In this episode of the 360 interviews, we have decided to chat with Charles Naden- Lamb star of the Domeble Symetri Student Awards with maximum awards this year.
It all began when I visited Stafford University for an open weekend on Concept Art for Games and Film. I found it extremely interesting and was so excited to begin studying. As I worked through the modules, it was clear to me that CGI was where my passion lay. On completing my first year, I made the decision to change direction and signed up to study CGI &VFX. Although this put me another year into University, it was the best decision I have ever made. I have enjoyed every minute, always hungry to learn.
2. What artists or 3D creators have influenced you throughout your journey so far?
I follow many influential artists on Instagram and have found Ashe Thorpe and Colorsponge of great interest due to their hyper-realistic images. Their work has pushed me to want to improve as I would find myself comparing my work to theirs.
3. What advice would you give to students looking to study CGI / 3D?
If I was to give advice to anyone wanting to start their journey in the 3D world, I would say that they would have to enjoy it and be prepared to work. When you start your studies, it is really important to keep honing in on your skills outside of mandatory study hours to make sure that you are getting the most out of your education. You have to be passionate about what you do and this will show in the work that you produce. Another important thing is you cannot come into this industry with an ego, you need to be easy to work with, friendly, and open to criticism. This is a tight nit industry and everyone knows everyone so it is important to make a positive image for yourself.
4. What are your favorite flavors of software and what’s your workflow?
My go-to software packages to use would be Maya or Houdini (Arnold to render) for my scene layout and setup. Although I am starting to favor Houdini just because of how much you can do in it. I love the node layout as it makes files so much more organized. When it comes to looking, development, and texturing, I will use a mix of procedural materials made in Arnold for more basic objects that do not need as much attention, and then for the more complex materials, I will take them into Substance Painter. When it comes to post-processing there is one obvious package for me and that is Nuke, this was something I was introduced to at University and have loved working in it ever since.
5. You won gold in the 2021 Domeble Symetri Awards, and in this year’s awards you won another Gold Award, 2 silver awards, and a handful of merits, how have these awards helped you progress with your career in 3D?
Winning my awards in the Domebele Symetri student awards has been so impactful in kickstarting my career. It gave me the chance when I first entered in 2021 to get some great contacts in the industry as well as feedback on work from people who may in the future be employing you. This was an amazing experience, it made me want to work extremely hard in my final year to come up with a portfolio of automotive images to enter the awards for the following year.
6. You recently started a new position immediately after graduation, tell us a bit about the new job.
After graduating I entered into employment immediately for Drive Design as a Junior CG Generalist. This has been such an amazing experience so far. Being able to work in a friendly environment with a team of talented like-minded individuals is great for keeping the creative juices flowing. I was very nervous about going into employment as I wasn’t quite sure what it was going to be like but Drive really made me feel welcome and part of the team quickly.
7. Real-time configurators and real-time productions are emerging and developing quicker than any of us can keep track of, where do you see this in the 3D world over the next few years, and how does it, ( or how will it?) change your creative process?
Real-time production is already creating a huge impact in the 3D world, shows like Mandalorian have already shown and proven their power through the fully virtual sets using UE and mega scans to create hyper-realistic environments. This is something that in the coming years I can see becoming the standard way to shoot things due to its power and flexibility. I can already see that my workflow is going to have to change and adapt to accommodate this as more and more companies are opting out of the classic software packages like Maya for game engines like UE.
9. Let’s talk about traditional image quality and HDRIs- how important is quality content and deep dynamic HDRIs as a foundation to your CGI image pipeline? ( feel free to big up the Domeble Massive)
Although I still think that the more old-school techniques like using HDRis and backplate images will always be relevant due to their ability to create realistic clean stills at very fast speeds will remain unmatched. Having used a number of backplates before I know how important quality is within the images and HDRs themselves, making sure you have a full dynamic range. I have always enjoyed using the materials provided by Domeble as they have been top quality every time and helped me produce clean images at a fast turnaround.
10. Its an ever-changing world, and an ever-changing industry we work in too, what do you think the industry will be like in 5 years’ time?
With how fast technology is improving year by year the industry will have to change and adapt to accommodate these improvements. I can see the industry in 5 years being nearly all real-time production solely working within game engines as the current problems which can be seen in real-time rendering will have had time to be ironed out and improved on. This will mean the boundaries for what can be achieved will be pushed out further and further creating more room for amazing work to be made.
11. And Finally, You were recognized as the student of the year at this year’s awards, and we’re delighted you’ll be joining us as a guest judge for the 2023 Domeble Symetri Student Awards, how important are awards like this for 3D students?
Finally, it is important to touch on how important awards like the DSSA awards or others like them are to students. As I touched on above it is hard to get the opinions of people who are not just your lecturers or friends on your work while at university. It is easy to find yourself working to someone else’s creative style at university as you want to make sure your lecturers are happy with your work. It is so important to get feedback from industry professionals on work that you have created in your own style.
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Also stay tuned for our launch announcement for the Domeble Symetri Student Awards 2023.