NPOWER Software

Thom Schillinger: Featured nPower Software 3d Artist/Designer/Illustrator.

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Welcome Friends


	Hello nPower enthusiasts, this month one of our favorite nPower artists, Thom Schillinger, joins us to talk about his passion, conceptual design. Please, help me welcome Thom Schillinger. Select any slide on the right to leave your feedback on Thom's work.

What projects are you currently involved in?


	Working in Theatrical Advertising Currently I have been involved in the print campaign for Night at the Museum 2, Twilight, Ghostbusters 3, and Wolverine.

Can you give us a bit of background about your training and education and career in design and architecture?

Formal training in Transportation Design at CCS in Detroit and Art Center in Pasadena CA, graduated in 1991 with a B.S. in Transportation Design. Went directly into Entertainment Design working on TV commercials first, then worked through many parts of entertainment including, 2D animation, 3D animation, Video Games, Theme Park Design, Set Design, Restaurant Design , and ending up in Theatrical Advertising.

Of your past work are their any that stand out in your mind and why?


	Being privileged to build out the new superman shield for WB, was a childhood fantasy and seeing it on everything from PC’s to T shirts is a highlight for me. Conceptually the designs I did for CYAN Worlds in Spokane WA was the most fun in design I have had for 2D design work, as the process was the best in my career so far.

What illustrators, designers, social ideas, writers or artists inspire your work?

Conceptual Design: Syd Mead was instrumental in me switching schools from Detroit to Pasadena and taking on a whole new direction in my education. He also helped me out upon graduation with some great advice that I am grateful for.

Architects: Frank Lloyd Wright and Hector Guimard are the two most inspirational architects to me with a level of design that extended to every object in the spaces they designed down to the hinges on the doors.

Automotive Design: My friend Nick Pugh is by far the most visionary Concept Designer I have meet and he has already influenced automotive designers for almost 20 years.

What is your process for working thru a typical project?


	Well in advertising it is all about very quick turn around. If you had 12 days to do a photo real image that is a very different approach to my typical, “ you have one 8 hr day” reality in advertising. You learn to put time where it counts and fly through the filler.

What are some of the publications web or print that you would recommend to our readers?


	CG talk for my daily 3D needs.

What are some advantages to using 3ds max nPower Products in your design process?


	You can achieve results very quickly with these tools in Pre-Viz that would be impossible to achieve any other way. When I show Max or Maya users the tools I use their eyes widen up at the results and the ease of use.

What was your learning Curve with nPower Products and if you were give any advice to someone starting out using Power NURBS what would it be?


	Watch the video training and start with simple objects first and work up to more complex operations. I approached nPower building up sets of operations that I could be comfortable using in a production mode like “Legos”. Once I get comfortable with one operation I exhaustively work with it to find out any work around needed to use the tool daily.

What type of projects you would like to be working on in the near future and what innovations do you think will drive the design and illustration field into the next decade?

3D Illustration and 3D stock is the future. As 3D rendered images get more and more mainstream the assets that are made in their creation will have a long shelf life. Selling stock Models is already viable. Virtual photography is next as smart assets with alphas and perfect channel masks will become more mainstream in stills and motion files. As the tools get better it will be all about design, rather than techniques used. The tools will become mainstream and true artists will be able to create their concepts easier.