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Jinwoo, many people have seen your work at CGSociety on line at the CGSociety web
site: http://jjcoolio.cgsociety.org/gallery/355473/ . I am astounded by every one of
your models, by the amount of accuracy, detail and beauty each one holds. You asked
me to choose my favorite. That was impossible because to me they are all superb. So,
I decided to show readers here the model that is probably most recognizable, the
model of Gene Hackman. I notice that your program of choice is Maya. When
building "Mr. Gene" with the Maya program, could you briefly explain how you
started, for instance, did you begin with a sphere?

Yes, in fact, I started with a nurbs sphere. First I rotated the nurbs sphere 90 degrees
to the front and made a simple pole for the mouth and detached the eye areas for eye
sockets. After tweaking the nurbs sphere and came up to a human like head form, I
started to gather references for the next step.

How did you plan the model? For instance, did you look directly at Gene Hackman's
photographs, or did you draw out a model on paper to work from?

'Behind enemy lines' is my all time favorite movie. I wanted to capture the angry, tensed
feeling of Gene Hackman. In the movie his act had a lot of charisma and it was exactly
what I wanted to show in the model. After I captured some photos from the movie I started
to line them up in Maya. It was pretty hard to get high quality images from the net.
however I managed to get a decent side view from the movie. I didn't get a decent front
view, however I down-loaded an angry Gene Hackman front view image. I tried to match
the face to the side view for checking proportions. After that, it was all matching to the
generic photos of Gene Hackman. It was really tough to get him to look like Gene. I think
I almost gave up a couple of times during the process, however, I am happy it's finished.

How much time did it take to create the model, "Mr. Gene"?

It was done in one of my modeling classes at the Academy of Art University in San
Francisco. I think it took a month and a half to finish it. I wasn't into texturing at the time it
was executed, so I went up another subdivision level to put in more details. The geometry
was hard to handle for my computer at home at that time so it was relatively slow.

Where did you learn this skill of model building?

For the technique of nurbs modeling I learned it at the Academy of Art University in San
Francisco. I think now you can learn to do it from Alias DVDs. To me, the modeling
method is not too important. If someone is good at polys then there is a big possibility that
the artist could be good at nurbs modeling and vice versa. It's practically the same. Just
like pencils to an artist, the artist could be good at drawing with any drawing tool.

I understand that modeling with nurbs, at least to some people, is more difficult than
working with polys, or than working with a more intuitive modeling program such as
ZBrush or Mudbox. Do you prefer working with nurbs?

Lately I've been picking up Mudbox and ZBrush. Hope I could utilize them for my next
projects. :) The reason why I like nurbs is because the data-size is really low and no need
for displacements since you're looking at the final product, and it's possible for me to slide
cv's around a surface using artisan brush tools. I do use polygons at work and for some
freelance projects.

Do you work in the industry as a model builder?

Yes, I've been a modeler at PDI/Dreamworks for some movie projects - Shrek3,
Madagascar2 etc. Now I am currently a facial modeler at Weta Digital working on James
Cameron's Avatar(2009). Modeling the faces is very challenging and I am currently
learning a lot from the artists in the facial modeling team.

Have you ever created models by hand, for instance, with modeling clay?

Yes, in fact I took some sculpting classes too. I always loved sculpting classes. I am
looking forward to take more classes or practice in the near future. :)

Thank you for the honor of being able to interview such a fine craftsman as yourself,
Jinwoo. Good luck with your modeling career and we fans will be eagerly awaiting your
future work. - Host of Lift Up Your Art dot com

Thanks for the kind words. It was my pleasure to do this interview. - Jinwoo Lee

See full interview with more of Jinwoo Lee's creations...