Go Getter Kutbettin Ecevit, this month's NEW TALENT from Istanbul, took the plunge and did it all by himself.
Cebas: Kutbettin, thank you for the interview. Please to know you. You are quite a new name in the industry, so today we shall focus in some pointers for those interested to learn thinkingParticles and VFX.
Your demo reel shows some of your best FX published online. How did you come up with the ideas or were they actual RnD for a movie? What would you say was the level of difficulty in using thinkingParticles to create this fx?
Kutbettin: this is real work for the studio. It was a job related to 'tower demolition'.
Kutbettin: This job was a video mapping project. The requirement was not a wooden tower destruction but to demolish a concrete tower. Later, however, it came to my mind an idea to try out a Thinking Particles "joint" test and so this reel shows my personal RnD hard work.
For research, I took to viewing actual wooden demolitions before I started this work. Making a 'roof' from 'straw' did made my job more difficult because it was very difficult to get a real look in scattering the straw at explosion. Still, I find it is quite easy to setup a system for such destruction FX with TP, but it can be a little complex when it comes to ensuring that the objects actually interacted properly, especially in large scenes.
Cebas: Kutbettin, could you also give readers an idea of how you self-taught or self-made your career in visual effects? How did you manage it and how did you start the journey? Was it an easy one and was help from people or organizations crucial?
Kutbettin: I started out as a hobbyist at first, and I was mostly working on modelling and rendering. I did not know exactly what I should concentrate on, and I did not know which area I liked. So, I did not decide whether to do modeling, rendering or fx. Then, when I turned 20, I found exactly what I liked, and I decided to concentrate on visual effects only. I remember that I locked myself in my room for six months to learn this skill! :) It was really fun, but it was very difficult. I did not go to any course or school to learn this skill. And since there was not any fx artist around me, nobody help. Very few people in Turkey choose fx area. So I learned from video lessons and document files.
Cebas: And you are now with a VFX company or are you working freelance? What do your daily work look like ? And do give readers an introduction to what your specialty in VFX is.
Kutbettin: I am currently working full time as an fx artist at ILLUSIONIST. I work here mostly as an fx artist on video mapping and advertising projects because there is almost no film industry in Turkey. The VFX is the area I'm specializing in for the fx area. I am just trying to build more expertise in areas like demolition, fire, smoke, water, cloth, particle effects.
Cebas: Cool! please give cebas some interesting insights about one or two of your more recent TP-heavy projects that you have derived great satisfaction working on. Please do tell us how the creative idea originated and your role in the project.
Kutbettin: My favorite project was "AllStar" project. My role in the project was full-time employee Fx and render artist. I was responsible for the whole Fx field. I installed the entire system using Thinking Particles - Particles, wood chips and everything else. I can not say that I'm having difficulty with this project because the blackboxes I created in thinkingParticles have helped me a lot.
Spor Toto All-Star Istanbul 2017 from ILLUSIONIST on Vimeo.
Cebas: Did you find it easy to learn thinkingParticles from scratch? What would you say are the kind of IQ needed to excel or do very well with TP visual logic?
Kutbettin: I do not say it is very difficult to learn TP. It was difficult to know just how and where to use a few nodes. For example: "Memory, XtoOne, DataChannel, Expression" etc. There is very little tutorial about these nodes and this took some time for me to know the nodes were there and to learn them, but I got it in the end. Apart from that, I learned very easily.
Cebas: Did TP helped you achieve all the desired effects without much hiccups?
Kutbettin: Thinking Particles definitely gives you the ability to do whatever you want. Also, according to older versions, it is still useful to support fluid effects and cloth dynamics. I have shown in my last personal project how "OceanShip" cloth and rope dynamic works. (see reel below this article)
Cebas: And Kutbettin, browsing through your work, am I correct to say that your specialty in TP includes fluid effects?
Kutbettin: Yes, but I am better in destruction, demolition areas than other areas. I'm trying to be better. There really is a lot that needs to be learned.
Cebas: is it good for a VFX Artist to focus on a specialty or a few specialized area of effects? Which area do you see a demand?
Kutbettin: my thinking is that it is almost impossible to become a specialist for several effects type, because we cannot live that long. We are practicing for almost years to become an expert even in a single field. It is certainly not wrong to try to be an expert in different fields. It's just my opinion. Everyone's thought does not have to be the same as my thoughts. Concentrating on just one area and an area you love will greatly affect the quality of your work
Cebas: Tell us something please about the Turkey market in VFX, is there a growing demand for films or commercial ads or another area? Is it possible to get good TP training?
Kutbettin: There are very few VFX sectors in Turkey. Here, we have the architectural sector and the advertising sector where there is generally more work. Since the film industry is not so much, there are not many people who deal with FX or who uses TP. It is only possible to study architectural field in Turkey. There is no place to study in other areas. So I can not tell you that Turkey has much quality VFX work.
Cebas: Are you now presently engaged in a new project and are you able to tell us a bit about it? If TP is involved? Or are you seeking for work?
Kutbettin: Yes, I am currently working on a new personal project. I started to do some tests in this exciting new project, and I will share those tests with you in the future. Not without TP. :)
Cebas: Thank you so much, Kutbettin Ecevit! for taking time to tell us about your FX journey and to share with here some helpful Master Sets of how you wired TP in the 'Ship- Ropes & Sails' as well as part of the 'Straw Tower Demolition'. Cebas hopes that your story and those published here periodically on NEW TALENTS will serve to inspire many a great artist!
Keep up the good works, Kutbettin and keep in touch.
Please follow Kutbettin's work on his Vimeo, if you like. Thank-you.
OceanShip from Kutbettin ECEV?T on Vimeo.