Mojtaba Taheri: Interview with 3D artist

Hi everyone! We continue series of short interviews with the best artists from Hum3D competitions.

Mojtaba Taheri, author of the « Off-road driving in a sunny day », will answer six questions and give us a look behind the scenes of his work.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do and how did you become a 3D artist?

Hello, I am Mojtaba and thank you for having me. My field of study and also my job are not related to CG. In fact, I am a civil engineer and I got to know 3DS Max completely by accident and I said to myself, what an interesting software, I can simulate the world I like. From there I started to learn 3DS Max. I have never been a 3D artist professionally and I do this out of passion because I feel good when I do it. It’s been a while my job position has changed and I can’t spend enough time on 3D projects, which I’m not okay with at all. To be honest, now I’d like to be a 3D artist rather than a civil engineer.

What was the workflow behind your latest challenge image? Where did the idea come from?

My original idea was something else and I wanted to simulate an off-road car that is moving in a muddy river, I even prepared the scene and rendered that scene, which I will send it to you in the following. But at the last minute, I saw a video from RedefineFX and I decided to prepare a scene in the dust too, finally I liked the second idea more than the first one and sent it for challenge. After I sent it, I felt that the amount of dust was too much and the shape of it was not OK, then I made a correction and posted it on my Instagram and LinkedIn account.

This was my first idea that I wanted to sent for challenge:

Some images from work process:

What challenges did the image creation? Did you learn something new?

The challenge I faced was that I did not know how to work with Phoenix FD for creating dust. This challenge made me learn it to some extent, and for those who want to know more about Phoenix FD, I recommend RedefineFX YouTube channel.

How often do you do personal projects and keep your portfolio up-to-date? Which one is your favorite?

As I said, my job is not related to CG Art (unfortunately). It’s been a while since my job position has changed and I’m busier than before (it’s steel in civil engineering). I used to make one personal project in a month, but now it’s been a few weeks that I don’t have enough time, but I will definitely find more time for it.

Here is three of my favorite projects in the following:

What or who inspires you today? Are you a member of any art communities? Any favorite hashtags you check on a daily basis?

I have an ArtStation account and I follow some 3D artists whose work I like there. In the field of vehicle artist, I really like wanoco 4D’s works. I like concept art and 3D portraits too, and there are some 3D Artist like Sina Pakzad Kasra, Hadi Karimi, Hossein Diba that I really enjoy to look their 3d work.

Please tell us your five short tips for creating 3D art.

• Story telling.
• Use good references.
• Attention to detail.
• Camera framing.
• Choose the right software and don’t waste your time by constantly testing different software.