LogInCinesite's Yousif Al Kamali has told us about what it means to be a Creature FX Artist, discussed diving into Houdini, and talked about the things learned at CG Circuit.
Introduction
Hi, my name is Yousif and I am a Visual Effects Artist. I completed my bachelor's studies in 3D and Visual Effects at the NAD. My first experience as an intern while still at school was at Rodeo FX and I loved it. I then finished my studies and started at MPC and later on, I moved on to Framestore in Montreal. And finally, I am pleased to say that I joined Cinesite Montreal in January 2019.
During my internship at the wonderful Rodeo FX, I worked on the first Pacific Rim. I also worked on Now You See Me and The Host. At Framestore, I had the delightful opportunity to work on Paddington 2, Mowgli, Mary Poppins, Darkest Hours, Christopher Robin, Fantastic Beasts, and Captain Marvel. And finally, as I arrived at Cinesite Montreal, I started my work on Riverdance, Extinct, Addams Family, and Blazing Samurai.
Joining Cinesite
During my time at Framestore, I met a lot of people and I got to learn a lot of things from so many amazing colleagues. After two years, I then decided that I can expand my experience somewhere else and this time it can be in feature animation versus VFX.
What makes Cinesite a perfect place for me to work and learn at is that it feels like a big warm family. I am not kidding when I say I feel at home. My learning increased drastically due to the challenges that Cinesite has given me and for that, I appreciate it.
My main responsibilities as a CFX Artist are to create simulations for characters and build rigs that will run these simulations. We are talking about cloth, hair, and muscle simulations. I loved working on Riverdance and Blazing Samurai. I had so much fun and also learned tremendously.
Studying at CG Circuit
For a long period of time, I was suggesting Cinesite train us to use Houdini for our CFX department and so when they decided to go for it, I took the chance. My goal was to improve and increase my skills in Houdini so I could implement them in our CFX department. Houdini is a giant software with a great future.
We were given 6 weeks to train by Cinesite. We had a slot of 20 hours per week dedicated to Houdini training. We were given login info to CG Circuit. We had full access to lessons.
I started with the introduction to Houdini classes to refresh my skills. I then took the more advanced courses that showed you how to create a CFX cloth rig and how to simulate in the production environment. It was such a great experience.
The teachers were clear and straight to the point. They would explain in a way that anyone would understand. When they used uncommon terms, they would then explain them. When I was listening, I found that sometimes the teacher would say something complex that would make me feel worried but then continue on explaining it in a simpler way. That was really helpful.
I really loved the courses. They were clear and complete. You can find a lot of tutorials nowadays but they are not complete. CG Circuit has complete courses from A to Z that you can follow along and in the end, you will understand so many things in a beautiful way.
How to Master Houdini
The first thing I will say is to go for it. Dive. Houdini is a scary tool and scary is good. Scary is what you need to get that adrenaline to kick in. The reason why I dived into Houdini it's because of the challenge. I would say it is difficult because it's different from other 3D softwares. It is also node-based and procedural. Give it a week of training and you will start to get used to it. Good simple tutorials can help kickstart your learning curve.
Conclusion
First, know what you want. Explore and try every single aspect of it if you can (modeling, CMM, environment, animation, rigging, lighting, FX and CFX, texture and shading, compositing, etc.). Then choose the departments you like most, the department that you had the most fun working in. You will spend most of your life working, might as well be something you love.
Take baby steps and don't give up. It might seem discouraging at first but never let that put you down. Don't be afraid to fail. Failure is a good thing. Failure is a step to success if you don't give up.
Keep creating in your personal time. Build those skills because you are the only one who can. Build that reel and show your skills. Always ask questions. Be curious.