “cool render” buttons, you need experience, practice and motivation. So don’t worry if you feel it’s very complex when you start. it doesn’t mean you’re not good, it’s just really complex, and everyone else found it complex when they started! Keep at it and sooner or later you’ll be in control. :)
2. What was your favorite project so far and why?
For the last year (2014) I was working on a book: “Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D Animated Characters”, which was released in October. For a long time I wanted to write a book and finally did! It was without a doubt a hard task, it long long and it was stressful but it was absolutely worth it and a really great experience.
The book is about character creation in Blender, starting from the very basics (for beginners) and finishing with a fully animated character integrated into real video. You can check it out here: http://goo.gl/kUFY5j
3. How will you be involved in IFCC 2015 and what do you expect from the festival?
I will be at the IFCC 2015 talking about Blender and hosting a workshop to teach people how to create cool stuff using Blender :)
I expect to meet a lot of great people and artists, have a good time and share tons of knowledge! Also, getting to walk around Zagreb will be amazing for sure :D