Interview with Clint Wallace, Artist for Plutonium Games

Today we find ourselves sequestered with Clint Wallace, 3D Artist for Plutonium Games, developers of Cleric, a Survival Horror game.

In this first part of the interview, we get aquainted with Clint and his background, as well as what he thinks of the computer art industry.

Mystery: To begin, can you please tell us who you are, and what you do?

Clint: My name is Clint Wallace, and I'm an Artist for Plutonium Games.
I model, texture, and animate characters and sometimes other things in the game.

Mystery: How did you get your start in 3D game development?

Clint: I've been doing this for a little more than a year. I got started by attending meetings of the local (Houston) chapter of the IGDA (www.igda.org), and I networked. That's how I met the Plutonium team, and got onboard. I can honestly say that this is exactly what I wanted to be doing by 2003, but I didn't expect it. I've always wanted to do this.

Mystery: Are you/have you been an artist outside of the world of character and general computer assisted 3D modeling?

Clint: For the past 6 years I've been creating computer assisted art in one form or another. I've done web graphics, created marketing/printing materials for petroleum companies, and litigation graphics/animations. Prior to that I used only traditional mediums, but not in a professional environment.

Mystery: What's your opinion of computer based artistry as its own art form? What do you think the medium is lacking at the moment to fully express your ideas and visions?

Clint: I think computer based art should be considered an art form as much as anything else. It is just a different set of tools for artist to use in order to create something. Why should a sculpture made of clay be perceived any differently than one that is created in a 3D application? I don't think that there is a lack of anything needed for me to do my job. There are little things I would change in regards to certain programs, but those things are really too minor for me to rant about.

Mystery: What hardware and software are you using on a daily basis? Do you have preferences with platform/environment for your work?

Clint: I usually work on a 1.7Ghz P4 with 1024mb of RAM. It has an NVIDA GeForce3 video card for the primary monitor and a Matrox Mystique for the second monitor. My applications of choice are 3DS Max, and Photoshop. I prefer to work on a windows based platform.

[b]Our thanks go out to Clint, who took the time away from dipping his brush in the virtual paint to answer our questions. To see some of his work in action, check out our Cleric Images Gallery.

Stay tuned for part 2!