CM: Who are you?
WH: My name is Willi Hammes I was born on 19th May 1979 in Wuppertal, Germany.

CM: What is your formal training / school background?
WH: I visited a normal school. After that a I started a special school with priority in electrical engineering. A year later, I switched to a art & design school. Also during school, I spent all the time learning 3d on my own. School was always useless for me... I spent more time at home in front of 3d programs.

CM: Where do you work and how did you get the job?
WH: I'm currently working as a Lead 3D Artist at Das Werk FFM in Germany. I got that job because the 3d department leader found one of my images on raph.com and phoned me to come to Frankfurt for a job interview.... Two days later I quit my old job and moved there in May 2000. Since then a lot changed. The old leader quit his job and the other artist just moved into a different deparment for project managment. So I got the position and searched for new guys to build up the department. We now have 4 employed 3d artist and are still looking for more....

CM: What softwares to you use the most? What the least / do you prefer any over the others (if you had a choice)?
WH: Right now I'm using Maya and 3ds Max in production, at home I'm only using Maya. At Das Werk we have all kinds of tools like Maya, Softimage, 3dsmax & Lightwave - most of the artists are using Maya. It is our main tool at the moment. We are always trying to use the software which fits perfectly to the needed task. If we need to do character animation we use Maya, it's the most powerful tool. We always combine tools... like modeling in Softimage - animation in Maya, or modeling in Maya - rendering in 3ds Max. It's always different. I also don't want to make a clear decision between all these tools... but if you want to learn one of them you should start with Maya or 3ds Max it depends on what job you wanna get. 3ds Max is mostly used at gamer developers and Maya in production companies doing commercials and film just like we do. But we don't care about what tool you use... if you are a outstanding artist we can help you learn other tools in a short matter of time.

CM: What things do you look for to influence / inspire / motivate your design ideas?
WH: Oh good question. Mostly it all comes up with a single idea. I get by just looking at grass beside the street or an interesting lighting situation in a room for example. I'm also very inspired by movies, music, games and comics - like mangas, I like that style... very detailed backgrounds and fantastic enviornments. Music is also very important sometimes, it really lets the mind flow. I often come up with stuff just by listening to music.

CM: Have you done any work we may have seen?
WH: If you live in Germany, yes. I only did a lot of commercials the last 8 months. Right now I started working on Ignation, a film with Bill Pullman - it's a Canada/USA production and we dudes are doing all the VFX shots.

CM: Would you ever think of going to Hollywood or do you plan to stay in Europe?
WH: I was always thinking about moving to USA to work there. I already got some job offers but didn't take any of them yet. Since Das Werk bought Centropolis FX last week, I will go the LA to work there for a year or maybe some more. That's the easiest way at the moment to get there without losing to much. If I like it there I will stay... or get back to Germany again. The important thing is that you like what you do and that the work atmosphere and the other artists are great, that's what counts for me.

CM: What do you think the future holds for 3d artist such as yourself?
WH: A lot of work! It's growing realy fast right now and I think it will still grow some more in the next few years. People are just getting the first impressions about what you can do in with using 3d. I'm very interested in how all the tools and techniques will develope. I think we are still starting with the whole 3d stuff, and there is a lot more.

CM: What is your favorite high-tech gadget of the moment?
WH: Our coffee machine at work...hehe....

CM: Any small advice for aspiring 3d artists?
WH: Yes, always hold on to your dreams, don't care anything about what other people say... if you realy want it... you will get it, hold on to it! The ways are different to get there but it's always you who decisides with way you take. And another important thing, nothing what you do is perfect... always try to improve yourself... don't stop to learn!

CM: Thanks for the interview Willi. We wish you much success.
WH: Thanks to you Monkey.

Willi's website