Expert's words: Jorge Ivanovich

Hello, my name is Jorge Ivanovich, I am a 3d generalist from Argentina, I started in this as a hobby, in 2001 I left my boring job as a printer technician and ventured into animation and visual effects.
 I went through some local studios and today I work as a freelancer for local and international clients/studios.

Can you tell us some words about CGI in Argentina ?
The general situation on the artistic side and in my opinion has improved a lot in the last years.
Many talented guys in different areas.
 Some leave the country in search for a better life. 
What did not improve are the working conditions except in specific studios, the norm is overtime and even weekends.
 One has to be willing to have a life that is not compatible with a family. I choose to lose opportunities but see my children grow up.


What do you prefer to work on ?

Model stuff on zbrush, it's my free therapy.
 Also try things on Houdini, it's like a big lego box with no limits (except hard disk space, memory and client expectations).



What is your workflow ?

I like Maya for model hard surfaces, uvs, rigs, animation, cloth. 
Houdini for particles/sims.
 Nuke for comp.
 But really depends on the client, most of the time I work for studios, so they provide the workflow in general. I just have to fit in the pipe and use the software they use.

And what render engines do you use ? 

Most of the local studios are working on Redshift now. My preference it’s Redshift I love the speed, it’s nice for fast jobs But if I have to choose about quality of sss and displacement maybe Arnold or Renderman. Vray it’s also nice and fast with irradiance for interiors.


How does the COVID impact your work ?


All the local studios are full of work, from small to big TV commercials.
To the point of lack of staff for many projects, so they call freelancers like crazy. 
I suppose its the real start of remote work.