Each month we showcase a Renderosity Free Stuff Artist,
in appreciation for their thoughtfulness, and countless hours spent
creating free items for the Renderosity community. This month we
are proud to showcase the works of Joe Kurz, better know to his
Renderosity fellow artists as jenay.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? My name
is Josef Kurz, I live near Munich, Southern Germany. My real life
job is hmmm IT related. My friends call me Joe. I am now a
grown-up forty-four year old, but I still feel much younger.
[laughter]. In my spare time, when I am not modeling and rendering,
I love motor-biking and spending summertime in nature at the lakes.
I also love all the many Bavarian beer gardens here and there.
[more laughter] Did you start with modeling first or Poser
first? I did my very first steps with POVRAY some years ago,
but that was not really modeling. I started with Poser first and
soon noticed the lack of good models. So I started creating my own
stuff (very clumsy in the beginning). What version of Poser do
you use and why do you like it best? I am thinking of upgrading
to Poser6, however, I am still working with Poser4, and I like it
because it's the best version I have. [laughter] Where do you
get your ideas? I get my ideas from everyday life, visiting
historic places or museums, especially on holidays. Many ideas I
get from other pictures here in the community, but other places
as well. I love historic sites, archeological ruins, old cultures,
castles, temples, hidden crypts and such locations. Is there a
genre that you prefer to work in such as futuristic, fantasy
etc.? I like Sci-Fi environments, especially dark, rusty and
abandoned sets that have a scary atmosphere. My idea is combining
fantasy with Sci-Fi elements to create something new that can be
addressed to both fantasy and Sci-Fi genres (and a bit of Goth or
horror as well). For example: I have a project (Temple of Oronde)
that is a fantasy environment that I have been working on over the
last years. I am creating objects, buildings and posting images
that are situated in this temple environment. But, the temple is
more than a simple building out of stone: deep beneath the surface
there is a hidden and forgotten core, a spaceship, that wrecked
thousands of years ago on a lonesome dusty planet. This brings the
Sci-Fi element into my fantasy setting.
An Assortment Of Free Stuff Items jenay [Joe
Kurz]
What was the first model you ever made? Did it turn out the way
you planned? Hmmm ... I think it was a simple pyramid or a stub
pyramid. I needed it for a scene I was creating. There was nothing
simple like that in the Poser library only a cone, a cube, a
cylinder nor was there anything like that in all of the Free
Stuff area. So, I created it with a simple text editor. Yes, I know
it sounds funny. I started by drawing a sketch on paper, labeled
and numbered the vertices, and built a new OBJ-file (I had read a
tutorial about the OBJ-file format of course). Then I created the
UVMap with UVMapper and imported it into Poser. It turned out a bit
strange: there are two sides visible, the other two sides were
invisible in the Poser preview. At that time I had no clue about
reversed normals. I was just happy that the rendered image looked
OK. [more laughter] When you're working on something and it's
not going the way you would like, what keeps you going? I have
many projects that are unfinished (and may stay unfinished).
Sometimes it's better to leave them alone, and one day, maybe
you get a new idea and start over again. Or, use a different
approach and it works! Of all the models you've made, what's
your favorite? Hmmm ... that's difficult to answer. Let's ask
vice versa: what is my most popular model that users love most? I
think it's the vaulted hall prop, inspired by the mines of Moria in
Lord Of The Rings. I published it about three years ago,
it's very simple, but effective. It's not among my favorites, in
fact I tried several times to improve it (I published a much
improved version on my online shop, but it didn't sell very well).
But it's still around. When I search the galleries I find it used
by many, many people.
Vault Hall Property jenay [Joe Kurz]
Do you like doing single props or full scenes better? Mostly
I create single props. I love the idea of having a complete
construction kit to build my own scenes. I try to scale my objects
the same way so that the user can interchange them, and also, I try
to give them matching and properly scaled textures. I published two
or three complete pre-assembled scenes (for example: my tower's
chamber #1 and #2). They were a great success. I think in the near
future I should spend more time in creating complete easy-to-use
scenes. I have the idea of a Sci-Fi set.
Tower's Chamber Part #2 jenay [Joe Kurz]
Can you give us a hint on what your next item will be and how
long do you anticipate before it will be out? The mentioned
Sci-Fi set is composed of primitives. I want to re-use my stuff as
much as possible, add pipes and engines. I am not sure how it will
turn out, maybe a kind of corridor/engine hall with pipes and tubes
that can also be used as a Sci-Fi set skyline.
SciFiWall with Fan jenay [Joe Kurz]
Do you have a favorite free stuff provider? Oh, I have and
had many. Sorry to say that many of them are no longer active.
However, I do have a few names I would like to pass along: Kozaburo
(excellent hair props, better than some items that I purchased),
marforno (great store, but great freebies as well), mapps, studio
maya, as shanim, 3dmodelz, specs2, etc, etc ... What is your
favorite image created with your free stuff? That's difficult
to answer. From time to time I perform a search in the galleries to
see who used my stuff and add some comments as well. I have a nice
collection of images now. Sometimes I am very surprised how my
stuff is used in ways I never thought of but at the moment I
can't name a favorite one. How long have you been a member of
the Poser Community? What do you like best about it? I have
been around here since late 2000, at that time I only looked at the
galleries. In early 2001 I bought Poser and started to look for
freebies and tutorials. I found tons of stuff on Renderosity and
was totally overwhelmed. Half a year later I posted my first images
on Renderosity. There were some periods I was less enthusiastic,
but I am still here. I love reading the forums as well (although I
am not as active with posting), and I am studying the tutorials
many useful hints. I found some very nice friends. We teamed up
together to work on some projects, like the Old Cloister Library
and The Old Vaulted Hall (both once sold at my online store, but
now only available upon request). Do you have any advice for
someone just starting out modeling and sharing their free stuff
items? Start with simple things. You do not need an expensive
3D modeling tool, just start with small free programs (like Wings,
Anim8or, or Amapi) and see, how they work. Create things you'd use
in your own scenes and promote your stuff with own rendered images.
This is the best way, before considering to become a merchant one
day Ahhh, and don't forget to have fun! [much laughter]
Lynn Gottlieb [Angel1] is a Renderosity Front Page News
Staff Columnist We invite you to visit
If you know of a Renderosity Free Stuff Artist that you would like
to have us showcase, please drop Dee-Marie a note with the artist's Renderosity
username, and keep checking the Front Page News, you never know who
we will be showcasing next! November 21,
2005 |
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