René Morel

René Morel has always had an interest in realistic art and studied Fine Arts the 1980s. His painting and sculpting process focused on different levels of representation and realism.

In the early 90s, he worked as a character modeler and texturer for an international award winning short film called The Boxer. This first step in the industry gave him the opportunity to work with Square for a year and a half on Final Fantasy.

René always works to obtain the highest possible level of quality and realism. He is currently working as an art director and CG artist for various international films and game productions.

Q. How did you get involved in the 3D computer graphics industry?
A. Since there weren't any computer graphic schools at the time I became involved several years ago, a friend introduced me to a Montreal based company called Taarna. After a few weeks training, I began to model and paint characters for a short film. Since I already had an artistic background, I adapted my sculpting and painting knowledge. I remember how much I was excited when I saw the first render sequence with textures, lighting and animation.

Q. How do you use Maya software?
A. I use Maya for all 3D work. I use subdivision surface as a modeling tool. This is an efficient way to build shapes and allows me to have flexibility to convert sub-division shapes in low, medium and hi-resolution poly mesh. This also allows me to combine organic and technical modeling. I've been using Fur and many other features depending of the project. The lighting, animation and rendering are done with the standard Maya tools.

Q. What projects have you worked on?
A. My first project was a short film titled The Boxer. I was a freelance artist but then a company called Behaviour hired me. That was my first full time job in the industry. We worked on a short film called Carrots. A year later, I moved to Hawaii for the Final Fantasy movie production where I modeled and textured characters.

I've been involved in different projects like Nez rouge, Decoys, game cinematics equally as an Art director and CG artist. My friend and I are currently developing a web series called Amazon Soul.

Q. What makes this industry so exciting to you?
A. It's such a huge field to express yourself as an artist whether it's in the game, TV, or film industry. Many new projects start every year requiring various talents from conceptual design to compositing and editing. There's a place for everyone. When you need to be challenged, it's the perfect spot.

Q. Where do you see the industry going in the next five years?
A. It's obvious that the industry is growing fast and the technology allows productions to be more and more efficient. Those infinite possibilities allow new types of projects since the writers and producers can develop any fantasy they want.

Meanwhile, sophisticated preset tools for simulation like dynamics, hair collision, radiosity, skin-transluscence-shader are going to be standard. So there will be better quality, lower cost and much more flexibility for the artists.

Q. What words of wisdom do you have for anyone interested in entering world of 3D computer graphics?
A. Basically, what you see on the screen is the result of an artistic vision. I think that developing artistic knowledge is the key for creating great shots and great images. So, give the best efforts to refine your skills and talent (drawing, painting etc.) is the best way to increase the level of quality.