Think Tank Spotlights: Floppy...Originally from Spain, Think Tank Mentor Alex Huguet’s 3D adventure began with a free software demo on a floppy disk that came with a computer magazine. Now, with 20+ years of experience and credits including Harry Potter, Aquaman, and Black Widow, he couldn’t be more grateful for that fortuitous floppy disk find.
We had a chat with Alex to explore his artistic journey, what keeps him motivated, and some standout memories from his time at Think Tank.
Think Tank: Have you always been interested in CG? Tell us a bit about your journey from aspiring artist to professional artist.
Alex Huguet: I have always had an interest in drawing since I was a kid. I would draw my own comics, illustrations, and designs. It was always a 2D approach as back then there was no software for 3D, no Wacoms, etc.
When I was around 16 years old I got my hands on a very simple 3D app (it came as a demo on a floppy disk in a computer magazine I bought back in the day). I fell in love with that tool, so I started trying to find out more about that "3D stuff" as there was no internet yet.
I finally got my hands on a different piece of software called 3D studio DOS and I kept learning "by ear". I am mostly a self taught artist, although I did attend an animation school when I was 19 years old. Unfortunately as everything was so new back then, and there was zero industry in Spain at that time (around 1997) I didn't really learn much there.
TT: What is your speciality in CG? Tell us about your role in the industry.
AH: I would describe myself mostly as a character modeler, although through the years I have been involved with different things - creating environments, modeling hard surface elements, designing and concepting characters, leading and supervising some jobs. I would say what I enjoy most is working on my own characters and their backgrounds, and tackling the whole project from design to final render.
TT: You do concept art as well as 3D art… what are some of the big differences between the two?
AH: My concept art is heavily 3D based - quick sketches with some paintovers. Sometimes I will push that further to a real finished 3D element. I´d say the main difference is that professionally you are a lot more limited both concept-wise and 3D-wise in what the client wants; there's a bit of wiggle room to play with some elements but most of the time the client is fairly inflexible and the road you navigate is very narrow.
TT: Any cool projects that you want to/are allowed to share that you've worked on?
AH: I have been working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years, there are so many projects! One of my favorites is the Harry Potter series. I worked on a few of those films, and although artistically it wasn't that fulfilling, I was a fan of the movies, so I am glad I had the chance to work on them.
The 2014 World Cup 3D animated short Nike Football: The Last Game was great because I was supervising the character creation as well as designing characters hand-in-hand with the director of the project, so it was a super fun experience.
Other than that I worked on many films, some good, most of them not so good, but I did learn a lot in all of them. I worked on Narnia 3, Aquaman, John Carter, Clash of the Titans, Captain America: Civil War, Kong: Skull Island, Aladdin, Black Widow and more, all fun.
TT: What got you interested in Mentoring at Think Tank?
AH: I used to teach 3D many years ago in Spain. When I was living in London, once a year I would go to Barcelona and give a character creation workshop at a 3D animation school there. It was always a lot of fun, so when I got offered the chance to teach again, although this time it would be in English instead of Spanish, I didn't hesitate to take it. I enjoy teaching a lot!
TT: What's rewarding about being a mentor, and what is challenging?
AH: Seeing the students' faces light up when they enjoy the class and seeing and feeling their excitement when they are learning. The challenging aspect… sometimes students can be a bit too unrealistic with the expectations and the size of the project, and I feel like 15 weeks isn’t enough time to finish things at the level that I would like.
TT: Can you describe a rewarding project you helped a student on? (feel free to call out their name and project!)
AH: I am proud of all the students I had, they all worked very hard. One of them, Chandler Bolin, ended up as an intern at Unity where I currently work, and now I believe he is full-time! Another one is Houra Ershad who was Runner Up in The Rookie Awards 2022 for her project ‘Little Hmong Harvester‘, Jason Adicendana got a job as a Groomer at one of the big studios here in Vancouver Barnstorm VFX, which is what he wanted to do. I worked so hard with all of my mentees and put so much effort into them, I´m really proud of all of them!
TT: Do you mentor in person, online, both? Do you have a preference for remote work vs working in real life?
AH: I have done both. I prefer onsite at the school, as you can get a lot closer to the students and it feels a lot more real, but the issue is having to commute to the school after a long day at work, and as we all know, Vancouver's weather is not the best when it comes to having to commute! Rain, cold, mist, fog... remote work has the advantage of doing it from the comfort of my chair without having to leave my home, but at the same time is not as fulfilling and you don't develop that personal connection with the student as easily.
TT: Any big plans for the future...where do you see your career heading?
AH: These are weird times, with so much developments in AI happening at the moment, that honestly I don't know where this will go in the future. If I could work full-time as a teacher/mentor I would, but Vancouver is so expensive that I don´t think I could do only that. I feel like right now everything is kind of uncertain, but it’s exciting to see how technology evolves.
TT: Lastly, any shout-outs you like to give!?
AH: Shout out to Scott for offering me the chance to become a mentor, and shout out to all of my students, past and present, who worked so hard - we always had a good time in class.
Check out more of Alex’s work on Art Station.
