daniel martínez lara pepeland

¿Who doesn't know Pepe? Yes, this character with orange color skin, simple, like made with clay, tha main character in some shorts that... You'd better to visit the Daniel Martínez Lara website, the great creator and animator of Pepe, and a lot of more characters.

Besides the creator of the short movies of Pepe, Daniel Martínez Lara has been for several years animation teacher with 3ds max in the CICE school. Nowadays he is working in a project for a movie of 3D animation.

We have spoke with Daniel on his beginnings in the 3D animation, about Pepe, about his work in Gustamante, the CG mosquito of 'La Gran Aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón', his future projects, the animation in Spain...

El Portal del 3D y la Animación - Nowadays, you are one of the animators with more followers around the world, finding, even, your characters between the extra contents of 3ds max and in the official presentations of Discreet's software. Which were your beginnings in the 3D animation?

3DA - Your web is called Pepeland, we suppose that in honor to Pepe, one of your characters, simple, but that wastes affection. Could you explain to us who is Pepe?

Daniel - The Pepe character is born when I was working professionally for about 2 yaers, understanding 'professionally' as I already could live with the 3D. In these years I was working 'Rem Infográfica'. I was feeling that yes, I was earning my salary, but that I did not realize anything personal. I had ideas in my head, ideas about shorts, characters, that I wanted to extract. Thereabouts I started.

I started making little drawings searching the look of the character that I want to do, even making some clay sculpture searching the right style. At the end I decide on a slightly realistic style, something similar to clay. A very simple character that in the technical part was not difficult, that was not a mess, a technical ostentation with thousand effects, only a simple character telling a simple idea. There arose Pepe, who was assembling all these characteristics, a clay look telling a simple idea.

I left Rem, with a bit of money that I had saved, and I was working exclusively in animations with Pepe. I wanted to explore a bit what possibilities was offering to me this style of animation. In fact, I was learning animation with Pepe. From all this period there arose a few of shorts, which were published in the '3DWorld' magazine every month, and this way was since Pepe started being more known. People were writing to me emails wanting to know which would be the next history in which Pepe was going to appear in the next number of the magazine. I remember all this time very nice, because this was my beginning in the animation, and of my career, or of the way I understand that my career have to be.

3DA - Gustamante, the mosquito that we can see in the beginning of 'La Gran Aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón' has been realized by you, the modelling and the animation. Did you use 3ds max? Someone else has been working in the modelling or the animation of this character?

Daniel - Gustamante, the mosquito of 'Mortadelo y Filemón', is entirely realized in 3ds max.

The part at which I worked, concretly, was the modelling and the animation of the character. A sketcher did several designs, in order that Javier Fresser saw what style of mosquito liked to him more, and as soon as he was decided for one, I the modelling and the animation of all the shots, as I said before.

The modelling technique with the mosquito, basically for the face and body was Meshsmooth, and for the little hands, arms, and all that, was Patches.

3DA - Could you give to us some technical information about this character? How many Polygons have the final model? What type of setup was used for the animation?

Daniel - For the type of modeling, since I have said before, the head and the body are Polygonal and Meshsmooth, and what they are hands, arms, feet, ... they are modeled by Splines and Patches.

In the final render, the model have around 400000 or 500000 polygons, since when you render for cinema, you have to stablish the smooth values quite high for all the meshes in order that the polygons are not seen. When you project an image on your computer screen you see this well, but when you project this on a 9 meters screen is possible that you notice any failure, that make that we have to stablish a very high smooth value for the objects. So, that a relatively simple model like that one have about half a million polygons.

The setup type that I have used is my own 'character setup', that is, max bones, making my own connections... starting form zero, practically.

3DA - Besides animator, you have been an animation teacher of 3ds max in the CICE school. Do you still have free time to realize your own projects? Do you have any project in hands?

Daniel - Besides work, now I don't have a lot of time to realize shorts, but, already I have in mind a new short in which, surely at the end of this year, or principles of the next, I will get. This will be a short history, which I don't want to reveal by now. I have a great illusion in doing this.

3DA - 3ds max is the most used 3D software all around the world. What do you think about the innovations that includes Discreet in its last version? Do you think that with these innovations we will see in the cinema san animation movie realized with 3ds max soon?

Daniel - Actually I'm working in an animation movie entirely realized in 3ds max. It's a very long project, for around 4 years, with which it is not possible to explain very much and many things can happen in the way, but the whole exposition of the movie is done with 3ds max. I believe that it will be more than sufficient to be able to approach all the production processes of the movie, besides the quality that is asked. Since I have said before I can not say many things about the project.

About the innovations that come in the new max, the true is that are very nice. Every time they are including more professional tools and one notices that they point at a higher market, of television or cinema, and, in the new versions, all innovations are orientated to this point. About which I am glad a lot.

3DA - Your work emphasizes coverall by the quality of your animations. Do you use the Character Studio to animate your characters or create your own setups from zero?

Daniel - From always I have been using the Character Studio. The true is that it seems to me a very good tool. Very productive, productive coverall. It has amount of tools and utilities to make quickly your work.

For about two years I have been using my own skeleton systems, my own setups, because they give you a lot of more freedom. It's much more laborious, it's more heavy to work thus, whenever you make a new character you have to make a new setup, or to resort to parts that already you had thereabouts. It's a more troublesome process, although you get more freedom and power at the time of animating. Character Studio is a very good solution but single it works in one way, you like or not, and is a very productive way. The true is that it's very nice, but if you want to work in other way, to extract juice to a thing, you know, to go in detail, the true is that you are more limited there than with your own setup.

In fact, one of the things that I'm doing in the movie, is to investigate new IK's systems to use in the movie.

3DA - ¿Which do you think that is the better way for modeling characters?

Daniel - Personally, and no doubt, is polygonal modeling. It seems to be the most versatile to me, the simplest. Curiously it has very few elements: vertex, edges and faces, and then a lot of tools to be able to modify everything. Indeed they are only 4 elements, to extrude, to erase, to create... but they are only 4 elements. The combination of these 4 elements gives you a facility and a flexibility that is the thing that has polygonal modeling.

Now then, for another type of things, probably, for other objects, or a very concrete object, the true is that can be better the modeling by Splines, or some Nurb, or another technology that can exist thereabouts, Metaballs, for example, but for the most of the cases, and for a guarantee of which you are going to obtain is what you want, to me, no doubt, polygonal modeling.

3DA - The most of our 3D artists (modelers, animators, ...) have to go out of Spain for working in great projects, what means two things, that the skill level in Spain is very high, and that in Spain there aren't too important projects. Why do you think that 3D animation is a bit forgotten by our cinema, having a great skill level, and seeing that these productions have a great succes out of Spain? Do you think that this situation will change shortly?

Daniel - Yes, the true is that there is a great number of good Spanish artists who finally go out of Spain, because the opportunities, the salaries, the projects in which you are working ... they have a higher level than those that you can find here. Though it can seem to be rare, but this not seem to be bad to me. That is, out of Spain, in UK, Germany, and coverall the United States, the products are done with a view to the foreigner, the international market, which can be sold in all places. This allow them to have much bigger budgets and be allowed to pay better salaries, which makes them very attractive in order that people are going to work to these places.

The problem that I think that we have in Spain is that the most of the products that we do, and more concretly in 3D, they are made for local people, only thought in order that they can work inside Spain. For example, we can find the difference between 'Torrente', that it is a typically Spanish product and that only can work well in Spain, which has very much success and works very well, but only it can work here, and another type of product, for example, 'The Others', the Amenábar's last movie, which can have success here or in any part of the world. I think that this is the line that is necessary to continue if we want to have a powerful industry in the area of 3D. If you limit yourself to the Spanish, the market is about 40 million persons, of which 5, 6, or 7 millions will go to the cinema, and it doesn't allow you to have wide budgets in order that this works.

3DA - In the last years, we could have seen as movies of studies that were just initiated in the world of the 3D animation have been big successes, and movies with big budget and from studies with more experience have crashed. Which do you think that is the secret for the success of an animation movie?

Daniel - I think that, mainly, it's about the excellent scripts that usually have the animation movies. Very worn out scripts, with very good rate, and that they are interesting.

The 3D animation movies are relatively new, and it's very difficult to do them. Initially, the first one, Toy Story, 4 or 5 years were needed to do it, a lot of time. They are made more and more quickly, but they need a very great effort, a lot of money and many people being working at it. If you don't succeed with the script ... everything can go away to the fret.

To have so much time can be seen in the scripts, which are very elaborated. Onthe other hand, they are very well animated, very well shoted, very well illuminated, ..., but for me, the principal thing is the script.

3DA - The dream of the most of our users is to be able to see some day their own animation movies succeding in the cinemas of all the world, and if not, at least to be involved in great project creation. Now that you have been involved in 'La Gran Aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón', When we will see your name in an animation movie?

Daniel - Personally, I would like to have my own movie being released in cinemas, but for me it isn't as important as that I feel that the things that I do I really do them because I want. If this is a short, or if this is the involvement in a movie, or anything different, I want to enjoy myself doing it and to learn something.

Not as much the fact to have a product costs what costs and to make a movie that is being released in the cinemas. If I have not enjoyed myself, if I have not had a good time, for me is not worth. It's very well but as it said a Chinese proverb, the remuneration is in the way. For me that's true. The really important thing is to feel that you are doing what really you want to do then.

3DA - Closing, we would like that you give an advice to all those that begin in this of 3D and that dream with realizing his own projects some day.

Daniel - I am not a person to give advices, but probably I can give two.

The more abstract one, which is always the same, of having illusion and working. The combination of these two things is what makes possible that you can obtain what you have in mind. Illusion and work.

The other advice, this already a bit more concrete, is of trying that every work that you do, every animation that you do, that is, anything you are working in, in this case in 3D, you try to do the best possible thing. It isn't important what they are paying to you, or if you are doing it for Pixar or for your cousin. You have to do the best thing that you can do in this moment. Always trying to do it well, since this it is the bigger guarantee in order that you can continue working at this. This moves alone, if someone remains satisfied with your work he will give good references of you and this will integrate you easier in this world of 3D. Try to do your work well, simply.

3DA - From El Portal del 3D y la Animación, we want to thank you very much the possibility of making this interview. We wish the best of luck in your future projects.

Daniel - Thanks to 3DyAnimacion.com for the opportunity of sharing my experience. I see you in the net.

Visit the web site of Daniel Martínez Lara - Pepeland

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