Woong Bae Byun: junior CG modeler interview
Woong Bae Byun
CG painter
Woong Bae Byun is originally from South Korea, but now lives in San Francisco, USA, working as a Junior CG Modeler for Tippett Studio. He shares his workflow and aspirations…
Adam
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?
Woong
Hi, my name is Woong Bae Byun. I am originally from South Korea, but I have spent one-third of my life in the U.S. and Canada. I am currently working as a Junior CG Modeler for Tippett Studio in Berkeley CA. I am based in San Francisco, CA.
Adam
What was the workflow behind your latest gallery image? Where did the idea come from?
Woong
One day, while I was browsing intensely through the internet, I found this beautiful artwork done by Cedric Peyravernay. What caught my attention was his distinctive art style. So I started to look into his Artstation gallery and right after I saw “E-pipe” from his Artstation gallery, I decided to make a realistic version of it.
First, I took the default body created in Maya and made the necessary forms on top of his body. When I am satisfied with thickness and general shape of armor, I brought them into ZBrush and started posing the default body like the concept art. When posing was done, I placed those basic armor models onto his body just like concept art. After that, I brought those models into Maya again and started to model the high poly model for the armor pieces. Since I already modeled the thickness and basic shape, the high-poly modeling wasn’t that difficult, but I had to be careful about details like dents and scratches.
When I was done with the high-poly modeling process, I made a low-poly model and unwrapped the UV out. Then I brought them into Substance Painter and started to texture. While I was texturing, I tried to give history to the armor like this character has been in numerous battles. After the texture pass was done, I brought those assets into Maya and rendered them in V-Ray.
Adam
What challenges did the image present? Did you learn something new?
Woong
During making this piece, I wanted to learn a new texture program. I usually use Mari for texturing, but I thought it would be beneficial if I learned another texturing software, Substance Painter. It was hard to learn the new software from scratch, but it was worth it. It gave me many opportunities to paint efficiently by switching back and forth between Substance Painter and Mari.
Adam
Do you use any other software, either for work or personal projects?
Woong
I usually use Mari, Maya, and ZBrush for professional work. However, when I am doing personal work, I use everything I use for professional work plus Substance Painter for texturing. Also, I use V-Ray for rendering my own pieces.
Adam
How do you keep your portfolio up-to-date? Any tips?
Woong
It is difficult to create personal work while you work full-time. However, it is crucial to do your own work besides the professional work because it makes people think that you are dedicated to what you love to do. Also, it gives the audience the sense that you are capable of doing different styles rather than professional work.
Adam
Are you a member of any social media groups? Any favorite hashtags you check on a daily basis?
Woong
I am a member of a Facebook group called 10 Thousand Hours and also a member of another group called Visual Feedback. They are open to join so if you want to participate, search it and you will find it. Those groups are the source for getting critiques and feedback from the people who are in the game/film industry.
Adam
How important is the recognition of your peers?
Woong
Since I just started my career, I don’t have much recognition from my peers. However, I think that it is essential because it will eventually be beneficial for me in the end. If your peers think you are dedicated to what you do and believe that you are a nice person to hang out with, it will get you a new job when you try to move to different places. So be kind to your colleagues and try to be helpful to those who ask for your help.
Adam
What are your artistic ambitions?
Woong
I want to be known for the art pieces that I have done. Just like Kris Costa from ILM. There are so many talented artists around the world which makes it hard for me to shine among those CG superstars. However, if I work long enough in this industry and learn new tools that make me a better artist, I think I will be among those top CG artists around the world. That is my artistic ambition; to be one of the CG superstars.
Adam
Who are your favorite artists, traditional or digital, and can you explain why?
Woong
Kris Costa and Mathieu Aerni are my favorite artists who are active in CG industry. Kris Costa, who works for ILM, has the skill to generate super-realistic human portraits. It is always fun and surprising to see what he can do with the same tools that everybody uses. Mathieu Aerni is the same case as Kris. He was lead character artist at Blur Studio, and now he is character supervisor at Luma Pictures. All the work he did including humans and creatures are top-notch and makes me work hard so I can to be just like him.
Adam
What can we expect to see from you next?
Woong
I am working on a futuristic sci-fi suit with many props to it. When I looked at my portfolio, I realized I didn’t have a sci-fi style piece yet. I want to push myself to try different styles because it gives the impression that I can handle various styles without any problem. Also, for this piece, I want to push my own quality bar. It will be better than this armored piece.
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