Meet our senior 3D Artist - Simeon Jekov! He has been working with us for more than five years, and you can find out more about him in his Q&A below:
Tell me a little bit about yourself?
Hi, my name is Simeon, I am 30 years old, and I have been excited about 3D since high school. My primary interests are hard-surface, procedural modelling, cars and product design.
What is your role at Tornado Studios?
Currently, I’m a senior 3D Artist, and my role is to develop all sorts of 3D assets and also manage and mentor Junior Artists.
What first ignited your passion for 3D?
I still remember that moment, it was the Need for Speed games. I loved cars since I was a little boy and I always wanted to make one. What fascinated me is that 3D helps to visualise a dream, and with ambition and persistence, it can turn it into reality.
So what does an average day consist of for you?
Coffee first, of course As a part of a team I take part in a morning briefing where the group shares ideas, obstacles and tasks we have. After that, I continue with my daily responsibilities which in most cases include asset reviews, modelling and texturing. Then coffee and repeat.
What was your most favourite project to work on?
That's a tough one because I like what I do and every project has its soul when it gets finished. However, since I have to pick one that may be the project of Airliner A320. It was fun and exciting to work on it, and I had the chance to learn some new things about rigging, texturing and real-time rendering.
What was the most recent project that you worked on?
They come and go so to speak, but the most recent one that I did from scratch was a project about pastries, and I got the role for creating a slice of apple pie which gave me the opportunity to practice some sculpting and organic painting.
What challenges did you meet creating the project?
The most tricky one was to make it look believable to the eye and to make it feel natural. The 3d modeling job required the geometry to be a single solid object which was easy to sculpt, but it put all of the pressure on the painting to make it realistic.
What's the best thing about working here?
The best thing is the freedom that we get as artists. We can create, learn, explore and interact easily with everyone in the studio.
What have you learned since you started working here?
Quite a lot. I started as a junior 3d modeler. Now I can freely create any shape, unwrap, texture, render and rig (in some cases) almost all the assets that are in line for production. And not to forget - I have learned how to be part of a team.
Tell me a fun fact about yourself?
When I started my first 3d model, I didn't even have an internet connection. All I had was a demo copy of 3ds max 8 and a single tutorial of a creature head, which I probably did tens of times till I got familiar with the tooling in the software
If you want to see more from Simeon, check him out here :