Today CGRecord team spoke with Jan Kristian Vollmer (Website: http://www.jankvollmer.de/ ) talented German CG artist. As one of the best CG Artists in the world (with a variety of CG Award collections from CGtalk, CGarena, 3dTotal, 3D Creative ... )he has some very interesting stories about his life, his works, and his experiences to share with us.




Hi Jan, First of all Thanks for your time. Lets start with some information about yourself, your background and working experience.

Hi Cgrecord team Thanks for the chance to make this Interview for your great community! I am a 3D Artist in Wuppertal, Germany and I work with 3DS Max and the great render engine Vray.I have been working with 3D about 8 years now. And this time I'm working for several companies in product design, architectural, animation, set design. I did a couple jobs for companies and agencies in the US, Australia and Europe.



Excellent! How did you become a CG Artist? Any interesting memory of those beginning days ?

After my education I started to work in a Event company here in Wuppertal.It was the same where Willi Hammes and Marc Göcke worked in. When they left this company,i was in the good position to use the computer they left behind. On that one was 3DS Max! So i started to experiment with the ground forms and some light. From that moment I was banned to 3D.



What is the inspiration behind your personal art ? How do you come up with your concepts?

I am inspired by the work of other great artists and their works. Also by architectural visualizations that can be found everywhere. But the best inspiration is the lighting. The sun and skylight creates such a incredible mood, and I always want to get as close as I can to the realism of real life!





Which area in particular, do you think is the most important when making a computer generated art piece, And why?

The most important things are on one hand the light. To get the perfect mood is one of the most difficult things that a 3D Arist has to do. And on the other hand a good eyes for the camera position. You have to find the best and dramatic way to set the camera. Just like a photographer or a cameraman.





Please give us some tips, how to create such amazing art work as yours?

Have an eye for a good light and mood! Just look around in the real life and try to get as close as you can to the mood and image you want to create. Touching real textures and elements gives you a good feeling of the materials you want to create.
Get your inspiration by other great Artists and never stop learning and try new technics!



Which CG artist do you like the most and get inspired by?

There are several that are very good. One of course is Willi Hammes. One that fascinated the whole 3D world in the last days is Alex Roman and his "The Third & The Seventh"! Absolute stunning work.





At the current time, What type of project are you working on ? Could you give us a little bit information?

I am working on some new architectural projekts in the moment. I create several bath interiors for a product catalouge.
For a telefone company we just realized 3D animation for a Watchout big projection project. We rendered animation in about 4000 pixel width.
It is allways incredible to see your work in such dimensions.



How do you update your technic ?

By reading your great news on http://www.cgrecord.net/ :-)
I try to read a lot of Tutorials on the net. And a lot of testing and practice.



Which programs would you like to explore in the future? and why?

3DS Max and Vray! There is a lot that i don´t know about the programs i use in the moment. Everyday something new came up and the learning will never end!



One piece of advice for beginners?

I have three! Practice, practice and practice. This job you have to do completly or not! Try to use all your free time to work with the programm you like. Ask people around you what they think of your work. Mostly people that have nothing to with 3D are the best critics !


Thank you very much for your time Jan. And if you would like to ask Jan more questions please comment. He'll come back and we will update the interview with your answers.

Sure! Thank you !



Related links:

http://jankvollmer.cgsociety.org
http://www.jankvollmer.de