3DPinoy: Speaking of software, what are your tools of the trade?

Cedric Canlas:  I use autodesk Maya 8.5, Mudbox and Renderman.

3DPinoy: I read that Pixar is also using this software? Am I correct? Can you give us a bit of a background regarding this application?

Cedric Canlas:  Renderman is a rendering software created and developed by Pixar. It’s very customizable so I think most film companies still use it to do their renders.

3DPinoy: Have you been a Maya user from the start?

Cedric Canlas:  No, actually I just started using Maya in 2002. Before that, I used Softimage 3.7 (not the XSI version) and PowerAnimator.

3DPinoy: How different is this from the one that you are presently using?

Cedric Canlas:  The only thing that I could recognize in Maya from PowerAnimator is the Multilister (the shaders). Otherwise, most 3D programs have similar tools; it’s just a matter of finding them and figuring out how that particular program makes them work.

3DPinoy: Did you dabble in traditional media for drawing or painting?

Cedric Canlas:  I was a Fine Arts graduate so I had some experience with traditional media although we were trained more to do conceptualizations rather than illustrations in school. I also worked as a graphic designer in Manila for 2 years before I worked as a 3D artist and also for another year here in Wellington while looking for a job in 3D. I still try to draw when I get the chance and I actually joined a figure drawing group just a few months ago. We have different models come and pose for us twice a week and though I feel that I’m getting worse, my friends say that I’m improving and that I’m starting to develop my own “style”.

3DPinoy: How about with animation? Or was it purely digital from the start?

Cedric Canlas:  I did a few stop motion animations at school using clay and paper but other than that it’s all digital. I had no formal animation training and I would usually ask some of my officemates who were former cel animators for advice. Optima Digital also used to have a cel animation department and Gilbert Torres (the animation director) would usually help me with the timing. I learned a lot from him and tried to adapt all that I can to my animations in 3D.

3DPinoy: Any particular project that you worked on that we are familiar with here in the Philippines?

Cedric Canlas:  Something that you’ll be familiar with? King Kong, X-Men3, Bridge to Terabithia, Eragon and F4, Rise of the Silver Surfer I think have all been shown in the Philippines.

3DPinoy: Which of the movies you mentioned did you find enjoyable to work on?

Cedric Canlas:  All of them. Although, I sweated blood working on some.

3DPinoy: Like in the movie king kong, what aspect of king kong did you work on?

Cedric Canlas:  My work on Kong was a mixture of hard surface and organic models. I did props, buildings, digital doubles and shotsculpts.

3DPinoy: In with animation terminology, can you elaborate further what are shotsculpts?

Cedric Canlas:  It’s like you are doing a 3D rotoscope. Let’s say a character was animated in a way that his rig was not intended for so something goes inside out. What we do then is instead of re-rigging the character for that particular shot, we sort of fix the model frame by frame so that the model still looks right even in extreme poses. So if a hand goes through his coat as it punches someone, we either have to fix the hand or coat.

3DPinoy: Did you have the chance of working on king kong’s model?

Cedric Canlas:  I think Kong was mainly created by Andrew and Tibor (the guys from Mudbox). Jeff Unay (another Pinoy) also worked on some of the facial stuff. But to answer your question, yes, a lot of the modelers, including myself did shotsculpts for Kong.

3DPinoy: Can you tell us a bit about what you did for X-Men3?

Cedric Canlas:  I can’t really say a lot as our contract prevents us from talking about our projects but as in Kong, I did a mixture of shotsculpts and hard surface stuff. I was also assigned as the models point person for all the Alcatraz buildings, making sure they get tagged with the correct attributes before being passed on to other departments.

3DPinoy: How long does it take for a particular assignment to be finished? What is the time frame?

Cedric Canlas:  Well it depends on the project. They can take as long as 2 years for movies and a few weeks for commercials. It is not uncommon for a movie nowadays to have a lot of Visual Effects houses working for them to cut down on delivery time. You can almost guess which company did which shot sometimes because the difference in the quality of the effects.

3DPinoy: So, how is it like, working for such big productions? Do you still feel the jitters when such kind of work gets on your doorstep?

Cedric Canlas:  I would say that there’s a lot less pressure working for a big company. There are a lot of people working on different shots so if someone gets sick and can’t come to work, there’s usually someone else who can take his place. When I was doing TV commercials in Manila, I was a one man army doing 2 projects at once. I didn’t know how I was able to pull it off. In fact, I could not believe I managed to do it for almost 10 years.

3DPinoy: Can you say that you have already fulfilled your dreams? Or do you still hope for a big break along the way?

Cedric Canlas:  My goal was to work on a big budget Hollywood movie and work for directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. I could probably say that I’ve already reached my goal but that won’t stop me from trying even harder. I know that there are people more deserving than me even in 3DPinoy and I consider myself very lucky.

3DPinoy: Do you look for pointers from other works? And who can you say are your influences in the field of animation?

Cedric Canlas:  In animation, I would have to say the guys from Pixar. For modeling, I look at the works of my officemates and at 3D forums like CGTalk and 3Dpinoy. To be honest, there are some images posted at 3DP which would cause me to exclaim “ang galing nito ah” or “langya mas magaling pa yata sa akin ‘to…”

3DPinoy: I think with your experience, you have learned a lot, and I bet you already have the know how on how to make an effective animation, or a good demo reel. Care to give some tips for those aspiring to be in your footsteps?

Cedric Canlas:  Just to clarify, I’ve specialized in building models now. The last time I animated something was 2004. Tips? Work hard and try to learn as much as you can. Listen to your critics and keep on reaching for the sky. Regarding the Demo Reel, I think there is a thread on 3D Pinoy for that and all I can say is put only your best work. I heard that somebody was hired with a 20 second reel (not sure if it’s true though) but the point is if it’s not your best then don’t include it.

3DPinoy: When you say building models, it means, making 3d sets for a film or tv shows. Am I right?

Cedric Canlas:  Sorry, when I said ‘building models’, what I actually meant was “creating 3D models” or “modeling”. I work in the “models department” now, as opposed to the “texture department”, “animation department”, “lighting”… Modeling 3d sets (3D environments) is part of my job as well as modeling digital doubles (3D doubles for the actors), props, creatures, shotsculpting and even previs models. They usually shuffle the kind of model that we do to keep us from being bored doing the same thing day in and day out. Another thing I do is prepare the UV maps for the models that I’ve created so it’s ready to be painted with textures. There was a very rare occasion when I was able to do the animation for a model which I built and when it was included in the trailer, I was really pleased. I’ve only been a modeler for feature films and I haven’t modeled anything for a TV show yet but who knows, I might be doing that sometime in the future.

3DPinoy: Any parting shots for your fellow Pinoys who are into Computer Graphics be it in modeling, rendering, or computer animation?

Cedric Canlas:  Believe in yourself and keep on trying. Having a slower machine doesn’t mean you can’t get the same quality. Just look at movies like The Abyss or Jurassic Park. They were created decades ago with machines half the speed of what we have now but the effects still hold up today and are even better than some of the latest flicks.