LANA TITOVA
How did you start in 3D and how did you discover Houdini?
My background actually started in advertising, print and TV/ film production. When I was a teenager, I got a little gig of coloring a short cartoon..like actually coloring using crayons and paper. I had some experience with 3D Max and Combustion, and doing some freelance 2D and 3D work. But I’ve always been fascinated with special effects in films, and I’ve been subscribed to Ciné FX for almost 20 years. I actually found out about Houdini from a variety of sources – GDC, Ciné FX and various making of videos. I’ve shot a film, where there was a scene with a house on fire and our budget was very limited and we were shooting on a practical location and we obviously couldn’t burn the actual house. So a friend of mine did fire in Cinema 4D and helped me with compositing. But it didn’t look perfect. I’m just amazed how Houdini can do simulations and they look completely real.
What drives you to learn the craft of 3D & VFX?
I love visual arts and the creative process is very satisfying by itself. Of course, being a part of a team for a big film when you can fine-tune an image to perfection would be a dream.
There are many vfx schools & tutorial websites. In your opinion how does Rebelway compare?
Rebelway goes into detail and nuances and explains all the steps of turning an idea into an actual shot. Step by step from drafting an idea, to modeling and simulations, to shading and rendering and finally to composing.
What did Rebelway help you achieve?
Rebelway gave me a lot of tools to realize my ideas and expand them even more into something interesting and visually appealing.
How did Rebelway help you take your craft to the next level? What were the highlights?
I like how every instructor has their own set of tools and tricks and combining their experience gives me tools for expanding my potential as an artist.
Tell us about your favorite project accomplished in Houdini. What made it interesting? What were the challenges you faced?
Actually every project is fun to do. It’s fun to solve math challenges and problems. Sometimes you run into a difficult problem (like breaking wood and creating elaborate constraints for it) and when you manage to solve it it just takes you to a next level technically and artistically. So here are a couple videos I’ve done in a Magic class.
Who inspires you as an artist? Who do you look up to and why?
I loved Alita, Ghost in a Shell, and of course Blade Runner. The visuals are stunning. Oh and the Game of Thrones’ intro is one of the best. Well.. and dragons. Who doesn’t want more dragons!
More about Lana :
