Emerging from the Shadows - A Long Overdue Introduction

Hello to you, my esteemed fellow Steemians! I am @Kryptik.Tigrrr3D, a 3D animation artist from Manila, Philippines.  

I've been lurking in the shadows since the day my application got approved in January. I was too busy at the time to get started on here, but whatever free time I had on my hands, I spent them lurking, learning, taking notes, and making lists of people to follow.

And now that I've managed to extricate myself from some ongoing tasks that have been keeping me busy, it's time for this tiger to roar and go on the prowl.

And as is customary for introduction posts, here is a picture of me holding up a sign with my name and today's date. You can check out my Facebook profile by clicking on the link at the top of this page. 

 

And here is another picture of me with short hair. 

Oh, another artist. Doesn't Steemit have enough of us already? Just kidding! Read on, folks. 

I am a 3D artist and also a former traditional animator, here in the Philippines. I've been in the animation industry since 1998, and I've worked on several animated TV series and a movie for various animation producers from the US. 

I'm also on IMDb, and you can see my name in the credits of one of the animated shows I worked on. My page is not updated yet and only lists the most recent, but most significant show in my career.

Universal Pictures' Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4622340/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

And my page

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7506264/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr187

An animation disc is where traditional animation artists draw on. This 3D model was modeled and rendered in LightWave 3D back in 2002, and it shows the two animation disciplines I practice.

As a 3D artist I do modeling/sculpting, textures, and animation. I don't rig yet in the software I currently use, and that is something I will get back into learning someday.  I use, or have used the following 3D software: 

• Blender and Maya - these are my current tools, with the former as my main modeling and rendering tool, and the latter as the one I prefer to use for all my animation needs.
• LightWave 3D,  SoftImage, and 3ds Max - the packages I learned from when I was starting out, and while I was still in traditional animation, before I transitioned to 3D.
• ZBrush - learning it and it will be my main sculpting tool, with Blender's sculpting tools as my backup.
• Houdini - also in my learning to-do list for what it is good for, and also because I've heard that is on its way to becoming a viable alternative to Maya as a character animation package.
• Substance Painter or Designer - because I need to learn either to put textures and materials on the models I create. 
• GIMP and Photoshop - I don't need to explain what these two are for. 
• Krita - IMO the best free illustration and painting software.

And in traditional animation I started out as an assistant animator, and did both the assistant animator jobs of clean-up artist and inbetweener (CU/IB)) for a few years, before I eventually became an animator. 

I am currently on an extended sabbatical since 2016, using this break from work to learn more advanced 3D character animation and related skills, whilst occasionally doing freelance work. One of my reasons for joining Steemit is because I plan to document the progress of my journey to learn new things, hone my existing skills, and share it here with those in a similar situation as I am.

  Animation drawings from  my  final exam after  a traditional animation refresher training in 2000.  It's from a scene in Disney TV Animation's Hercules. I wish I could show you more from my traditional animation days, but I lost a lot of old drawings when our house was flooded during Typhoon Ketsana's (Ondoy) onslaught in 2009.

My surname is well-known in the industry, thanks to my famous traditional animator cousins. They had an 8-year headstart, and when I got in they were already legends. Having such a pedigree helped open some doors for me, but I also knew that I had to live up to others' stellar expectations. It wasn't always easy, knowing that my cousins were already "superstars" when I landed my first gig.

Having the same surname and being in the same world was both a blessing and a curse. I always had to be conscious of who I was. It was depressing sometimes, especially when I was just starting out and trying to create my own identity apart from theirs.

It wasn't always a comfortable feeling to be constantly living in their shadow, and I hated the thought of doing it for the rest of my life. Luckily for me, I had found my niche in the emerging world of 3D graphics and animation.

I knew that my tenure in traditional animation would give me all the training and experience that would prepare me for that slight change in career path. So I ended up working in traditional animation for almost six years. Looking back, I sometimes wish I had stayed for at least ten years.

So, how did I get started in art? When did I become an artist? I won't tell you the year, but it was at a time when disco and bell-bottom jeans were in vogue.

I started drawing at the age of four, according to my Mom, and also from what I remember about myself. What got me started was seeing one of my uncles draw Superman and other characters for me. 

My mother's side of the family are mostly engineers, and with Mom herself, a chemistry graduate. They all happen to be creative too, and they are mostly a musically-inclined bunch, as well some gifted visual artists, like the aforementioned uncle and both of my aunts. It's in our genes. All of my siblings know how to draw too.

My uncle would always draw for me and my sister when he was around. I don't remember if he encouraged me, or if I just picked it up on my own. I also started demonstrating other types of creativity at that age. I often cut up whatever cardboard I could get my hands on and make airplanes out of them, and it was something I learned from my uncles did too. I was also good with clay too. 

That exposure from my uncles and aunts had a profound influence on me, and was the spark that ignited my passion for drawing and art, a flame that is still burning steadily today, four decades later.

  A drawing from 1992 when I was just beginning to study anatomy and perspective to improve my skills. I was hanging out at the time with some Fine Art students who were my fellow metalheads and bandmates. Little did I know that that all the things I learned from  them  would help  me get into the animation industry in  1998.

The only surviving colored pencil drawing from the years before I became an animator. It's based on an artwork I saw in an old issue of Byte Magazine. I can't find anything about the original artist as I would like to share  this with him. This was drawn in 1996. I used Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.  I look forward to making new ones and posting them here someday. 

How did I get started in animation? As they say, a journey begins with a single step, and mine began when I stepped out of the theater after seeeing Spielberg's T.rex roar and rampage on screen.

I originally wanted to become a fighter pilot or a soldier (Ranger or Green Beret). Coming from a strict military household and upbringing, it was expected that one of us grandsons would follow in our maternal grandfather's footsteps of being an Army infantryman. 

I was the only who was really into it, and enlisting in the US Navy or US Army had been my dream since graduating from grade school. But when that didn't pan out, I found myself without a backup plan and bummed around for a while, before I decided to go back to school.

Enter Michael Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park. Being a big fan of Crichton's works, I read the book two years before it got the big screen treatment from Spielberg and his VFX wizards. I wasn't even aware at the time that a movie based on the book was being made.  

  A 3D model of a T.rex modeled and sculpted in Blender.

Wireframe render

And I had no inkling even, that seeing the movie would change my life profoundly. It planted the seed of the dream that would someday grow, and drive me to turn it into a reality.

I was still in college back then, trying to learn how to create graphics programs and games. I've also been a serious dinosaur geek since my grade school days, and had several books about them, but it was the awesome CGI in the movie that left a lasting impression on me. It led me to question the viability of my goal of becoming a game or graphics software developer. 

Coding is cool, but being an animator is way more fun! Had I decided to continue pursuing game development, I'd end up not knowing where to go to do that kind of work. And as early as 1990 my classmates would often tell me to just drop out of school and go to either of the two big animation studios, and train to become an animator.

One particular schoolmate, and the most persistent of them all, would often tell me that his neighbor was an animator who worked at Philippine Animation Studio Inc. and sometimes earned 100K a month.  I still wasn't convinced.

Portrait of a friend.

Even though I grew up watching lots of American cartoons, as well as old school anime of the Voltes V era, I could not reconcile myself with the thought of making dozens, or even hundreds of drawings a day to earn a living, until that fateful day in August of 1993 when my classmates asked me to go watch Jurassic Park with them after classes.

So, shifting my interest back to the art side of things slowly began to make sense. I already knew that two of my cousins were already newly-minted cartoon animators at the time, and I thought it was only logical that I begin my quest to animate characters and creatures in 3D by learning how to do it first in the old-fashioned way with paper and pencil. 

No problem. I was already comfortable with my drawing skills, and I'd been told that no matter how good you are before you get in, you will still have to undergo training on how to draw for animation. But to get in one still needed to pass the tough drawing exam. I knew my anatomy and perspective drawing skills still needed polishing, but at least I knew I had the skills, and  getting in wouldn't be  that hard.  Or, so I thought! LOL!

A dream was born and all it needed was a plan to turn it into a reality.

A screenshot of an Indominus rex modeled and rigged by Châu Võ Bá Trường (Truong CG Artist), and posed by yours truly.  I'm using this model to practice creature animation and this bad boy will be the star of my animation portfolio.

Seeing that movie changed everything. I knew right away that it was what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how to go about getting started, what to study, and where to go to find such kind of work. I was already familiar with CGI, thanks to earlier movies such as Terminator 2 and The Abyss, but wasn't interested in it yet at the time.

Then in 1995 an uncle asked me to help him out with his architectural projects. I learned AutoCAD and then shortly after I was introduced to 3D graphics and the wonderful world of architectural visualization. It was a eureka moment for me! 

My uncle was using 3D Studio for DOS R1 to render his architectural models as well as Renderman. Then he showed me a magazine with an article about Renderman, and I read it and found out that it was created by Pixar! I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe my eyes. Right there in front of me were the answers to a lot of my questions about how to get started on the path that would lead me to my dream.

I.rex, you're such a naughty boy! This shows how much fun it is to pose creatures and characters. 

There I was, a kid dreaming about becoming a 3D animator someday, who couldn't believe the fact that his uncle had the answers to all his questions all along! Who would have thought at the time, that helping out an architect would arm you with all the knowledge and skills to get into 3D animation and VFX?

All it needed next was to get into traditional animation first. So, I had to go from dreaming about a high-tech 3D animation job to a low-tech paper-and-pencil traditional   way of doing things, just like the masters - The Nine Old Men of Disney Animation.

Two years later I enrolled in short course in graphics and animation. Upon finishing it, I spent the rest of the year honing my drawing skills some more to prepare for the tough challenges I would be facing in the animation industry.

And in July 10, 1998, I landed my first job at Top Peg Animation & Creative Studio. I will always remember that start date because it is also my Mom's birthday. After a few months working there, the production season ended, and with not much to do, I was encouraged to try working on other shows in another studio, Philippine Animation Studio Inc.. I freelanced there for several months, then took some time off to rest. 

A dragon (wyvern, actually) modeled and rigged by  Châu Võ Bá Trường (Truong CG Artist). This and the Indominus rex are creatures I am animating for my new animation portfolio.

Since I wasn't thoroughly trained yet on traditional animation production, I decided to attend Top Peg Animation's summer animation classes, which was offered for free to anyone who was interested.  So, from March to June 2000 I was a "student" again, but unlike the more than fifty who had signed up for training, my previous work experience made me stand out and excel. 

And just like any other training course, there was a final exam at the end. Naturally, I aced it, and in order to continue I had to sign up for two more months of advanced training. Our advanced training started on July 10, 2000, again, on my Mom's birthday! And as usual, I finished it again at the top of my training batch. 

My Top Peg Animation Studio employee ID back in 2000.

After three years of working for them on various shows from Disney and the other big name producers of TV animation, I felt that it was time to pursue my dream of becoming a 3D animator. I will detail my journey into 3D in other posts someday, as I go on in my blogging here. 

My first 3D scene modeled and rendered with LightWave 3D back in 2002. 

So, to end this part, let me share a list all the shows I have worked on, in both traditional animation and 3D.

1998 to 2003 (Top Peg Animation and Philippine Animation Studio Inc.)

• Kong: The Animated Series
• Warner Bros. Wicked
• Disney’s Hercules (TV series)
• Disney’s Recess (TV series)
• Disney’s Tarzan (TV series)
• Disney’s Teamo Supremo (TV series)
• Static Shock
• Miniman
• Mon Stories
• Animated commercials for UNICEF
• Anthony Ant
• Snow Queen
• Yowie Power

2007 (Roadrunner Network Inc.)

• Power Unleashed - Roadrunner Network Demoreel   (my name is @ 7:36)

2013 (Mothership Inc.)

• Genesis - A sci-fi TV series for GMA7

2013 to 2014 (Tycoon Animation)

• Universal Pictures' Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle

2015 to 2016 (Tycoon Animation)

• Walt Disney TV Animation's Penn Zero: Part-time Hero (Season 2)

2016 (Tycoon Animation)

• Nickelodeon's Mysticons

How did I get here? Who showed me the way to this enclave of awesomeness?

That distinction belongs to a wonderful friend who signed up here last year. Her name is Jacinta Eve Sevilla, and her username here is @jacinta.sevilla. 

She is an amazing artist and one of the most caring souls in this world, when it comes to our shared advocacies concerning wildlife conservation and environmental protection. 

I look forward to supporting her here in our shared causes, as well as in the improvement of her artistry. She is one of best wildlife artists I know, and I know that you will love her art works too. 

So, head on over to her page and follow her. If I ever become of great help to any aspiring animators here, and help them get started in their animation careers, they should be grateful to her too. It was her success and enthusiasm for this great platform here that compelled me to sign up and get started on my journey. 

I would not have signed here if it weren't for her. Her artworks, and relentless drive to spread awareness for endangered wildlife and environmental concerns are an inspiration to me, and I hope to return the favor and be a blessing to her, as well as to others. 

And now, about the things that tickle my fancy and float my boat.

I'm a creature of diverse tastes when it comes to my hobbies and interests, as reflected in my book collection. I have amassed more than a hundred titles of various genres, and you can see pictures of some of them in my Facebook photo album which I've made public for those who are curious.

In my collection you will find a plethora of subjects covering my various interests, such as sci-fi, astronomy, biology, physics, paleontology, dinosauria, archaeology, music, mythology, paranormal, psychology, computer science and programming, linguistics, art, animation, computer graphics, guns, military aviation, military special operations units, the classics, and a couple of Bibles.

As for athletic pursuits and other physical activities, I like to hike and run. I lift weights too, but cannot indulge in it for now to avoid injury to my wrists. I learned some martial arts years ago but have not practised in ages.

Single arm overhead press with a 51-lb. dumb bell 

Singing is another thing I am good at too, aside from my visual art skills! I have a high vocal range and I am most comfortable singing in a metal vocal style reminiscent of Sebastian Bach, Rob Halford, and many power metal vocalists. I am also into death metal and I am a competent growler too. But I also sing in a more mellow style, like in many pop ballads and harmonized vocals like those in boy bands. 

I was the vocalist of a metal band back in college, and sometimes I wonder if I could have made it big in the music industry, had I not pursued a career in animation. 

   

My "famous" guitar selfie. I often get asked if I was clothed in or not.

Music is in our blood. My mother's side of the family is part of the Nievera clan, and Mom and popular Filipino balladeer, Martin Nievera, are second-degree cousins. We often joke that having a pop star for a relative  is the reason why lot of us in our family have good singing voices. A lot of us can play an instrument too, and one of my sisters plays piano and violin, while a lot of us play guitar.

As for my musical tastes, it's as diverse as my interests. I was influenced a lot by my uncles, and they listened to a lot of classic rock and early hard rock and metal, as well as pop, disco, and jazz. Mom and an aunt love classical, opera, and Broadway music. I love those too.

So, a peek at my playlist will show albums from all those genres I listen to. I usually start my day with death metal, and end it with Spyro Gyra and Lifehouse. 

My purpose here and what I hope to share.

This blog will be primarily for my journey to become a better artist and animator, and for documenting the whole process here, to share with all aspiring animation artists I will become connected with, here in Steemit.

I am on a mission to upgrade my animation skills by learning more advanced character animation for the purpose of creating a new portfolio.   

I will also post about traditional art just like all the other artists here, and share techniques employed in the creation process.

I'm also here to help my friend spread more awareness about the plight of our planet. We need to educate and remind others how human impact is driving many species towards extinction, destruction and loss of habitats through our encroachment, as well as the effects of pollution on the environment. 

We only have one world to live in, and it's time to clean up our mess. We are all responsible.

And aside from my advocacies concerning wildlife and the environment, I am also an advocate of the use of Free and Open-Source Software.  I use a lot of open-source graphics applications, and hope to encourage others to use such tools too. 

And here are the highlights of my FOSS advocacy 

I was part of the 3D team in an animation studio here in Manila, Tycoon Animation, that worked on the direct-to-video movie, Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle, for Universal Pictures. It is a hybrid animation, mostly traditional animation and 2D digital animation (Toon Boom), plus some 3D CG integration. 

My boss asked me to learn Blender a few months before I was asked to report and become a part of the production team. I was responsible for bringing Blender aboard and into the prod. pipeline, where I used it and GIMP (on Fedora), exclusively for the eight months I was there, from Nov. 2013 to July 2014. The other artists used Maya for modeling and animation, but one left in the summer of 2014, and all of his tasks were assigned to me and another Blender artist. There were problems with most of the scenes he had done, and all of them had to be painstakingly redone in Blender. And that was what I did for most of second half of my 8-month tenure.

Then in Nov. 2015 I was asked to work there again on another big name project. It turned out to be the second season of Disney TV Animation's Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero. And again, as in the previous project I used Blender for modeling and scene setup, while all animation was done in Maya. It would prove to be the most difficult show I've worked on, and also the fifth Disney TV animation show in my animation career.

I look forward to my return to the industry a year from now, armed with upgraded skills, and a rejuvenated drive.  You can bet that I will continue to use Blender and other open-source apps in production. 

Time to get this party started!

I have more to share with you, and you will see them as I become more and more active in my blogging here. 

So, I guess this is enough for now before I run out of ammunition. Best to save them for the many battles ahead. 

I hope I have shared enough to get you more curious about me,  and hopefully support me here so I can grow and be of help to others  too.  

And to all who will follow me and who are just starting out here like me, good luck and God Bless us all.