Let us introduce you to another invaluable member of our team. Tomáš Velický has been with us for over a year, and since his beginnings at QORPO Game Studio, he has proved himself as a highly skillful character artist. Having a truly impressive portfolio, you can count on his expertise and artistic prowess - especially in the realm of immersive character designs. Have you seen some of those stunning heroes of Citizen Conflict? There are good chances Tomáš has imprinted his artistic vision on them specifically.
Once again, despite having no formal background, Tomáš Velický is passionate, a bit stubborn, and utterly dedicated to what he's doing. Needless to say, his path toward becoming a full-blown 3D designer was tough. So sit back, relax, take a cup of coffee, and dig into his story. Tomáš certainly has some exciting experiences to share.
Hi, let’s start this with the most intuitive question. How did get into 3D design?
My introduction to digital design dates back to my high school days. I started to dabble with Photoshop and other related 2D graphics software just for fun. It was a hobby. At that time, I didn’t know this direction will be my bread and butter one day.
After finishing high school, I worked completely outside of this field. For about six years, I worked as a seller in an electronics store. Afterward, I continued as an AC technician. Thus, both jobs were utterly unrelated to what I do now. It was later that I realized that I want to try my hand at graphic design. So I set myself to pursue a career as a 2D graphic designer.
How did you manage to get into the field professionally?
I started banging on the door of advertising agencies, sending out portfolios of my work. To tell you the truth, it was a most frustrating experience. There are like over fifty advertising agencies huddled in Bratislava. Probably even more. Honestly? I’ve been interviewed in almost each and every one of them.
The problem is, no matter how strong your portfolio is, local advertising agencies are strongly particular about the candidate having a previous experience from another agency. If you don’t have one or two years of agency experience, you’re out.
Well, I can relate. As a self-starting copywriter, I know what you’re talking about when it comes to agencies.
Exactly. Even when they liked the work I sent them, they turned their back on me as soon as I spilled the beans about my “lack of agency experience” - until I got almost hired despite this nuisance.
A plot twist? Right before I could put a pen on the contract, I was informed that they had reconsidered their decision rather in favor of another guy who’s had also some experience with 3D graphics. I was solely 2D guy then.
That must've struck hard…
Sure, I got pissed. But on the other hand, it got me started at the same time. I was no longer content with Photoshop only, so I launched Blender. To tell you the truth, 3D modeling got me hooked soon.
In quite some time, I also managed to land a job in graphic design. Finally, I happened to come across an agency called Citadela, which was more concerned with my applicable skills rather than time spent at a competition. And that’s also where my real design career started. At Citadela, I was working on designing environments along with product visualizations.
I also professionally tried my hand at 3D graphics, starting with Blender and continuously scaling it up to ZBrush, which was a truly overwhelming experience to start with. It’s not a “go-have-fun” kind of software anymore. That’s highly professional digital sculpturing software with a user interface resembling a spaceship.
What motivated you not to give up?
I just liked it. Thanks to ZBrrush, I soon refocused on 3D character design. It’s just like pottery, albeit on the computer, more than anything else. I was hooked.
It could be argued that this experience and strong 3D modeling focus finally got me into game development. Because right after more or less two years at the advertising agency, I moved to a game dev, starting at a Czech outsourcing company, a graphics studio called 60fps.
At that time, we were working on American Truck Simulator. Personally, I was working exclusively on in-game props. I had to embrace new approaches, like learning how to work in Maya software. They were simply locked in it. It was a very meticulous job. I was crafting the buildings in the game. That means that after I received Google maps coordinates, I had a certain amount of time allocated to make a graphically precise model of that building only with a small package of textures to go with.
Yet still, I was more interested in character modeling. So I continued working on it in my free time.
Is that also a reason why you ended up working at QORPO Game Studio?
It’s likely. Because quite coincidentally, I ran across a hiring ad on Facebook in some 3D graphics group - there are tons of those. It appeared that they were looking for a character artist, which was my passion, so I submitted my portfolio. And after completing a test task, I got it, and here I am until this day.
And I’ve been through so much over the year and something since my start here. I have always been working solely on characters, nothing else. As of now, most of the game-ready characters in Citizen Conflict you see were made by me.
Where do you source inspiration for all those amazing heroes? It must also be creatively exhausting.
As an artist, I source creativity from countless channels of inspiration. I follow so many artists on Pinterest and Art Station, there are millions of things going on there. And I’m unrelenting. No matter if it’s morning or evening, working day or weekend. I’m constantly following diverse sources of digital art.
The good thing is, once you’re deeply invested as a graphic designer, you can see inspiration anywhere. It can come up even from the most unlikely sources and flow through the most improbable channels.
What was the biggest challenge in switching from an advertising agency to a game development studio?
Deadlines. Because modern AAA games require much more time, resources, and budget than some random commercial. Especially when I was starting at QORPO, there were barely any pipelines, we were learning how to do things on the go. So the challenge was to embrace a completely new workflow and to get used to working on something much bigger and more ambitious than you’re used to in basic advertising agencies.
Speaking of time management and deadlines, how long does it usually take to create a game-ready character from skretch?
It depends. Despite the fact that there are some aspiring hires promising new characters done and ready in a week, it necessarily has to take much more than that, especially in modern game development in the realm of high-quality AAA games.
For me personally, the character is ready when I’m satisfied with it. I would never hand out a character that I wouldn’t be proud of in my personal portfolio. However, to address your question, it takes no less than a minimum of two weeks. Optimally, we’d be talking rather in terms of months - that’s the standard, especially in the major mainstream studios, they are working on a single character for two entire months, along with final polishing.
That’s interesting to follow your story this far, from a 2D hobbyist to the Lead of 3D Character Artists. Tell me, what are you into in your free time when you feel like releasing some steam?
In fact, I’m so much into 3D modeling that I’m restlessly tinkering with my own free-time projects even when I’m technically not working. I’m totally able to come home, turn on my computer and keep on modeling.
Besides that, I also have some sports I do, like football or hockey. Sometimes I just slack around or go to Cinema. But I’m simply too passionate about graphic design and gaming foremost. I’ve been playing games for about 25 years now, so design and 3D modeling, along with games, are a substantial part of my life.
So tell me, what are your top games ever? It doesn’t have to be something up to date. Which titles do you think were ahead of time when they came out?
Let’s start off with Witcher III. I have about 600 hours of playtime in that game. Another one, Cyberpunk - that’s a benchmark of what we are aiming at and what I personally try to pursue. Design-wise, that game is so unbelievably advanced. It’s evident that Cyberpunk has teamed up with top-notch architects and designers; they even brought real fashion designers to help them create clothes fit for the style of the game.
Lastly, I’m a huge fan of God of War. The Art Director of that game is a living legend. He’s a Principal Character Artist, Rafael Grassetti, and he’s the icon of character artistry. He also worked on the first episodes of Mass Effect. Besides that, I really enjoyed playing Ghost of Tsushima, a Japanese Samurai-fighting game.
Thanks for your time. Hope to see some of the new Citizen Conflict characters soon!
Thanks for having me.
