Interview with Robert Kuczera
Could you please tell us about yourself a bit? How did you get into the world of CG?
 I am a healthy young German man at the age of 35 years and I've been working in the 3D industry since 1995. I was inspired and I think everybody else probably was, by the short films that Pixar created. I was fascinated about the possibility of creating my very own 3D world as well as movies. I need to know how to go about doing this and if I able to do it here in Germany. As it happens, I had a friend who was working in the industry and showed me that it was possible. At the beginning I was interested in all areas of 3D and started to accumulate as much information as I could get. In 1995 it was not at all easy creating 3D, as the PCs where very slow and expensive, with almost no professional package good enough to work with. So I started an internship at a company called Tevox. They were doing real-time animation, on Silicon Graphics, Inc. workstations each worth about 40,000 Euros, working with 3D software costing another 20,000 Euros...you see, one workplace was very expensive. But not only, the hard and software made it difficult to start in 3D, also the knowledge base was not very big. There were almost no tutorials on the Internet, no learning DVD's, no tutorials books, and almost no 3D schools, so the only way you could learn was from your work mates....I think that somebody who starts nowadays can learn in a much shorter time than somebody who started 10 years ago... it is all about how fast you can get your knowledge. I remember that some artists were not telling you they’re "Tricks" because they were afraid off you getting better than them. So knowledge was your investment, today all the knowledge is there you just have to use it. Nowadays it is even more about your skills and talent.
3D or 2D which you like the most? Before starting CG did you have a skill in fine arts (drawing, painting…)?
I think both, 2D and 3D is great, with one little difference…I am not a 2D Animator ;). Think about all the 2d feature films Disney and Dreamworks did... All great stuff…and yes, before I started with 3D I was a lot into drawing and painting, before I wanted to get an 2d artist, but it all changed when I got the opportunity to get into 3d..It was so exciting those days.
You have worked on Harry Potter 3, Hui Buh, Happy Never After and many other films. Please tell us how the experience is and how the job came to be?
It is very interesting how big productions work. In my opinion it is a lot about politics, more or less depending on the projects. I mean we are all people and if the Animation director doesn`t like you...you have a problem...if he likes you get all the good shots…and so on. If you complain a lot as an artist…maybe it was your last job in that company…I think it is very important, that you are “smooth” as an artist. Don`t be edgy…then they will love you...I think it is even more important that you are nice, than being very good in you field..
All the projects came to in different ways. For Harry potter 3 I was there at the right time with the right Demo Reel…luck.. For HNA I knew the Animation Director and that was it and for Hui Buh, I was in contact with the company before...so the ways how you get a job are different... but one thing is always the same... if you know somebody, it is easier to get a job.
After releasing short film Dragon Slayer, anything changes for you and are you planning any other short film?
Well...I went to Framestore with my finished short film and got the job...so this was my step into the feature film world…I can’t really say if it was worth all the work...2 years for that short film…that is a lot of time…but I learned a lot especially the whole pipeline for a production. You understand more what work all the other fields of the production have and what is important for the animation. My next short film...Yes, I am planning new projects, but it is too early to talk about it.
Please tell us about your work for the Alvin and the Chipmunks webpage? How this is different from other work you have done and required any special preparation?
Yes it different because it was not only animation. We were also building the characters, rigging them, and render them, so the whole package. You have more responsibility, because it is not only one area you have to take care about. And everybody knows the chipmunks, so we had to make them look like the original ones..ah..and fur..mhh, always a lot of fun ;)
|
|
|
