Working in 3D with Nicholas Evans, AMT ’21
Nicholas Evans, AMT ‘21, recently participated in our live Zoom panel for Admitted Students Day. Nicholas has the distinction of being the only student on campus to have taken part in three Open House events in the fall and three Admitted Students Day events in the Spring during his three years at Parsons Paris.
As a student worker during these events, he has participated with the Admissions department as a tour guide, with the Careers and Internships department as a panel member, with the Tech department as a student ambassador and with the Events department helping to prepare the general organization of the events.
We interview him here to find out more about his current projects and activities.
Hi Nicholas. How are you doing disciplining yourself to work here in Paris without the chaos of school all around you?
I start my day off early in the morning at 7:50 and I look at my specific tasks that I have left to do. It helps me when I’m just sketching and taking notes on my method of completing projects for the first hour or two and usually when I’m working and I’m stuck or just tired, I just watch cartoons.
Have you modified your ideas for your end-of-semester project now that you are working from home?
Working from home I just decided to stick to 3D modeling as much as possible because that seems to be my strongest skill at the moment. For instance, for my studio project, I’m working with archival videos and I’m curious about making a 3D lense frame that transforms throughout the video. For my other projects, I plan to learn more about 3D by exploring another skill such as power 3D lights or photogrammetry.
Do you use your 3D skills outside of school as well?
I’ve been exploring the world of 3D using Blender since last year’s “Dimension” class, with Mïyo van Stenis. I use the techniques in the videos I make for my church community here in Paris as well as my community in Michigan. For my Paris community I worked on a series of sermon videos that they use at the beginning of each sermon. During my internship, they put me on the team of set designers where I was tasked to make a 3D mockup version of the real set for CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) purposes.
Last year around January I started making biblical content such as logos, websites and promo videos for my church back in Michigan who wanted a website. Then a few months later I began making Bible study logos for my church in Paris and videos for events put on by the men’s ministry.
What software do you use for these projects?
For logos I mainly use either the 3D software Blender or Adobe Illustrator. For videos I use Blender, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. I used Wix Website builder for my church’s website and I code by hand for my own website projects. Most of my projects start off with me drawing by hand and sometimes I include those drawings in my videos or they just serve as a reference or as a storyboard.
I’m now considering how to make virtual exhibits, possibly with a 360° video of walking through a 3D gallery for an art exhibition on silence for a friend’s association.
You mentioned during the ASD panel that you were interested in pursuing computer graphics and the many tasks involved in film production such as animation, storyboard, and effects once you graduate. Was this something you had in mind before you came to Parsons Paris or has something at school influenced this interest?
Prior to coming to Parsons I had a traditional art background where I painted and drew a lot of poster-sized stuff such as family portraits, which I still do now from time to time. I didn’t know specifically what I wanted to do but I knew it had to do with art, cartoons, and technology because I always wanted to experiment a bit more with technology. Movies, cartoons and stories in general were something that I marveled at since I was a kid, especially 2D animated movies, but I never knew much about how they were made – whether by hand or computer software. One of my biggest goals is to use my skills to make biblical content such as cartoons, video graphics and art.
You took Isidore Bethel’s Saturday intensive class called “Contemporary Filmmaking”. Did any of the film makers you met during the class use techniques which particularly inspired you in your video work?
In my “Contemporary Filmmaking” class, every week we watched a film and we got to talk with the directors, ediors, or actors of that film which was cool because for me most of my visual and literary research comes from the endless amount of movies and series I’ve watched over and over. The film makers really inspired me to just look towards the everyday stories that I’ve witnessed and believe that some of them are interesting enough to tell as opposed to trying to create something from nothing.
You have been an active participant in the Code Club over the last two years. Does that tie into your projects?
I organize the Code Club / Homework Club which meets every Thursday evening. We either host a workshop on learning how to code a website such as portfolio website or we work on our projects with the help of other students and upper classmen if needed. We have a few snacks and it is a nice time of the week to share skills and learn new ones.
Have you participated in any internships that have helped you develop your technical skills?
Both last semester and this semester I interned with the motion graphics company, Machine Molle, for five months. I learned more about 3D modeling which I am using to practice CGI. I was introduced more into the world of film and video production which was really cool to see so much different software and people involved in making commercials and film scenes. It was all in French so that was a plus for me who really wanted to practice a better French accent.
What would be the next type of internship that would interest you? What type of company, what type of skill set would you want to develop?
The next type of internship that interests me is to work again with 3D Motion Graphics but for a cinema animation studio or a game studio so I can work on my animation skills as well as gain more experience.
Check out more on Nicholas here: @J.evansnick651 #DigitalZ00 #life=moving
