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Jürgen Schulz
Q: Could you tell us more about yourself and your background history?
I began drawing and photographing at the age of 6. In the early years I was fascinated of animations and created a lot of flipbooks. An animation, based on one of my comics was realized by German TV and aired when i was 13. I did also a part of the synchronization. At the age of 16, I shot my first stereo 3D photo and started making music. My first professional computer job was working with very expensive Scitex workstations. After the upcoming of the Mac, I directly started working with Shade (Shade III 1.2). On 1996, I released my first CD in Japan also with my first 3D CG artwork on the cover.
In 1998 there was the release of an other CD (Sony Music) which appeared at the German charts, followed by several TV appearances and a Video Clip. A dance made for this song won the title "dance of the year international" two years later.
Q: What kind of works are you working on now as well as in your past ? Could you let us know briefly about your experiences ?
I am creating the 3D illustrations for exhibition, print and film, do the cutting and soundtrack composing. In the past I had to model every detail of the machining parts, today i do this nearly only for very special things like brushes, machining heads, architecture scenes or organic parts.
Q: Could you tell us why you chosen Shade? Particularly from the large amount of 3DCG software.
The reason I started working with Shade is, the agency Formmad had bought this program and they were looking for a 3D-artist. I had experiences with other 3D programs and was fascinated how professional and perfect this program fits into the workflow of this agency.
Most of the other 3D software were simply not good enough: we needed large renderings for print, network rendering on one picture, area rendering, import of Illustrator or Freehand files, DXF import, simple animation tools for engineering, a fast modeler, a very good and fast renderer, QTVR, a professional user interface.
Q: What do you think about Shade ?
As I said, for my kind of job it was one of the most professional programs I had ever seen - and still is. Shade is very different to other 3D programs.
Q: How did you learn Shade ? (From Web sites, tutorial video or other sources) If so, please also write it down the name of the tools that you were using for learning Shade.
In 1996, when I learned Shade there was a German support, that was very helpful. Nowadays, while betatesting, i try to read the Japanese tutorials. No, really, most of the new features are very simple to understand without any tutorial.
Q: When did you start using Shade ? And what reason that makes you keep using it ?
I started using Shade in 1996 and I am a big fan of this program. I am still using this program because of its professional results and the working speed.
Q: Are you using the latest Shade 13 and what do you think with this new version ?
Yes of course, I am using it! This release is a real highlight and brought me very easily from engineering to natural, organic creations.
Q: How do you feel about the demo reel that you created for Shade ? Tell us more about the idea and the process of this demo real production.
With this demo reel, I wanted to show the new features of Shade in a pure way. The renderings are original, no post production. Only some lens flares were added. What you see is what you get. Making this reel was a very cool experience with a lot of fun. Rendering in HD was also no problem.
Q: When you design a new CG artworks, what is your basic concept, idea or policy to make your creation decision ? And at that time, how would you use Shade as your design tools ?
First we are discussing a lot to find the right way, very shortly I have a "rendered picture" in my mind. Sometimes I scribble it on paper and try to rebuild this in 3D. This must happen very fast and Shade is a wonderful tool for this. Often the result is as good as my imagination, sometimes even better.
Q: What do you want to see for the enhancement in next version of shade ? Any wish list ?
I would like to have better tools for more realistic fluids, such as direction changing for waterdrops. Import of complex CAD files like STEP and IGES would be very nice. And simple Sculpting tools would be a dream…
Q: Please let us know what kind of computer hardware are you using for your design works ?
I am using mostly Pro-Macs, Windows PC only for very special tasks.
Q: Finally, could you give your advice to those would like to start using Shade, or start learning CG design, or their goal to be a successful CG creator in the future ?
First - do what you really like. Search the programs that fits to your special needs and which has a long, good and stable history. Learning programs needs a lot of time. Look around and let inspire you, real life is the best inspiration for 3DCG. Do never ever give up your dreams, no matter what other people say.