(m²) Mobile Modeler - Artist Interview: Brendan McCaffrey

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Hello Brendan, thank you for this interview. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

BM: I'm 33 years old and originally from Ireland but live here in Spain now with my family. My wife is from here and together we have a 4 year old daughter. I am a graduate of NCAD in Dublin (1996) where I studied industrial design although I only worked for a short while as an actual designer. My interests developed in other areas.

How did you first get into 3d?

BM: I originally studied mechanical engineering where I learned Autocad sparking my interest in 3D. While in my 3rd year of university I did an internship in an architectural visualization studio where I learned 3DStudio.
I returned to the same company after graduation and continued in this field.
The company had changed to Alias so I taught myself that.

What 3d software package(s) do you use in your works? And what do you like best about them? BM: I use Maya exclusively and render with Mental Ray. I have tried Mudbox and as soon as I have a good excuse to buy it for work I will do. I use Maya mainly because I have a good history with Alias products and it is certainly the most versatile package for me. I often work with clients that send data in nurbs format and I can work with them without having the trouble of translating the model. Mental ray is also a very flexible renderer and I am very comfortable with it.		Do you have any thoughts and opinions on Autodesk now owning Maya and other softwares? Is it a good thing? Will 3DS Max and Maya merge or stay separate? BM: There is always two sides to the coin. There is potential for greatness and also stagnation due to lack of competition. I would not like to predict now what way it will go. I am not concerned about any software being phased out though. I have no problem switching as eventually when the next gen apps come out there will be a switch anyway. Naturally the cost implications are important to me but the best thing to do is wait and see. In the long term I suppose there will be some merging and reshuffling of the softwares, this is inevitable, but change happens and most professionals accept this and make appropriate choice to protect their source of income. Form Power animator to maya and from 3DS to Max were big jumps and everyone seemed to do OK, next time will be the same.


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