One of the most intriguing discoveries about an artist is finding out what shaped their interest and work. For Arian Shamil the attention to detail in the work tells of a background filled with familiarity gained over years of experience. It’s eventually what lead him to start his own service for automotive and product design visualization and, in turn, creating incredibly eye-catching shots. He uses KeyShot to make it happen and took some time to tell us more about how he started and why he chose KeyShot.
Modeling software used: LightWave
Website: arianshamil.com/
What sparked your interest in becoming a 3D Artist and inspired the transition from that of a technical editor?
I began as Technical Author and CAD Designer, never involved in rendering or visuals stuff, creating CAD models and mechanical engineering drawings. Then one day I tried (just for fun) to render a simple project. Turns out, it was really fun! I loved it. From that moment on I was motivated to change careers to something more creative, but related. I worked on improving my style, studying CGI light and texture theory, photography and new software, 3D modeling, photo editing, video editing and VFX. That is how is started my adventure as a 3D Artist.
What was the turning point in your career?
The turning point of my career was when I officially began my own service company after some years of freelancing. It was a very important step–I can define it as the point where everything changed.
What is unique about your approach to a project?
I would say, I never define a project. In other words, even when it seems impossible there is always a way to do it, ALWAYS. In this job, the word “impossible” shouldn’t exist–creativity is the solution.
What is your primary 3D modeling software?
Currently, my primary 3D modeling software is LightWave. It’s very powerful, versatile and is good value for the money with tons of functions and tools for modeling with LightWave. I love it for modeling, but also for the powerful set of plugins available.
Where in the process do you use KeyShot?
It’s one of my main tools. In most of my automotive and product design projects, KeyShot is the main part of my workflow. I do the rendering in KeyShot and the post-production in Photoshop, exporting a PSD from KeyShot with all the passes I use during post production. I also use KeyShot to create technical and arch-viz illustration using the toon materials–I love this material. With KeyShot I can create realistic rendering and toon illustration, giving me the ability to accept a wider variety of projects.
What makes KeyShot an important tool to have?
KeyShot is really powerful, but extremely intuitive and simple to use. The interface is clean, but very detailed. You have a simple settings, but with tools like the Material Graph editor, advanced tools to do even more. I can start quick with material presets or easily create my own materials. On top of that, there is Keyshot Cloud with even more resources uploaded by other KeyShot users.
A very important quality of KeyShot is the variety of import option. You can import and use a lot of 3D file formats. When you have different clients who use different software, it’s extremely important to have an single platform that can open several types of files. KeyShot opens files from all the 3D modeling software (in some cases via plugins and in other cases directly loading the file (.obj, .fbx, etc.) exported from the 3D software. It’s amazing.
The KeyShot community is super active with a great forum where you can share your work and learn from the community. With the official KeyShot YouTube channel, you can find detailed tutorials and training videos created and uploaded by the Luxion staff and the most skilled KeyShot users.
What advice would you give to someone interested in doing what you do?
Being a 3D artist is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world. It’s very important to love what you do. This job can have some frustrating moments, but I can assure you, it will give you a lot of satisfactions too! My advice is to have passion, creativity and love for what you’re going to do. I also think that being humble and open-minded are two important aspects to keep in mind. You’ll always need to learn and study new things to keep your skills updated with the latest innovations, so be prepared to study hard, and study a lot, to achieve great satisfaction that will surely come.
