Hey,
With a small amount of help from Nickydude, I got This rolling, you may have noticed a while Ago I was talking about a FPSC Podcast. Well now here it is!
This 1st issue is with Jon Fletcher!
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Duplex: Hello Jon!
Jon: Howdy.
Duplex: How are you?
Jon: 90% in working order.
Duplex: good,good, So hows your Fantasy Pack going?
Jon: I'd have to say slow, i was hoping to get it all finished in the summer time, but X10 came along my path, then again, my estimations are usually wrong.
Duplex: Hehe, I know how you feel, So Lets start asking some questions!
Jon: shoot.
Duplex: Oh Come on, its not that bad, So what got you into 3D graphics and computer art? Was it friends or family?
Jon: I actually started off wanting to program games and graphical effects. It was a basic hobby and i found the program named 'Gamemaker' to be a very innovative piece of software which allowed me to express my ideas. As time progressed i got more interested in 3d graphics, and slipped over to that area. At first i started off with very basic boxy weapons and begun to extend on this and realise there are some vast possibilities if i could get a bit better. I've always seen 3d modeling (and art, in general) to be an exciting career which is more fun than paperwork.
Duplex: Yeah, I gotta agree with you there, alot better than
Paperwork. But, theres most probably gonna be paperwork no matter what Path you take Unfortuanlty.
Jon: well yeah obviously, but the idea of the job is to get your ideas out visually for comparison
Duplex: so next question, what age did you decided thats what you wanted to do with you life?
Jon: I cant really remember, but ever since i started playing video games and had the ability to lift a pencil and drag it along paper i have always wanted a career like such.
Duplex: Ah, If you were Like me you would have started playing and completing games at the age of 3,so How long does it take you on average to finsh a charactor?
Jon: Occasionally i am rather lazy and slip off into other projects or open a game instead, so it varies whether there is a weight over my head or not, but if i have to give a figure i suppose it would be around 1-3 weeks and possibly more if that involved further work.
Duplex: 1-3 Weeks! For me to produce your quality would take me AT LEAST 6 months!
Jon:lol, the more time the better!
Duplex: According to your website you wish to move to Vancouver or California to one of the local studio's. Got any particular studio's in mind?
Jon: No not really, Ive just always loved the idea of living in Vancouver BC and have heard of a lot of studios develop there.
Duplex: Ah, I see, And when do you plan to move there, because on your website you just after Uni?
Jon: Once again, not really sure, i have considered the possibility of relocating to Toronto to attend a university there whilst perhaps living with some relatives in the area, but perhaps in the following years to come.
Duplex: OK, sounds very good, I hope you get to do it. How long on average do you spend on your computer per day? I know I spend most of the day on mine! (Which I shouldnt and hate myself for doing so)
Jon: lol. Some people would consider this a personal question, it varies day to day, but usually on a day where i am trying to make something i would say around 6 hours, little more, little less.
Duplex: Nice, I think I would spend just a little Bit more than that but not much, depends what else is going on in life.
Jon: But there are times where i fall short of one
Duplex: so what model are you most proud of? I expect your proud of them all cause they all got so much awesomeness in them!
Jon: None really, i like a lot of them, but i always look back and see what i could have done to improve them, and sometimes these thoughts come days after I've just finished them. I am slightly proud of my progress overall over past work, but i do what i can to keep a small ego.
Duplex: Ok, So when you do the sound for the models do you record your own voice or use software Or anything else?
Jon: To be honest i haven't done much sound work, but for the few things that i have done, are just basic and rather shoddy recordings of me hitting a material for a reload sound
Duplex: How do you come up with idea's for stuff? Do you have a doodle pad and draw and write idea's in it? Or do you just think them up?
Jon: I sometimes sketch ideas, and look at how things would function/place together, sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes it does, i often find my sketches half finished as i can visualise the rest of the concept without drawn reminder, which is probably why i hardly show any 2d art.
Duplex:I see your also in the FPSC X10 beta testing out your Models, How do they work?
Jon: Not sure i completely understand the question, but they work fine, and any differences to the engine that affect the visual elements of the model can be got around easily with a little tweaking. FPSC X10 is coming along very nicely now, and after a while you begin to see the vast differences between it and V1.
Duplex:Yes, thats pretty much what I ment, Other than FPSC Model Pack 5 (Which is Awesome) Do you have your name on any other commercial products?
Jon: lol, unfortunately no. I'm only just starting out with all this and developing myself to create better things that more people will notice, it would be nice to see some commercial work but i am far from one who 'achieved huge amounts' in this industry. i am nub
Duplex: So, you into any games at the moment? WoW Maybe?
Jon: I play World of Warcraft, and aside from the 'addiction' i think its a brilliant game which has been designed very well, I've drawn a lot of inspiration from the type of creatures, environments and overall, the art style of the game. as well as that I've just started playing bioshock, which so far is coming out really good. I didn't actually realise they licensed the unreal engine 3 for the game, so the first 10 minutes of the game was me just looking around aimlessly at the scenery, haha.
Duplex: Lol, Looking forward to any games comin' this year? I know I am.
Jon: I'm looking forward to Halo 3, i forgot to mention in that other question relevant to what im about to say, but the Halo series was a HUGE inspiration for me, even the soundtrack, everything about the game, and about bungie, and how 'free' they are in what they do and say really made me want to pursue a career in game art development.
Duplex: I loved the original Halo, never played halo 2 unfortuanatly, Well I had a good time learning about you! I think We should wrap it now.
Jon: Thanks for the questions, and interest in what i do.
Duplex: *In a goofy voice* Thats All Folks!
Jon: ...what he said ^^
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So I hope you enjoyed that, hopefully I'll have the next one up next month with someone else!
Duplex
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