Hernan Llano brings biology creativity into medical visualization with VFX
Medical Viz #4 RETROVIRUS STRUCTURE from Hernan Llano on Vimeo.
Medical Viz #1 Blood from Hernan Llano on Vimeo.
Cebas: Que Tal? Hernan, Thank You so much for joining us for this New Talent Interview! Lets start with some interesting insights about one or two of your more recent projects on medical 3d, VFX that you have derived great satisfaction working with 3dsMax_thinkingParticles.
Hernan: well, due to my personal scholastic as a Biology student at the university, I concluded that it would be easier to inform people through the use of video and animation. This is one of the reasons why I decided to create a series of medical videos with my own studio "LUMINOUS BOX (http://luminousbox.com/ )" so our clients can see the quality and potential of our work in this particular area.
Cebas: our vfx community and followers would love to know more about your freelance / Studio - and some interesting history and your career path.
Hernan: I am currently working together with 3 colleagues in a new studio called "LUMINOUS BOX". When I joined the company we had mainly focused on projects in the fields of Engineering, Medicine and Architecture, now as we moved forward we are also actively working on VFX and animation for TV series, national movie productions and commercials aimed at an international market.
Cebas: on the aforementioned project(s) in medical viz, how helpful was ThinkingParticles in getting the right animation going for you?
Hernan: Thinking Particles change the way I work, to think procedurally is really to think differently. The possibilities of higher quality work increases and you can modify quickly, in medical and VFX projects, Thinking Particles is a bright spark by its nodal structure.
Thinking particles sunflower seeds setup from Hernan Llano on Vimeo.
Cebas: why did you decide that TP was the best for your vfx creative and did our software help you achieve the desired effects without much hiccups?
Hernan: mainly for it's versatility, TP definitely makes a difference while working on projects with a tight deadline. The learning curve is high once you get started but as you go on you get the hang of it and things speed up a lot.
Cebas: tell us something about why you decided to do medical VFX when a lot of folks were concentrating on game and film fx? What drew you into medical art?
Hernan: because of my love for science and my background as a biology student, I think it's a niche that can still be exploited. At Luminous Box we create different types of projects such as medical VFX, Explosions, Fluids and various other effects. We are currently working on VFX for commercials and tv series.
Cebas: what do you find… are usually the most difficult aspects of 3d/ fx design work - is it technology or artistic creativity? - is there an available vfx software that resolves all your technology-to-art needs? What is missing?
Hernan: what I find more complicated and fun at the same time is to solve a particular problem. Each project has it's own history and you learn new things while working on them. For me personally, the enjoyable part is to create tools which makes the process easier and will help us with future projects. I don't think there is any software that serves all our needs right out of the box, it requires modifications to fulfill these needs which is why in our studio we always try to develop our own tools. Maxscript is easy and fast to learn and the blending between TP and 3Ds Max makes it very powerful!
Hernan Llano Reel 2014-2015 from Hernan Llano on Vimeo.
Cebas: how do you feel about the TP community on facebook? Ostensibly, we are not huge, like Houdini, since cebas is a boutique software developer. Do you find, like yourself, that most 3d artists uses tools from both Max and Maya or Max-TP are always your other small buddy?
Hernan: what I have learned the most from the TP community are definitely the threads about TP on the cg society forum. There are a lot of good and experienced people that are willing to help you. It is hard to find really good places to learn, that is why Houdini has the advantage, the software is pretty difficult to learn but has a lot of useful information available.
To create a TP forum would be great, to find more tutorials focused on projects more so than on the use of parameters. On my Vimeo channel and soon on the website of our studio you will be able to find new tutorials on Thinking Particles and VFX in general in both Spanish and English so be sure to keep on following us.
(Note to reader: Cebas does have a Forum under the Support tab at http:///www.cebas.com. :)
Cebas: would you say VFX work allows you to be international? We would love to hear more about Columbia’s job market and your hopes and dreams.
Hernan: the VFX industry in Colombia is still quite young but growing rapidly. We are working hard to establish our presence in the International industry.
Cebas: back to TP, would you say on a scale of 1 (uh-oh) to 10 (awesome) how did thinkingParticles 6 compared to other vfx software you may have used ?
And in what kind of FX do you find that thinkingParticles becomes your preferred choice in your artwork?
Hernan: I would rate TP as a 9, I know Cebas is working hard to get fluids working within TP, and I have known that for some years, will a very robust fluid solver, for both, SPH and FLIP.
(Note: TP 6 does have a SPH fluidSolver equipped)
Cebas: how did cebas software integrate into your production pipeline? How straightforward was it for the commercial vfx that you have been doing?
Hernan: TP have something that other procedural products lack, and it is the right mix between versatility and speed, and that’s something very important when working for commercials, since the time is not as extened as in movies.
Cebas: what was the most fun or rewarding part of a project for you?
Hernan: the R&D, I love that time when you don’t know how to achieve some effects, and after some tests you finally get it to work.
Cebas: in your view, what is your wish for cebas software to achieve that is not currently doing for you?.
Hernan: a fluid solver like flip, for large scale fluid simulations.