ARTIST SHOWCASE

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Jonny 5 Artist Lauren Garcia software Maya, Mari, Arnold, Nuke

Lauren Garcia is a senior look development artist at Reelfx who has a passion for classic movies, VFX and robots. The challenge to create Short Circuit’s Jonny 5 and experiment with PBR shaders at the same time was impossible to resist.

Lauren tapped into his pro set-up to create the scene – using Maya as the principle package, the UVS were created with Uvlayout. “It’s fast accurate and easy,” says the artist. Mari was used for painting textures, “it’s the perfect software for an artist to create highresolution maps for VFX.”

To render, Lauren used Arnold and preferred Nuke as a compositing tool over Photoshop because of its Linux framework, and also as “it’s a VFX standard tool.”

When it comes to creating a personal project, Lauren has some advice. First, set a timescale and be realistic: “Personal projects have limitations. You are working with a personal computer and you don’t have a render farm. So be aware of the number of textures, assets and the render quality that you can manage in your home.”

On a practical level, the artist has one piece of advice: “In the modelling phase, make quick renders with a semi-final camera. This will help you to determine whether your model matches your expectations in terms of its details and quality.”

Ultimately, finish the project. “Like any artist, you can spend a lot of time making subtle changes. But you should try to finish your work. You will be able to make a better image the next time with all the new knowledge that you have acquired with this project.”