Oddgrim Interview

[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] So today we have Oddgrim... known for single-handedly revamping almost the entire [url=http://p3d.in/u/Oddgrim]Vasudan fleet[/url] for the Freespace Upgrade Project.
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Happy to be here![/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] I think what everyone really wants to know is... is there a limit to your skill?
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] More specifically, how did you come to learn modelling and texturing?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]A limit? The sky is I guess, or more fitting in this case the vastness of space in this case is the limit. :p[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Heh...
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]I am mostly self learned by looking up tutorials as I went on, this is aided by years of drawing by hand and on pc with my trusty tablet. Now I can't really pinpoint where and how I learned to be as good, other then drawing as much I can.[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Modelling is much the same, I originally started with blender and moved on to maya later on.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Do you have any professional experience?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Not any work in the gaming industry really, other then 2 years go I got some Halloween content in Anarchy online in the form of a few posters that players could put up on the wall.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Do you work on modding other games as well, then?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]I was a bit involved in the original half life, by making maps for counterstrike that me and my friends played in, think I used a program called quake army knife back then. And later on in CS:source. But then I had to use Hammer, which today I consider some of the worst GUIs and control I had to tinker with today. Barring Truespace of course... :p[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Haha Truespace... that's where my first models came from! It truly is horrible...
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] So FreeSpace is your modding game of choice these days. What draws you to it, in particular?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Back in 2007 the safest way to port blender to Freespace, you had to use Truespace.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] I remember that.
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Hoo, now that takes me back.. I first tried Freespace back in 1998 or 99 it came bundled with my fathers old IBM computer, I put that sucker in and did not stop playing it until I was done with it. A year or two later I picked up Freepsace2 during a family trip to London.[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]It was sitting on the shelf, all alone in the 2th floor of some Virgin records shop just waiting for me.. I bought it without a second thought to bring it home. Back then I had just acquired my first pc. So I could almost say it was fate.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Ha! that's very similar to my own story.
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Its the setting and my own childlike nostalgia that keeps me coming back to Freespace.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] True for many of us, I'm sure.
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] You mentioned earlier that you use a tablet to help you work on your textures for Freespace ships... tell me a little more about that.
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]It's a very worn out Intious4 (a5) drawing tablet that I bought 4 years ago when working on my Illustration degree in Trondheim. It has served my faithfully and have shown no signs of breaking down yet!. Although I have worn down 2 standard pins for it. :p I pretty much use the tablet the whole time when modelling and drawing...[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Sometimes I even use it to game a bit with![/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Although I would not recommend it to play Freespace. :p[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Haha, that would be interesting!
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] So, to the other modellers/texturers out there.. why use a tablet over keyboard/mouse?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]A tablet gives so much more freedom for brushwork, also allows you to fix errors in the AO-Bake faster for example. A tablet is needed to draw out the full potential of Photoshop or gimp. While to achieve the same result with for example a mouse you will need to tinker with brush opacity. And not even then it will look right since a mouse, only knows two different pressures on the brush, on/off.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] I've certainly found some of those jobs easier since you convinced me to go the tablet route! :) (Though, I still need a lot of practice with it.)
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Happy to know it helped for ya.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] OK, let's talk a little more about your work for the Freespace Upgrade Project.
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Why Vasudans?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Tricky question, there's something artistic that appeals to me when it comes to Vasudans, very reminiscent of art deco in the retail textures in places,  doubt that was a major inspiration for :v:. Form and function unified into one single model, that for me is the appeal of Vasudans. Also they have not seen much love in the prior years. Finally fun to do.[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]A lot of freedom in the modelling.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] I've definitely seen that play out in your version of the [url=http://p3d.in/xgh5J]Anuket[/url].. with it's flowing lines and armor plates, but with clear functionality.
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Which model, that you've worked on so far, is your favorite or was the most fun?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Ack! That is so hard to choose! If I had to have a eeerm... (looking at hos own [/color][url=http://p3d.in/u/Oddgrim]p3d gallery[/url][color=beige]) I'll go with the [/color][url=http://p3d.in/V70ho]Osiris[/url][color=beige], or maybe [/color][url=http://p3d.in/RD4N0]Isis[/url][color=beige]. [/color][url=http://p3d.in/V70ho]Osiris[/url][color=beige] for finally nailing a good a fast way to work in textures.[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige][/color][url=http://p3d.in/RD4N0]Isis[/url][color=beige] for general texture-work.[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Maybe even [/color][url=http://p3d.in/xgh5J]Anuket[/url][color=beige].[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige][/color][url=http://p3d.in/ucUcX]Amun[/url][color=beige] is good too..[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Haha.. Are you going to list them all?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]And had a lot of fun work with the_dagger's [/color][url=http://p3d.in/4EG5z]Sekhmet[/url][color=beige].[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Heh, sorry I can't really make a good choice. Sorry. :p[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Well, all of your work is very impressive, I can see how it would be tough to choose a stand-out.
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Well.. The end is near for the Vasudans. As in, there are not very many left to upgrade. So I think everyone has one burning question for you... what's after that?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]I was thinking of trying my mettle on some of the Terran ships, or maybe do that station concept I have lying around.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Any, in particular, catch your eye? (or do you not want to reveal that?)
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]No, sorry I wont tell :p Since that might be quite a while in the future and I don't want to potentially discourage others from working on them.[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Heh, all right.
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Well that's all the questions I have.. let's open it up for a few from the gallery.
[color=yellow][b]Axem:[/b][/color] Where do you get your inspiration? is it just trying to guess what the :v: artists were trying to do, or is there more?
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Tumblr sometimes, just general search for artwork (I'm terrible remembering names) But one book that is a heavy inspiration for me when drawing mechanical stuff is [/color][url=http://www.amazon.com/Mechanika-How-Create-Science-Fiction/dp/1600610234]Doug Chiang's Mechanika[/url][color=beige].[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]But a lot of when trying to update or evolve old texture-work from volition is done by interpretation, and filling in the blanks.[/color]
[color=yellow][b]Axem:[/b][/color] Is there a balance for you between realism and artistic when making a new ship? your Vasudans definitely have that perfect blend between the two.
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]Heh, I do try to when drawing textures and adding bits when modelling is to have them make [i]some[/i] kinda sense. But sometimes not often, I'll add a extrude bit or texture just because it looks cool. :p[/color]
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Well, if there are no more questions...
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] Thanks for taking the time, Oddgrim.
[color=orange][b]MjnMixael:[/b][/color] This interview will be featured in the next HLP Newsletter!
[color=limegreen][b]Oddgrim:[/b][/color] [color=beige]My pleasure MjnMixael.[/color]