We continue publishing great interviews with the authors of the 3D Models presented in two of our 3D robots reviews. And today we are very glad to introduce Marco di Lucca, who works as a Senior Modeler for “Weta Digital” company (by the way this company has produced special effects for such blockbusters as “King Kong”, “X-Men - Part 3″ and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”). This 3D author has agreed to share his experience with us and answer some of our questions.
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For how long are you in 3D Art and what was your first work?
It seems to be a long time since I made my first steps in 3D field. I think I was sixteen (I am 34 now) when I became interested in the third dimension. It all started when I was at school and in my free time I started to learn CAD software at construction engineers’ and architect’s studios, although it is hard to define that work as 3D since those were just boring, straight 2D lines.
I had to wait for AutoCAD v2.5 to give the ‘thickness’ to the lines. I was so eager to see how those 2D projections would have produced an effect of the 3D space. Even now I feel proud when I remember how well I coped with a school project, which consisted of doing isometric views of a church which we had previously surveyed. I did both hand-drawn and CAD layouts.
After I graduated from the high-school I did some freelance jobs in architectural visualization, but straight lines never captured my attention, so I focused my attention on organic forms. In the beginning I worked mostly by trial and error, but I quickly realized that I had to study at least the basics of anatomy to understand the essence of the mass and proportion, it was necessary for getting satisfying results. I had to model at least 10 heads before I was satisfied with one. It’s been a long process but I never gave up because that was something I was really passionate about.
What are your major principles for doing a great 3D Model?
Talking about my own characters and creatures I think my approach isn’t very different from other artists’ approaches. Generally you’ve got an idea and start to put it down on paper or on 2d software to start to visualize it, playing with proportions, anatomy and so on. Fortunately, despite the fact I don’t have any artistic background, I am able to put on paper a rough drawing of what i want to do when i really need to have a material basis. In fact sometimes I don’t even need to draw because i already have a rather precise visualization of the idea in my mind. For sure it’s very important to find as much support for your idea as you can. God bless Internet for that! But you can also take your own pictures and references like I often used to do for my personal projects.
(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO, THIS IS A DIGITAL 3D MODEL)
My approach to the work is not exceptional as well. Usually there is a precise and well defined design beyond any creature or character. So we are not really involved into that part of process even though sometimes we can make suggestions.
(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO, THIS IS A DIGITAL 3D MODEL)
Creating a good model isn’t just making it look well but it also means producing of the appropriate meshes topology (edge flow, number of polygons, and so on). To answer to your question I should say that approach to the home made model and a production model could be very different indeed.
Are there any special works that you would like to share with our audience? Preferably the new ones that have not been published elsewhere.
Well not really, everything I do usually ends up on my website which I haven’t updated for a while actually. Unfortunately I have less and less time to make my own stuff as I have to work here and when I get home I rarely spend the remaining time to do more 3d. Though sometimes I really feel like I should do something on my own since the ideas keep coming around from time to time.
What would your suggestions be for our audience and for 3D beginners? What are the typical mistakes to avoid while producing a good 3D Model?
Without any doubt the lack of proportions and somehow of a ‘correct ‘anatomy. Ok, of course I am not talking about cartoon characters. But that is what i see often when i browse through 3D forums. Sometime you see people paying an extreme attention to a specific detail but aren’t caring about the underlaying structure (bones, muscles and so on) at all. And that is totally wrong. After that I’d like to mention the mesh topology thing. What i see is that sometimes (that happened couple of times on a cg Italian forum) people don’t really accept suggestions or are too selfish and blind to do that. I think an artist should have an appropriate dose of self-criticism first of all.
(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO, THIS IS A DIGITAL 3D MODEL)
I have always been severe to myself concerning my personal works and i would never show off anything I don’t like myself. I was and I am always open to any critics and suggestions. Believing that I am not really artistically gifted forced me to study do everything I could to get the results I wanted. Having an open mind does help for sure, it is important to be able to listen to people with more experience, to keeping studying, to reading different books, not necessary related to 3d software (anatomy, design, sculpting will help as well) etc . I am very proud of being self taught!
Your human 3D models are one the most photo-realistic models that I’ve ever seen. How did you manage to make your models look so realistic?
Well considering the time when I’ve created those models, I would say they aren’t that bad, but I believe that they are far away from being called the most photo-realistic models you’ve ever seen. The perfect photo-realism is still pretty far to achieve. Anyway I think present times give a possibility to achieve better results using commercial rendering software. Its algorithms allow to compute subsurface scattering effect which is one of the most important aspect in rendering a realistic skin.
(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO, THIS IS A DIGITAL 3D MODEL)
It doesn’t mean that the renderer does the miracle. First of all you need to have at least a decent model and a set of textures used properly in the shaders. In appropriate lighting this should give you an image that is pretty close to the original photo. I think I have already mentioned that.
Do you draw your textures from scratch or do you start with actual photos or other textures?
It depends on the specifics of the work I do. Surely, in most cases using a photo as a starting base for the texture is a common thing, and so yes, I do use real photos.
Sometimes you may even keep the pictures just the way they are, but in most cases you have to edit them in your favorite 2d software to get the look you want to achieve while rendering your subjects. I don’t see the point in drawing from scratch the textures if you are going to render something realistic. I mean in your daily life you can easily recognize something even if you don’t see a picture of the real thing before that.
(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO, THIS IS A DIGITAL 3D MODEL)
How important are sketches and rough drawings for you before you start modeling?
Well I think it’s always a good idea to put your ideas on a piece of paper. It may be rough but at least you will have something concrete for your eyes to see and you will always have an access to your ideas even after they vanish in time. If you have good drawing skills that’s even better as you can actually plan the thing you are going to model in 3d with all the details and a sapient use of shading/colors. Sometimes in the past I spent much time in front of the computer trying to create something in 3D, but I didn’t have a clear idea of what I want to see in my mind, so it was just a time wasting.
What are your inspiration sources? Perhaps a muse? 
Let me just mention my favorite websites of 2D concept artists, sculptors and illustrators whose work I totally love and feel inspired by. There are: Miles Teves, Carlos Huante, Wayne Barlowe and Brom.
(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO, THIS IS A DIGITAL 3D MODEL)
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Thank you very much, Marco for this great interview! Truly brilliant 3D Modles, aren’t these? We even had to put a line under these works so that you wouldn’t be confused that they are photos
We wish Marco the best of luck and a little bit more of the free time to work on personal projects. Take care!
November 14th, 2008 at 3:43 am
Great interview Marco.
I’m a huge fan.
Keep well.
Cheers
Brett