Bright New Talent, Cloud Park of Blur Studio, talks about starting out with TP effects
Cebas: Hello from Victoria, BC, and thank you for taking part in the Cebas New Talent Interview. Cloud, let’s start with an introduction.
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Hi, my name is Cloud Park. I was born in South Korea. I graduated from the Academy of Art University (SF) in 2016. Currently, I’m working at Blur Studio as a Visual Effects Artist. When I was in Korea, my homeland, I had taught myself 3D graphics through my work in game cinematic. I was also previously working as generalist and animator in several areas such as game, animation, and commercial in Korea. I entered AAU in 2013. Before admission, I had no working knowledge of 3D programs as I had not use such software for 3 years but when I came to US, I realized that FX was a real attraction, so I started to learn visual effects in 2014. |
Cebas: please tell us about one or two of your more recent projects that you have derived great satisfaction working on. It could be something that you enjoyed creating as personal RnD breakthrough in visual design, or something significant to your achievements for your company.
Cloud: my latest project was a feature film project. I cannot mention the name here because it is not released yet. I was participating as the FX artist. For this project, I finished a lot of rigid body simulation for destruction and creating dust and smoke using Thinking Particles. I tried to create awesome FX shot and I tried to represent my shot by my effect. One of my shot was a static shot. I mean I just had to make breaking ground but I added simulation with TP and tried to make it into a more dynamic shot. Fortunately, the CG Supervisor liked that shot.
Here is a quick memory recall of some of the experience I had prior to joining Blur Studio…
FX Artist (2015) for the Advantageous (Movie)
3D Generalist (2008~2009)
Commercial - 3D Generalist : Created & Developed 3d objects and lighting
Movie : Private Eye - Previsualization : Created animatics
3D Animator, Editor (2007~2008)
TV Animation : Teageuk Chunjamun (Korea) - Editor/Animator : Edited & animated 2d animation (After Effect)
Nickelodeon Animation : Avatar
3D Animator - Animated 3d objects ( Tank, Ship, Arrow etc...)
3D Generalist (2003~2004) Online Game development. Created & animated characters and monsters
Cebas: which city are you working in ? Are there good opportunities for you to learn new VFX skills there? And a good employment? Is there any VFX from the west invested to develop joint projects in your city?
Cloud: currently, I’m working at Blur Studio in Culver City. I'm learning a lot of new things in Blur. One of my role models, Brandon Riza, who is also the VFX supervisor in Blur studio, has compelled me to learn more things like …. an efficient pipeline and the power of preparing things, as in, how to make a connection efficiently between FX and others part using heavy and complex simulation. Also, I learned to rethink things and to view from the perspective of the audience and how the visual effects can be shown appealingly to the audience.
Cebas: referring to your 2016 Demo Reel, Cloud, can u give us the background of where you were learning all these awesome creative destructions? Did you teach yourself or you had a mentor? How did you get involved with thinkingParticles in Korea?
Cloud: mostly, I studied by myself. When I came to school in the US, I didn't know anything about FX and also I had not keep in touch with any 3D program for the past 3 years. I searched FX Plug-in for 3D Max because I have some experience with Max, when I was working in Korea as generalist and animator, so 3D Max was a more familiar tool for me. When I found TP (Thinking Particles), my first impression was that it really looks complicated. It was the first time I’d used node-based tools and I had no clue how to approach this, so I started by studying TP with node manual by myself.
And there was also no one around me that I know of, who was studying visual effects so there was little shared information about it. I decided that doing a personal project or team project would actually be a faster way to learn Thinking Particles. So, I decided to do a personal project and I started to make my own projects with TP. It took me a long time but eventually, I did made some projects with TP. I went step by step with my ‘FX friend’ (TP) and I finally succeeded in creating a full destruction demo reel. Here it is now:
Cebas: Cool, and can you tell new learners how you came to learn TP? And whether this was easy for you when in South Korea? Were there enough learning opportunities for Max and TP back there?
Cloud: for me, I think TP is really a powerful particle system for effects. Everything is 100% procedural. Also, TP has strong connection with other plug-in system or other programs with the recent powerful exporting feature. One of the best thing is that TP’s simulation is now really fast. That’s why I decided to learn TP.
When I was in Korea, I did not come to know of many FX Artists. But now many talented FX Artists in Korea has started to create really awesome FX. But most of them are not TP Users. I think many people in Korea don't know about Thinking Particles, unfortunately. Now and then, in the online communities, I would come across some people who use TP in Korea, but not many. I hope Cebas introduce this awesome powerful VFX tool to more users in Korea. I will try If I have a chance.
Cebas: brilliant! Are you planning to specialize mainly in ‘explosion’, as showcased in your Demo Reel or do you plan also do other forms of effects?
Cloud: my working experience in Korea was as an animator. I enjoy animating characters or creating prop models in some personal projects. It is going to be great if I can add some visual effects to my animation projects.
I personally like dust simulation. The movement of dust is really complex and interesting. I feel like dust’s movement has some emotion like human eyes animation (kidding). I hope to base my next project on complex dust creations for my demo reel.
Cebas: why did you decide that TP was the best for this VFX creative and did our software help you achieve the desired effects without many hiccups?
Cloud: thinking Particles to me is like a ‘verbatim thought tool’. We can express things efficiently like the way we are thinking, from simple thinking and from a simple node to more complex simulation. It is like modeling a part. We usually create a model from low polygon to higher polygon. We can create a simulation from simple to highly detailed and complex simulations. Most of all, I find TP is helpful in separating simulation layers. So, it becomes easier to control and easier to see and follow what one is doing.
As a new user, it is really helpful in terms of me fixing only parts of a simulation and also if I wish to increase the speed. These elements help support my thought flow in creating something with TP. Moreover, I can delete and organize a lot of particles and I can go more deeper into artistic creativity step by step. I am very satisfied with TP’s abilities.
Cebas: What are some of the features in thinkingParticles that you feel are unbeatable - such as, perhaps, help speed up and enhance a creative output for your commercial and film VFX ?
Cloud: there exists a lot more strong advantages in TP that I can talk about here. One of the the things I find helpful is the hierarchical system. When my team and I make some modeling object, we usually make them from simple and low polygon to high polygon. We can choose to do this from simple-simulation to a high-detail simulation with hierarchy and also, it is really easy to see and control our heavy and complex simulations. And, we find that using the really high-speed export in TP, it becomes possible to connect with other parts and other tools in the pipeline. This is one powerful feature.
Personal TP RnD by Cloud (note: come back for this reel as Cloud is awaiting producer's approval - for this reel :)
Cebas: Cloud, what are your favorite / operators or helpers in Thinking Particles , which you use the most and why?
Cloud: there are a lot. One of my favorite node is ‘Matter Waves’. I think ‘Matter Waves’ can do most of effects. I use this node a lot for Fume particle source and some particle effects such as Dust, Smoke, Missile Trail, Simple explosion, Energy Effect and Light Effect etc. This node has a lot of options. We can attach our emitter with animated object by a simple click and it is easy to make more variation for lifespan, speed, size, distance etc….Usually Random option or various option is linear value in Particle system. I mean if we put the value on size or scale’s various, it is a linear pattern from minimum to maximum, but we can make more various pattern by variation mask and gradient option in Matter Waves. It is really simple and useful. Also we can use this node with other helper / operator or Force system for more complex simulation. This node is easy to use and simple but it is really powerful. That’s why I use this node a lot.
And another of my favorite node is ‘PSelection’. We can select particles by this node and customize more various motion or composition. Using simulation cache, this node can change particles position, speed, direction etc. ‘PSelection’ can delete what we don’t want and it is as exacting as particles which we select. After simulation, I use ‘PSelection’ in another hierarchy and organize my simulation for composition and more clean up.
Sometimes I use this node with ‘Velocity’ and change velocity value. Also, I delete some particles with ‘Particle Die’ node for composition. It is like compositing programs.
Cebas: Cloud, 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 you feel resolves all your technology-to-art needs? What is missing?
Cloud: personally, I think artistic creativity is more important and always a challenge. Creating new visual effect designs or creating a simple effect and making it look great has more to do with the artistic creativity than the technical side of things.
Like, our project is usually team project; modeling, texturing and lighting, FX, rendering, compositing etc...every party’s results help create our final 3d world. Our (FX Artist) purpose is to create a beautiful effect of this world. I think this is more about artistic creativity than technology. For example, one character is driving with an auto-bicycle; character's hair, cloth, and other things are blowing in the strong wind. That might not look cool and beautiful in reality. But that’s where, as FX artist, our role comes in. I think our job is creating cool FX based on real life and it has more artistic creativity than technology itself. Of course it also needs technology but artistic creativity is more needed.
Sometimes, for example, I want to change an object’s position for composition or timing after simulation. I wish Thinking Particles has this thing like Tweak Mode in Modeling. After simulation, if we change the timing, object position and composition based on our cache, it would be awesome and we can make more cool FX efficiently.
Cebas: do you have trouble finding new work? Would you say VFX work allows you to be international and work remotely? We would love to hear more about your market and your hopes and dreams.
Cloud: international people have always had some trouble finding work because of Visa applications. I saw so many talented artists go back to their country. They have a really strong demo reel and have great talent but timing and Visa issues don't allow them to work in the west. Often times, when they try to find new work, the company already have artists in those position.
Starting a new project is like taking a photo. We always think about how to express or how to create cool visual effects. I think that every artist agonize with this everyday and it is inspirational to do yet also the hardest thing to do. Even though I'm working on small and big shots, but the biggest agony for me is how to make cool FX and how to match those FX shots with the actual 3d world and story.
I’m working in the US now, but sometimes Korean clients contact me and want me to work for them, so I accept some projects from Korea but there were technical problems. It seems like really hard to work with them but recently, I think the high-speed internet and efficient pipeline production has allowed me to work remotely. To get client’s feedback and work efficiently, I try to have appropriate and timely meetings. Sometimes people whom I know in Korea who are working in projects from other country as well so remote work is getting hotter. I think working with companies remotely from other countries is no longer a big issue if law allows it.
I hope one day to be a director for commercial and cinematic one day. Now, I’m a FX Artist but I think the FX role can help me eventually to achieve my dream. There are a lot of elements in Motion Picture such as visual and composition etc, and the whole sensational flow with great timing as in making a Motion Picture and it has the power to make audience feel. Personally, I think visual effects include all these elements such as Visual composition, Timing, Art, and Technology etc... It will help me to be a successful director one day.
Cebas: in your view, what is your wish for cebas software to achieve that is not currently doing for you?
Cloud: I hope Cebas develops a new method for pipeline by cache file like FX Tweak Mode; cache file, changing composition and timing etc. Sounds like compositing tool such as Nuke, but If TP can do that TP can go even more artistic and more powerful.
Cebas: what projects can we expect from you in the future (if you're able to tell us)?
Cloud: I cannot mention for now. Keep watching my Vimeo, and here are the links to my portfolio.
Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/vfxpk
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/cloud-park
Thank you so much Cloud Park of Blur Studio, we wish you all the best and hope to hear from you again on how you are doing.