Meet concept designer and illustrator, Nihils. After having worked two years throughout several studios, Nihils decided to switch it up and began freelancing to give him more time to focus on the things he loves.
Check out what he has to say about how he got started, his experience with VUE, and the advice he shares for newcomers.
What is your background?
I took classes of anatomy, perspective and story-boarding, so I'd say that I'm a drawer before anything else, but I decided to learn more techniques and dove into 3D modeling. I think what I enjoy the most about my career is that I am able to work and become better at something that I wanted to improve on even before I considered it on a professional level. In that way, it seems that everything I do is full of purpose. I also love the freedom that being a freelancer gives me.
What is your experience with VUE?
I recently decided to do an animated video, but as you certainly know, animation is extremely time consuming, and I didn't know how I would create the backgrounds for it (I certainly couldn't paint all of them). I finally had the idea to use VUE to render a 360° spherical panorama that I would rotate around to extract the background according to the angle of my camera without having to paint it every time.
My typical way of beginning a project is by following the same process that you can see on this image: https://nihils.art/projects/ndYxO For that, I would begin with a composition drawing and would then define all the elements that I will use (3D or photos) to then start gathering resources, or even create them myself in 3D or with my camera. I use 3DS Max a lot, but also VUE, of course, and DAZ Studio, Keyshot, Marvelous Designer or 3D Coat. Then, when I have all the assets ready, I use Photoshop to make them all work together and paint over them to get the final result. I also use After Effects and Premiere Pro if I make a video. However sometimes, I start by just painting from scratch. I try not to get stuck on one way of doing things.
Do you have any advice to share?
I would say that I get my inspiration mostly from music, but also from travelling and other artists. But I think that basically everything can be an inspiration if you're open to it.
I would recommend VUE to other artists, depending on what you want to do. So of course, if you plan to do story-boarding, you can try something else, but if you want a great way to create environment concept art or background illustrations – go for it. It's a great value added to your workflow.
Thanks Nihils! Don’t forget to check out his projects at: https://nihils.art/