Russian
Name: Vladimit Bolotkin
Country: Russia
Age: 28
Job: 3d-visualizer
Website: www.bolotkinvladimir.com
3da: Why have you decided to work in 3d-field and how have you started?
VB: Everything started in 2006, when I was still a student of art and design – in that period of my life I began to think what I would like to do with my future work. Interiors were the most interesting part of design field for me and I started to look for the niche where I can fulfill my ideas. I was going through different galleries and forums – that time you did not find as much information on CG as now, so I had to learn everything by trying and fixing my own mistakes.
3da: Please describe your usual workflow
VB: Every work, of course, starts from good and detailed technical brief – otherwise it risks to become a routine with an endless amount of changes. Next important thing is to have an order and a proper workflow, like managing the layers, proper naming of all objects and textures, clear hierarchy of the folders in the project – you can’t move on without all that. Everything should be organised such a way that any person working with you on a project could manage the file and it’s components without any problem.
In my daily work I use 3dsmax, but I plan sometime to try something else for modelling. For rendering I use Vray and multiple plugins that make monotonous work-routine easier. Lately I started making more projects with CoronaRender, I like the approach of this renderer and I think it has a good future ahead. For making textures and postproduction I use mainly PS. I try to manage all the projects from beginning to the end myself – it gives better control over all work stages and – as a result – more satisfaction with the end result. I like working in a team as well and I do not miss opportunities to take part in an interesting project, when I have some spare time of course.
3da: What was most difficult for you when you just started working in 3D? And what is now?
VB: If we talk about the moment, when I started working independently, – back than I had a problem with finding clients and with lack of work experience. My portfolio at that time was not so big and it was difficult to demonstrate my professional side. Now I find more difficult keeping up with progress and combining daily work with studying new software for self-development. I want to learn many new things, but there are strict time limitations.
3da: Looking back on your education process what you would have changed now? And what you consider right and would do exactly the same?
VB: Probably it’s one of the things that I do not want to change. All my skills and my mistakes made me exactly who I am now. Maybe with other knowledge and experience I would do something else in my life.
3da: Which was the biggest problem that you faced working on a project and how have you solved it?
VB: The work nightmares of a CG-artist are the crashes of a software and the damages of the file that took hours or even days of work. I do not know if anything can be worse than a destroyed work-file. i try to prevent such problems by making back-ups of the projects. Everything else I call not problems but difficulties – and they make work more challenging and more exciting.
3da: What forecast you can make about the future of 3d-world in general?
VB: 3д-industry is one of the fields that are growing with a great speed – and it is motivating me to continue my work. Games, movies – all that becomes more and more exciting and photorealistic, we can easily compare them 10 years ago and now on-screen. The influence of 3d nowadays is really huge, nothing goes without it, and in future the technology will develop even faster. As far as our part of the work is concerned, everything looks quite optimistic as well. The companies are developing new products, new versions of the softwares are released, different plugins allow to solve easily the most difficult tasks and to save working time. Everything has better quality and better timing – and both these factors are highly important.
