{"id":98,"date":"2008-09-30T15:38:19","date_gmt":"2008-09-30T15:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/archives\/98-shapeways-member-interview-coppersink.html"},"modified":"2023-02-15T13:45:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T18:45:53","slug":"shapeways-member-interview-coppersink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/shapeways-member-interview-coppersink","title":{"rendered":"Shapeways member interview: Coppersink."},"content":{"rendered":"

The first Shapeways member we are going to interview is Coppersink<\/a> aka Nick Pittom. Some of you may remember his lovely Chaos Mohawk Fightbot that he showed us on the forum<\/a>. The bot was a model of one of the Mighty Moshin Emo Rangers<\/a>, a popular online video show that Nick makes. If you want to check out his other work and a rather scary picture you can go here<\/a>. <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

So, tell us about yourself?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I’m freelance,
\nbut don’t really have a specific job description. Let’s say Editor,
\npost-production and Director as these are the jobs I undertake mostly.
\nI graduated from a BA Film and TV at Bournemouth Uni five years ago,
\nafter which I was a post production runner in London before becoming
\nself employed. In the meantime I’ve mainly worked as an editor on music
\nrelated productions but have also directed music videos, worked camera
\non Pimp My Ride UK and also currently make a show on MTV2 in the UK
\ncalled Mighty Moshin Emo Rangers. So it’s all a broad tapestry of
\nrandom things really.<\/p>\n

Are you really 108 years old, it says so on your MySpace?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I was not aware I had put that, oh well, Im actually 26.<\/p>\n

How did you get into 3D modeling? <\/span><\/b>It had
\nalways been an interest ever since I had seen the earliest examples of
\nCG on TV. I would try to get hold of 3D design programs, trying out
\nLightwave and POV-ray. I started out simply being fascinated by the way
\na computer could create such visuals, but as I moved more towards video
\nI started to see it as a way to add effects to videos, starting with
\nbullets on a Matrix style video I made when i was 16. Since then I have
\nslowly improved, but I doubt I will ever be anything more then an
\namateur compared to some of the guys working out there.<\/p>\n

What 3d modeling software<\/a> do you use?<\/b> And what are its’ advantages?<\/b> 3DS MAX – it’s very easy to get quick results and the easiest
\nsoftware I’ve found to work with. It is also good for making and animating robots, which tends to be what I make.<\/p>\n

What are 3DS MAX’s limitations?<\/b> It
\nused to be the quality of the rendering, but things have moved on and
\nMAX now incorporates Mental Ray. I personally use VRay for a lot of
\nrendering as it has a great GI setup. But I’m lazy with lgihting, so
\ntend to stick to HDRI maps – something I have taken the\u00a0 time to learn
\nhow to make. There are also other software that is better at modelling and
\nanimation, but it suits my needs. If I was to go full time 3D then I
\nwould endevour to learn Maya however.<\/p>\n

How did you discover Shapeways?<\/b>I think it
\nwas on either Digg or Reddit. Possibly a google search. I had been
\ninterested in 3D printing for a while and this was the first service I
\nsaw that actually let regular people print things off in a convenient
\nand user friendly way.<\/p>\n

What
\ndo you think of it so far?<\/b> I’ve
\nordered a second copy of an object and I’m highly impressed, although
\nunfortunately I could not afford the best material. As with all things
\nI imagine that costs will eventually drop and I can see myself getting
\nmany objects printed from Shapeways.<\/p>\n

Bad\/good things about Shapeways?<\/b> Bad: Cost is quite high (expected, as it’s such a new technology).<\/p>\n

Some usability niggles – having multiple ways toview my objects would
\nbe good, not simply thumbnails that I have to click across pages. The
\nway I have split my object into pieces also means I have to go back and
\nforwards between pages to order all the parts and some kind of tick box
\nto select all the seperate parts would be good.<\/p>\n

Good: Unique –
\nthere’s currently no better way I know of to get a 3D
\nmodel from my computer to the real world.
\nSupport – great
\nsupport from people on the forum and from shapeways to get my model
\nsuitably ready to print. I apreciate it’s not a simple process, but it
\nwas much easier than I expected thanks to the support.
\nCost actually appears low relative to other services (not expected for such a new technology).<\/p>\n

What was it like to hold your model in your hand for the first time?<\/b> Great
\n\ud83d\ude42 I had ordered it as seperate parts (as the whole would not upload
\nproperly once shrunk in size) and once I glued it together it was
\nawesome \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Tell us about the Mighty Moshin Emo Rangers?<\/b> In
\nsimple terms it’s basically Power Rangers – but Emo.<\/p>\n

Which one are you?<\/b> http:\/\/www.emorangers.com\/<\/a> I’m not any of the rangers sadly, I’m one of the guys who makes the show. Although I do appear in the new episodes as a pirate.<\/p>\n

Who are they? <\/b>In the story they are 5 teenagers who are called
\nupon by Captain Emo Head to fend off bad guys with Emo based powers. In
\nreal life they are kids (though older now) from our local area.<\/p>\n

So what is an emo anyway?<\/b> Emo is basically a genre of music and also a kind of style and social group – sort of like Goth, or New Romantic.<\/p>\n

Why did you start making the movies? <\/b>Me
\nand Chris Phillips, the other creator, have made videos together for a
\nwhile, these happen to be the most successful. We started Emorangers
\n3\/4 years ago now.<\/p>\n

Is it a hobby or would you like to make it into your job?<\/b> My
\njob revolves around all the aspects that go into making Emo Rangers,
\nbut sadly I don’t earn any money from Emo Rangers yet. Perhaps the next
\nproject.<\/p>\n

Who watches your movies? How many?<\/b> Emo
\nRangers is mainly watched by teens on the Internet. We have quite a big
\nfollowing in Mexico as well as the US, UK and also in Japan – there is
\na video on youtube of a Japanese band performing the theme tune – very
\nstrange.<\/p>\n

Has your MySpace profile really been seen 1.9 million times?<\/b> Probably – the videos on Youtube have somewhere in the region of 3 million combined views.<\/p>\n

So, you’re selling the figures on your site, have people ordered them?<\/b> Just
\none so far \ud83d\ude42 I don’t expect it to be a large seller however as it’s
\nquite a premium item, especially for the audience who tend to be quite
\nyoung. We won’t be getting rich off of it \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Are you interested in making turning the selling of the models into a business?<\/b> We
\nhave pretty much steered clear of this kind of merchandising so far as
\nit tends to be a drain on our time which should be spent on the show.
\nNo doubt we could make a lot of money selling DVDs but that’s not
\nreally what\u00a0 we want to do as a job. Perhaps if the next few shows go
\nwell we will consider it.<\/p>\n

What would you need to do this?<\/b> We
\nwould have to get the prices more in range with expectations of the
\naudience. Specialist figures that sell in shops and online for films,
\ntv and comics tend to cost about a quarter of the price I can get 3D
\nprinted models for. This is of course down to the economies of scale
\netc, but it is a stubling block to making selling 3D objects a business
\ni can personally use for Emo Rangers.<\/p>\n

What inspires you?<\/b> Sci-fi films and books are a great inspiration as well as serial dramas such as Heroes, Lost, Dexter and Battlestar galactica.<\/p>\n

Is 3d modeling\/3d printing inspiring or do you like music\/video much more?<\/b> My
\naspirations are directed towards TV, but CG is an incredibly inspiring
\npart of that and to have the things I dream up realized as tangible
\nobjects is incredibly satisfying.<\/p>\n

Thanx so much Coppersink!<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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