Helder Interview (AE artist & Animator)
Hi guys!
After the recent interview with Luis, this time I will interview Helder our second graphical developer. I also posted on the facebook asking for questions to pose in my interview, at the end of the interview there are some of them.
How did you come to work for Astro Empires? Where you working professionally before AE?
Hi Guys, how are you? Thanks for the questions, I will answer now. Just over two years ago, a friend of mine from University told me about the opportunity to work on this project. I got interested as it was a challenging, even though I live 200 km from the company, after an interview and show some of my previous work I joined the project. I worked before in the 3D area but for real estate industry.
What type of software do you use to texture and develop the 3D models?
The three main software I use are 3ds Studio Max, Photoshop and After Effects
We know that Luis (other AE designer) starts the process of creating the ships models but do you have any input into this process?
When I joined the company the original concept of the ships had already been created. But the original concept was just the starting point, from that to the final stage both I and others members of the team give ideas and suggestion.
Which ship are you working on now?
Now I am working on the cruiser, which should be released soon.
If you could go back and change one of the previously released ships, which would you change, how and why?
We Humans by nature are never satisfied, so if I could go back in time I probably changed all ships. Nothing is eternal in the design, for example if we look to the automobile industry, the design of cars have changed over the years. In the gaming industry is the same. We want to make the best possible at the time with the resources we have. But if I had to pick a ship to change would be the fighter, I think the fighter needs more charisma.
Are there more 3D works coming soon? For example, 3D structures or perhaps more 3D in the game interface?
Beside the ships, I started working recently in the game structures.
Early concept images of the Solar Plant.
Are you a Sci-Fi / Fantasy fan?
Yes of course, are two of the genres that I like more, for example the last movies I saw in sci-fi genre was "Tron", "Star trek" and "Moon." The television series that have followed is "Falling Skies".
What is your favorite movie of all time?
I don’t have a best film of all time, but I have several movies that I liked, like "The Shawshank Redemption", The Matrix”, "The Last Samurai", "Lost in Translation", "Star Trek", all "Star Wars", “Tron: Legacy”, etc.
What sort of music do you like?
I like almost every type of music, Pop, Rock, Reggae, depends a lot on my mood.
Gareth Anthony Owens asks 'Will he make another intro video?'
I hope so, the actual intro video, it’s more a teaser. At the time that we have all the ships and structures, maybe we can go and make a longer intro video, who knows, there are many possibilities, many things that can be show in a future intro :)
Catalin Calenic asls 'How did your journey in the 3d world begin, do you have any formal training in the field, what pushes you to improve your knowledge in 3D and do you think talent is essential?'
Many many years ago, a boy (me) was watching on television the making off of the movie Toy Story. It showed what happening behind the scenes, and how it performed through 3d software making magic happen. It was starting point in that day, which made the click that was something I wanted to follow. Some years later this young man enters the university, came out a Designer, and completely in love with the 3d :)
Talent is very important, but be flexible to learn new things, is just as important. In this area we must constantly learn and adapt to new technologies and solutions.
Si Peng asks 'I would like to know when will the entire game goes 3D? It seems after almost 2 years the 3D process for the ships still hasn't finished yet, and there are buildings and technologies icons that also haven't go 3D.'
Beside the ships that most are already done, we already start working recently in the structures. As we are a small team things take time. We hope to make more use of this work later, is a long term investment.
Early concept images of the Gas Plant.
Well folks, I'm going, I have some work do do :) bye
Hope you enjoyed that guys. We'll be doing more interviews in the future and will be asking for questions on our facebook before hand again. Till then, adeus!
As side note, AE just crossed into it's 6th year! And there is a new game server comming this Saturday (Click here to find out more!)