Sonic News Network:12 Questions With/Nibroc.Rock

Welcome to Sonic News Network's interview series: 12 Questions With! This week our interviewee is Nibroc.Rock. Nibroc.Rock is a digital artist who mostly does Sonic the Hedgehog Artwork. His work can be found in almost every part of the Sonic community and is one of the most well-known 3D Sonic fan artist.


 * Follow Nibroc.Rock on:
 * Twitter
 * Deviant Art
 * Youtube

Without a further ado, here is 12 Questions With Nibroc.Rock!

How long have you been making 3D renders?
 * About 5 years now, my very first render was made In December 2013. It was a render of a snowman (whom I named Glovey). I made a tradition of rendering him every Christmas.
 * Q1nr.png

''What was your first Sonic experience? Whether it’s a game, show, or comic?''
 * It was at a friends house, he had an Xbox original with a copy of Sonic Heroes. We played the multiplayer mode of that a lot. I wanted to get the game myself but what I ended up with was Sonic Adventure 2 and that game was what really gripped me. The characters, the story, the variety of gameplay; I've been with the Sonic series ever since!

''Many people probably ask you what programs you use to make your renders. Let me ask this instead: How did you end up using the programs you use today?''
 * Well, I use a combination of Blender and CS6 Photoshop for my artworks/renders. I've been using Photoshop for a really long time but I can't remember how I found out about Blender, it's a free program so it might have been that it was simplest one to get my hands on at the time. The learning curve was really hard at first (I almost quit a couple of times), but I was persistent and eventually I figured it out. One of my first Sonic character models was of "Bean the Dynamite Dux". I have this timeline that kinda shows my learning progress:
 * Q3nr.jpg
 * Was the learning process the most enjoyable part?
 * Haha, no. Like I said, it was a struggle for me especially because I was mostly self taught in the beginning (which means lots of trial and error). I would say the most enjoyable part is the end result for me, seeing it all come together!

''On the Sonic the Hedgehog/Gallery page, we have hundreds of Images of Sonic 3D artwork. Which game’s artwork has influenced you the most?''
 * You mind find this answer surprising, but when ever I look up reference for how Sonic characters should look, I usually turn to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing promotional renders. Since those renders for Sonic Characters are the most common ones you see on merchandise and stuff, I sorta see them as the standard to official quality. Over the years I've developed my own style for Sonic renders that's close to the official style but different in ways. I try to go for brighter colors and more expressive faces and poses and I try to make each of my renders look good next to each other in assembly shots.

Have you ever looked through your files and found something that made you ask “Why was I working on this?”
 * Oh, plenty of times. Often late at night I would make a bizarre render only wake up only to wonder why did I make such a thing? Like this strange render for example, what was a thinking about when I made this? I have no clue...I like a dose of edgy stuff every once and a while but yeah, this is just plain creepy...
 * Q5nr.png

''SNN has had a lot of discussion about the upcoming Sonic movie, including what Sonic will look like. Are you excited about a new look for the blue blur?''
 * Not really? I really like Sonic's current design and with Marza in charge of the animation I would hope that Sonic looks like he usually does (albeit with slightly more realistic shading and materials).
 * You don't expect anything dramatic like what they did with Sonic Boom?
 * I don't feel like that would be the right move for the movie or the brand, if they want to continue marketing the games alongside the movie project... but it is a possibility I guess

What character(s) did you have the most trouble making a render of?
 * I could really give a lot of answers to this question. Marine the Raccoon was one character who I had a hard time with back in the early days. When I was still learning, I had a really hard time making her look right with the rest of the cast. I maybe made over 18 versions of her at one point? The first couple of versions looked terrible, and even once I got the model looking better, I felt like it was looking too much like Cream the Rabbit. With newer models I tried to make her look more unique and accurate to her official artwork and game models. I think my most recent one is my best attempt thus far.
 * Q7Anr.pngQ7Bnr.png

When did you know 3D digital art was the type of art you wanted to make?
 * Well, even before I entered into the digital world of art, I used to do a lot of sculpting with clay. {Clay models image} I made maybe over a 100 clay figures as a kid and I feel that gave me a good grasp of 3D shapes early on. It all started with Garry's Mod, that's when I first really started messing around with 3D models. I would pose the models in that program to make pictures, so transitioning into model making and 3D artwork was kind of a natural process for me.
 * Q8Anr.jpgQ8Bnr.jpg

''A few times on SNN, people have uploaded your renders, mistaking them as official art. Do you think it’s flattering people make this mistake?''
 * Ah yes, that's very flattering. On a couple of occasions, even Cartoon Network and SEGA have mistaken my artwork for the official art. I really enjoy when people use my artwork for things. I'm not really picky about being credited, so being mistaken for official artwork isn't a concern at all.
 * Q9Anr.jpgQ9Bnr.jpg
 * Did CN or Sega contact you about their mistake?
 * I never heard from CN, but I've been contacted by Sega before with an apology.

What’s the next big project you want to work on?
 * I'm always planning for uploading new renders. At the end of September I have a lot of render plans, so I guess you could say that's pretty big. If I were to start a new big project, I would probably want to tell stories that I have come up with for Sonic Characters; ones that would introduce new villains and struggles for Sonic and his friends to overcome.

Do you have any advice for aspiring 3D artists?
 * For anyone starting out, my advice would be to really practice movement in a 3D workspace, that's a struggle I had early on. For people on a more immediate level my advice would be after you finish a render, perform post editing in a program like gimp or photoshop to fix little mistakes or adjust colors on the render. A lot of little touch ups make for a better finished product!

What can people do to support your art?
 * Well, I don't ask for much. Just following my Twitter and keeping up with my content is support enough for me!

Nibroc.Rock, thank you for interviewing with us!

Be sure to join us next time, where we have 12 Questions With Garrulous64!

This interview was conducted by SilverPlays97



Credits

 * SilverPlays97 (Editor-in-chief, Interviewer)
 * Veralann (Editor)
 * DanikV (Graphic designer)
 * Nibroc.Rock for providing images for this interview

Have a question for Nibroc.Rock? Join the Discussion here!