Interview with Znorc

by 3D Addict
(February'98)









    3D Addict

    Znorc



    Ok. Let's start with the usual question.Tell me a little bit about yourself.

    Znorc: My real name is Kresten V. Andersen, I'm 19 years old. I moved from Kolding to Odense (Denmark) last summer to work on a webdesign bureau called Certus and to go to some "multimedia"school..Uahh.... The school sucked so I stopped coming there after two months. I still work at Certus where I do all graphics plus some html. In my sparetime I enjoy to do ramprollerskating(which I'm quite good at :)) and I like listening to alternative music, Primus, Pixies, Beastie Boys, Nick Cave, Faith no more and such... + I LOOOOOVE THE SIMPSONS!!!!!!!! and therefor watch it alot....and talk their language..wich I call Simpish...that's good!!...the Simpish is an evil curse....UUH that's baad!....But the Simpish fills out the embarrassing silent moments!!..That's GOOD!!!!.....The Simpish will make you hatet by peoble who doesn't speak this devine language...............................That's bad!....Can I go now?!


    :)Tell me, are you a cool type of a guy or more funny one?Do you take life seriously or are you more relaxed and live the life without thinking much about the future?

    hum bum.. Erh.. Idono.. - both I think :) ............hhmmm should I tell a joke, - eh?? Ehrm..hmm.. I'M NICE, yeees thats it!!
    I take life seriosly, I do what ever i can to improve my skills as an artist, but I'm also relaxed.. or lazy idono @:)

    What was your first computer, and what computer do you use now?

    My first computer was a 486 dx2 80 Mhz PC with 8 Mb ram and a 1 Mb standard vesa graphicscard. :)) The PC I'm using now is: 266 Mhz pentium with 128 Mb SDram and a 4 Mb Matrox Millenium 2 card. At my work I use a 233 Mhz K6 PC with 64 Mb SDram and a 4 Mb Fire GL Pro1000 graphicscard + an AV-master video card.

    How and when did you become involved in the scene and when did you start tracing?

    I went to art classes with a member of Impact DK, and he invited me to come with Impact DK to TP5. Later, when they had seen some of my work they asked if I wanted to join the group. At that time I was the only Impact'er that used a PC, I had worked with 3D studio r4 for about ½ a year at that time, where I didn't get any help from anybody(since i didn't know anybody who made 3d graphics), I didn't even have any documents on using 3ds :)).

    cool:)Which hardware/software do you use for drawing, and where do you get the inspiration from?

    I use 3dsmax2 right now, but I have experimented a little with Softimage, and I have thought of learning more about Lightwave, to get some more experience. I don't know where I get my inspiration from, but I guess that it comes from movies, cartoons and music. We have a great musician in ImPACT DK called Unison, who makes some very inspirating different music that makes pictures pop up in my head 8).

    I see.How many hours a day do you spend in front of your computer, and how many of those hours are used on making gfx?

    He he.. I do graphics at my work, - I don't know if that counts(it's not because the job expands my 3Dknowledge) but that is 8 hours a day... And then I usually make 3D gfx when I get home from work for about hmmm... 4-6 hours...=12-14hours... Uak!! I don't think its healthy at all :((

    hehe, pretty much the same here :)Anyway, When modeling, do you have a perfect vision in your mind or do you model more freely, by letting your image evolve in whatever direction you may feel like it. Please describe in steps how do you create an image.Do you start by making an sketch on paper, or is everything done on the computer.

    Usually when I do a big animationproject, - I make sketches of the leadcharacter and have a picture in my head of how everything is going to look, but as I work, I get new ideas and the atmosphere may change quite alot. When its small projects as stillpictures, I usually build a character or a creature, and then I start building the enviroment to fill out the wholes, or to give the picture a story.

    How long does it take to trace a good picture for you, and what are the most important aspects of making a great image?

    I'm not very pacient when I model stills, so I usually start working on a model, and if I'm very sattisfied with it I do the rest of the picture the rest of the day and the most of the night. Then I go to sleep, and when I wake up I change some colours or so... and then I'm usually happy (not always) :) It is offcourse hard to say how long it takes to make a good image... It depends on if it is organic or technical modeling and if there is something in the scene that takes ekstra preview rendering time, such as volumeeffects and complex models. I think that the most important aspects of modeling a great image is to add great detail to the textures and the scene itself(though I don't always do). It should contain a mixture of organic soft modeling and hardedged technical models. The lightning and atmosphere is very important, but it shouldn't be overdone (I may do that some times, - though :) The finished picture should have big contrast both in colour and lightstrength.

    I agree with you very much:)What do you find the most difficult to model, and which phase of your modeling do you enjoy most.Personally I like mostly making the finishing touches when the image is about 95% complete.


    I guess it's a little different with me.. I enjoy creating the leadmodel with textures the most, the filling out can, I think, be a pain in the ass. O.K. It is great when you can see that the picture is almost done, and you feel that the picture is the best you've made so far.

    Do you use any special techniques.Do you also add final touches using Photoshop?

    I won't say much about my techniques :), but I can say that I like using patch and boxmodeling(determing of the time I will spend on the model) And I use T-exporter to help texturing my models. Sometimes I use photoshop to retouch the pictures if there is a need for extra/different colours or filters.

    Which of your own images do you consider as the best one and which was the most difficult to create?

    Right now my favoritpicture is "Drowning", since it contains detailed patchmodeling, some nice surfaces and a spooky atmosphere. The most difficult pic I've made is the picture of the dragon(veran) escaping its cage. The model consisted of complex patchmodelling without the use of surfacetools.


      



    I like both images very much:)Let's talk a bit about your second place Wilddemo winner at TP7.How long did it take you to create the whole Wild demo?

    I don't really know, two weeks including rendering I think. I had much bigger plans with the wilddemo, but I didn't have the time to do it, so I just made a short confusing mix-anim.

    Two weeks, thats fast :)Was the waterfall difficult to create?

    Eh not really.. I thought of different ways to do it, and did the simplest is usually the best, so i came op with something including a box and a followpath + some transparencymaps.

    how long did it take to render?

    2-3 nights at 2 x 233mhz K6 w. 64 mb. RAM each + one night at a 133 mhz w. 64 Mb. RAM, it was rendered in 640x480 resolution, and the most of the wild had flat-mirrors, so I'm supprised of the renderingspeed though it was only 1500 pics or so.

    Thats not bad.What do you think about redrawing?

    Redrawing other peobles art or using premade models: I really hate the idea of redrawing and using premade models, that's fake, it is stealing other peobles art just to gain cheap publisity! If I saw that anybody had used a part of one of my work(and won a contest).... I would eat him, or just kill him idono!! Using premade stuff is a true sign of missing talents, lazyness and no imagination at all.....thats bad! Redrawing a photograph: Everyone can do that! I've seen peoble adding two filters to a photograph, and then sign in for a pixelcontest :[

    Do you have any favourite groups, musicians, coders, diskmags?Favourite demo?

    -----

    What are your future party plans, are you heading for TP'97 or Gathering'97, other parties?

    Idono, - I'm going to summerencounter in the summer, but thats a long time from now :(

    What does the scene mean to you, and which aspects do you like/dislike about it?

    The scene means alot to me since thats the way my work gets spread, and it is really great to meet others, who share the same interrest as I do. If there was no scene, I wouldn't have the contacts I have today(and I would probably still be fooling around with 3DS r4 :)

    :) Have you ever considered a carrier as a professional 3D graphician?

    I enjoy doing 3D graphics more than anything else(except one thing ofcourse :))), and I hope to get my dreamwork before I get ehh... much older :). I'm currently working with webdesign, which I find a little waste of time, since it doesn't envelop my skills as a 3D artist. My dream is to work with young creative peoble in the gaming/animation/movie industri. My niche in 3D graphics should be charactermodeling + texturing and characteranimation. :)) In the near future I hope to get a place in a classical-animation(2D) school, so I can studie and improve my animation skills to a high level.

    Who is your favourite artist outside the scene?

    Let me see... Steve Burke(max-user) rules! His pictures are near perfect

    Do you believe in God?What is the meaning of life?

    he! the answers is 1) Homer and 2) To watch The Simpsons :)

    One last question: how did you come up with your handle/alias?

    I thought that handles was a bit.... blllappy.....So I wantet to make a little fun of other handles, and made even more goofy than everyone elses... so it became Znorc

    Would you like to say Hello to anyone?

    Uh!! If there is a little pingvin called Pingo reading this, I would sure like to say hi to him :)

    Thank you for your time, and best of all in your future plans as a graphician :)

    Thank you! btw. I really enjoy your work too!! I gave you 9 points at the "3D artists" gallery!.


    oh, thanks ;)

    check out Znorc gallery





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