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Interview with Rebeca Puebla
A 3D Artist from Madrid, Spain Rebeca talks about the process of creating the Sang Yeng character, women in CG and how she got started in the cg industry.
December, 26th, 2005, by Raffael Dickreuter
 |  | Rebeca Puebla, 3D Artist at Zinkia Entertainment.
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How did you get started in the cg industry and what is your educational background?
I started to work in the CG industry in 2002. I have always liked to draw and paint and I got to do some illustration work but with little success. I was very interested in 3D and so I decided to try. I took a basic course in 3D Studio max and after that I worked night and day till I started to achieve good results.
What are your sources of inspiration?
I am inspired by many things, comics, books, history, fantasy themes, science fiction and many other things but mainly I am fascinated by movies and that’s what inspires me most.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Well… I do 3D, I watch movies, I listen to music and I stroke my cats.
Tell us about the production process for your Sang Yeng character
It was very complicated, I never have a clear idea of a project when I start it and that makes it more complicated and hard to do. Having too many ideas in your head can also become a real problem when you have to concentrate just on one thing.
How were you inspired to create this character and how did you plan ahead before you started creating it?
I always start with a sketch, nothing too specific just some lines to define the shape a little. I have been wanting to do an oriental heroine with a big tattoo for a long time and I wanted her to have a very Final Fantasy look. I began to think about her clothes and her poses. I did a first version of the modelling but it had a lot of errors. There was very little expression on her face and the combination of her clothes was a little weird. I didn’t like it so I tried to find another look and a more solemn and elegant pose. For me working is always a trial and error process.
Tell us about the challenges during the modelling process
Well, I normally do not have many problems during the modelling process, the textures are much more difficult but without any doubt the most difficult things to model in a human figure are the nose, the ear, the clavicle and in this specific case the arm and the hand.
What was your workflow to get good looking skin textures?
I wanted to get a good skin with a pictorial touch. I had never worked with XSI at this level and it took a lot of work to achieve the exact kind of skin I wanted. Good diffuse textures and spotlights always help a lot. After many trials and a bit of SSS I obtained the fragility and brightness I was looking for.
What was your approach to create the shading for the eyes?
Doing the eyes was really easy, the inner texture is easy to do and the shine on the pupil works perfectly well, with other software this was very complicated. The texture around the eye and the eyelashes with opacity maps did the rest.
Can you tell us how you handled the hair and how you achieved the look
I love loose hair but in this case I was inclined to go for a more traditional hairstyle. Looking at pictures of the actress from Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ziyi Zhang, I noticed that on most of the occasions the ponytail was matt with hardly any shine. I liked that and so I decided to do my heroine with opacity planes. This way I obtained a flatter look, as if it was painted.
I wanted SangYeng to appear serene, fragile, I wanted her to give the impression that she was alone, thinking. Absorbed in her own thoughts. But at the same time I wanted her to be strong, self-assured. Personally, I really like the results.
What kind of lighting setup did you use?
I always use a light sphere to get a global illumination with the FG and then in order to generate shadows I add panels, and to generate the speculars I add constant panels or area lights.
Did you fully rig the character to get it into this position? What was your approach?
Firstly I created a very basic set up and when I more or less had the right pose, then I remodelled some parts in order to add the muscles, the bones and the tension characteristic of this pose. This would have been very difficult to obtain using the setup.
Which of the XSI features do you like in particular?
What I like most about XSI is, without doubt, the modelling. This is the best program I have ever worked with in this area.
Which areas could be improved?
Well, in general I think it is an excellent program but it is not intuitive enough. It is very difficult to learn without a handbook because it doesn’t follow the same guidelines as other programs such as LW or Max.
It's not that common for females to become CG artists. Why do you think is it this way?
Well I think there are not many women because most of them are not interested in these kind of things... hahaha, usually we get a different education and maybe that is why we are not so used to things that are supposed to be for "males". However there are many really good 2D female artists and some, although not as many, really good 3D female artists as well. I would fervently encourage all girls to discover this fascinating world.
Any advice for a young female artist who would like to pursue a careerin 3D art?
The same advice as for male artists, hard work, perseverance and lots of patience. In the CG world there is no discrimination.
Is there anything you would like to say to the rest of the cg community?
Yes, as I said before, those who want to learn 3D, go ahead. Time is not a problem. I started very late, but working hard every day you can achieve big things, of course this doesn’t happen from straight away, but you must enjoy what you’re doing and learn each step of the way. Thank you all for your support and your interest in my work.
Related Links
Rebeca Puebla
Zinkia Entertainment
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