January 2014 Vendor of the Month - outoftouch

Jan 02, 2014 at 12:00 am by Store Staff


file_464451.jpgCongratulations to outoftouch for being Renderosity's Vendor of the Month for January!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you've been up to. How is outoftouch doing these days?

Outoftouch is doing well these days. What else could be a better start into a new year than with an honour like this? I got this award several times already, but it is surely always a big honour for me getting it, especially after so many years in this market. The only thing that always makes me wonder are these parts of the interviews, what else could I say that is interesting to know when I had most of that in earlier ones? :D

Let's make a small reflection of 2013, a very turbulent year. I started this year with lots of different fashion things for V4 - I remember spring of 2013 as a very cool time in fashion, when finally glamour met punk and brought back the total 90s looks, snotty attitudes, young and free. I really enjoyed getting inspired by it, especially for my FASHIONWAVE products.

While I actually planned to already build up my THE BACK product line later 2012, I somehow lost focus on it because of other things coming in. In 2013, the THE BACK product expansion portfolio finally grew up. Perfectly fitting the amazing summer, we had beaches and mermaid seas. In contrast, I created some sci-fi interior scenes, disturbing lost places and even brought some of them into DAZ Studio later 2013.

Then, a big cut unfortunately, and all of a sudden totally wrecked a year that began so nicely. The passing away of Shana left me shocked and cut a big hole into my life, inspiration and workflow. I don't wanna go further into it, I just wanna say thank you again to the community and admins for how well this has been handled here. I created amazing products with Shana and worked very close with her. I never met her boyfriend and working partner before all of this, but I'm glad he is there to keep up and make Shana stay among us. Thanks Nuno, my friend!

After a few weeks of coming down, making new plans and thinking about the future situation we had a brand new figure, Dawn. What would a new figure actually need? I began to make plans, she didn't have any content yet. I created a character for my own use, she turned out so nicely that I made her a product. Along that I created a bunch of different basic outfits and one special product ended in being one of the biggest I have ever done. The MEGA wardrobe offers a complete wardrobe of casual items that are easily to combine and let the user create a bunch of different looks with just one product.

At this time, I had the first big contact with DAZ Studio, which also left me playing around more often with the DS native figures and I found out how amazing they really are. While the first generation of Genesis did not totally catch me, Victoria 6 definately did. With the release of Girl 6, that figure finally completely caught my heart. I started by doing a conversion of Dawn's MEGA wardrobe for Genesis 2 Female(s), because of the same reason I created the original product for Dawn. Those basic items were missing in my G2F wardrobe and there it goes. Since that time, I'm focussing on Genesis 2 Female(s) products - I love the flexibility of both the figure and clothing and the professional way DAZ Studio is working.

How long now have you been involved in digital art?

I'm proud to say that it is my 10th anniversary this year here on Renderosity. I registered in March of 2004 and can't quite believe the time went by so fast. While I had started getting involved in digital art earlier for computer games, I would still say the registration on Renderosity was the real start into it :)

Can you give us some hints on what you may be currently working on?

My list is full of different outfits to build up my product line for Genesis 2 Female(s). I'm currently working on a "relaunch" product of my best selling item for Victoria 4 and bring it to Genesis 2 Female(s). It will hit the market very soon ;-)

What software is currently in your digital toolset and why?

I'm using Poser Pro 2014 and DAZ Studio 4.6 to create content for. I create my models with Cinema 4D. While I have tried out several other programs, I always ended up in C4D because of the flexibility of tools and the easy workflow. When I'm doing the modelling, the model never gets into Poser or DAZ Studio without being brought into ZBrush for additional touchups, detailing and fitting.

For texturing, I'm using Photoshop which offers a big palette of great tools, especially when it comes to creating the basic texture template.

Could you list any current favorites among the products you've created and tell us a bit about their creation?

Maria Hair: Maria Hair is a very sexy long hairstyle that brings lots of great features. I can remember the hair-pulling creation of this. I wanted to create a long conforming hair that is flexible in posing and I had the idea of creating a system to create your own haircolor by blending two textures. I learned to write my own python scripts which ended in being way complex because of all the ideas I had. They now offer a big variety for customers to create their own personal texture style.

FASHIONWAVE Bodycult product line: The FASHIONWAVE Bodycult product line was born to perfectly expand the FASHIONWAVE outfit packs with trendy jewellery. For a small period of time I offered a special for customers to choose their very own personal custom charm or bracelet with own name. The special was very well received and I'm glad people liked it so much.

Sexy Mermaids: The sexy mermaids theme ended in being way bigger than I actually wanted it to be. The idea of creating a technically modern mermaid tail for V4 ended up in having an additional big long hair, poses and a brand new set for THE BACK, turning it into a magical underwater place.

Legion of the Dusk: It was time for my traditional Halloween item and I had to decide: do I create it for V4 or Genesis 2 Female(s)? At that time, G2F was still a rarely seen figure in the Renderosity market, but I decided to do it anyway and I'm glad I did. The outfit is a very sexy interpretation of a vampire slayer, yet my most favourite outfit I created for Genesis 2 Female(s).

Can you tell us a bit about your creative process, and are there any workflow tips you might wish to provide?

After finding the idea and inspiration for something new, I start modelling a draft version of all parts and then go finalizing the models first. UV mapping follows and that is one of the most important steps in my work.
Since I started this job with just texturing I know how a UV template can make or break a model. I spend lots of time mapping my models to achieve a perfect UV template that can be easily textured. After that, I setup the figures in Poser or DAZ Studio and start doing morphs, ZBrush comes in very handy here. Once all the technical stuff is done, I export UV templates to Photoshop and start doing the textures.

I do not have any special workflow tip as I always change my workflow to improve it. I yet do not really have the perfect workflow as it is different from product to product.

You've had the honor of Vendor Of the Month a few times previously. To what do you credit your continued success?

For being successful there is just one rule: getting better with every product. Never stop at some point and say there is nothing more I could do, there is nothing I could improve. We never learn out, there is always something new you can try, there is always something you can do better next time. I'm always reflecting on what I have created and ask myself if it is good enough. When I feel something is wrong I go and change it and keep it in mind for the future.

Do you have any final words or advice for other digital artists?

This is the part to say THANK YOU again to my customers, to my partners and to the whole Renderosity team for rolling this thing so well! As for the artists: let your inspiration flow and never stop improving!

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