@joeyvfx - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: Where does your personality come from?

I guess my personality is just a conclusion of how I want to be perceived. I want to be a positive force in other peoples lives, always striving for the ultimate good in everything I do while staying authentic to myself. I'd say that's also how interests are derived, just taking everything in & sticking with things that really resonate with you.

Q: Who is Newgrounds for? How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?

I joined Newgrounds in late 2022. I've always known about the site, but only ended up joining when I saw Christopher Rutledge saying more animators should post their work there. It's been awesome! I love how active & welcoming it is.

Q: Where does your interests come from?

The VFX/3D & music stuff really all started when I was in middle school. I was very inspired by Corridor Digital & FreddieW & basically worked as hard as I could to replicate what their style of action oriented VFX shorts. Luckily they were very open about what tools & techniques they used & even did some tutorials. Brandon Laatsch's 3DS Max tutorials were a huge eye opener for me especially. Combining CG with live action footage is very rewarding & has always fascinated me.

Q: How did you become interested in making VFX/3D and music? What have you learned about yourself while engaging with these fields, and what advice would you give to those starting out who are interested in learning about them?

The VFX/3D & music stuff really all started when I was in middle school. I was very inspired by Corridor Digital & FreddieW & basically worked as hard as I could to replicate what their style of action oriented VFX shorts. Luckily they were very open about what tools & techniques they used & even did some tutorials. Brandon Laatsch's 3DS Max tutorials were a huge eye opener for me especially. Combining CG with live action footage is very rewarding & has always fascinated me.

Q: What do you like about Ghostbusters? You've been working on your Ghostbusters costume for the past year—would you be interested in sharing some photos? What is your process for creating the costume?

Oh boy, lol. The ghostbusters interest goes way back. The movie just has a special quality to it I guess. I built three different proton packs out of cardboard & foam board around 2010-2011 & just got back into it this past year. My new pack is mostly 3D printed but contains lots of authentic metal parts. It also has some neat electronics with a smoke effect. It's been a childhood dream come true! Here's a pic of the pack:

Q: What was your biggest challenge in creating your Durability Tests? What was the pipeline, and what did it take for you to develop the skills needed for the animation? If you were to start a new project, what would you do differently?

Durability Tests was actually an idea I wanted to do for a long time. I always thought ragdoll physics were funny & have experimented with them for years, but never really found a great way to work with them. So once I found the ragdoll tools plugin for blender, I was set on giving it another try.

I modeled a new digital double of myself & rigged it up as a ragdoll. Did a quick test of myself going down a slide & was just elated by how well it worked. I think my buddy Dooveed actually gave me the idea of putting the ragdoll on a plane, so once I tried that the rest of the piece just sorta fell into place. The playground set is a recreation of my childhood playground. The majority of the animation was done within a single .blend file, with the main playground set linked into different "scenes" which contained separate actions & choreography. I just kinda tried out whatever motions & scenarios I thought would be funny & made sure there was a sense of story progression in the piece.

I'm still quite happy with the end result! I'm working on my next animation between client projects. It'll definitely be different in style & tone, and the approach is different too. Honestly more labor intensive than Durability Tests. But hopefully I can get it out someday.

Q: Why is it nice to have a hobby that's not entirely screen-based?

It's just nice to have something to work on that's not on the computer. Probably better for my eyes.

Q: How would you describe your experience of meeting Corridor Digital, which is your main inspiration for getting into VFX? Why is it an inspiration for you? You met them along with Alan from Captain Disillusion for a video shoot in LA, and you got to visit their studio. In what way was that a full-circle moment for you?

Meeting Corridor Digital was crazy. At the time I described it like I was visiting the birthplace of Jesus. When we arrived on their street it felt unreal, since I had seen that place so many times in their videos. There was a persistent smile on my face the whole time I was there. Unfortunately I was too overwhelmed with joy to say much of anything to the team, but I did manage to thank them for all they've done over the years. Niko even put the helmet from their Minecraft videos on my head & in that moment, I was truly knighted.

Q: Would you say that habits play a crucial role in shaping your future? Do you feel that people underestimate how habits and routines contribute to becoming the person you want to be?

It's definitely important to have discipline & to have good habits. I'd say exercise is super important. Your body & your brain are one and the same. Life is full of challenges, lots of mentally taxing events. And a lot of times, you won't be able to work those out purely in your head. They'll paralyze you. You have to move. Go take a walk. Do some push ups. Make it a habit to do these things daily & it'll improve your life in so many ways.

Q: What advice and philosophy do you think are necessary to succeed in the creative field as a profession?

For personal creative projects, I'd say it's important to set achievable deadlines. Time is not on your side, and if you want to be a generative person, you need to have the discipline to use your time to create a body of work & build yourself up.

Another piece of advice that's universally helpful in all aspects of life - practice "outcome independence". What that means is disconnecting your happiness, fulfillment & self esteem from the outcomes of events in your life & invest yourself in the process. Live to work & be generative, but always be moving forward. Finish something & move onto the next one.