This weeks Pure Nintendo Featured Artist is the very talented Jan Neves. He has created tons of awesome 3D animations featuring some of our favorite Nintendo characters from ‘The Legend of Zelda Marjoras Mask’, ‘F-Zero’ and a lot more. I highly recommend checking out his YouTube channel or contacting him if your interested in a custom animation for your blog or website. Jan’s contact information can be found below, enjoy!
KD: How long have you been involved in artwork and illustrating? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do for a living?
JN: I’ve been doing this since the late 90s, and it kind of just fell into my lap at work. Although I had a video editing job, I also had 3D modeling/animating software at my disposal and slowly began teaching myself how to use it.
KD: When did you start creating these awesome 3D animated videos? What inspired you to move onto animation?
JN: Because of my love of video games and the 3D graphics boom of the late 90s it was really easy to fall in love with this visual style. As soon as I knew enough to make basic animations, ideas for animations just came very easy, always on par with what I knew how to do of course.
KD: Is there a specific animation program that you use or would like recommend to our readers who are also interested in 3D animation?
JN: I use 3D Studio Max for modelling and animating. I also use ZBrush for more detailed texture work. Currently Maya is the more popular 3D software , though, so if you’re starting to learn I’d recommend Maya. I use 3D Studio Max because I know it better. After Effects and Premiere are great fo video editing.
KD: I know you work very quickly, and your videos are of very good quality. Have you ever had any requests or done a 3D animation for another website or blog? If so, where can we see some of them?
JN: Thank you! I’m always doing stuff for websites or other forms of media I like. Most of it I do for fun and beacause I like the project. Like this:
https://twitter.com/PureNintendoMag/status/570706603554541570
JN: But sometimes I get requests. Recently I’ve made the video intros/promos and other 3D animations for the japanese Indie Game Festival BitSummit ( http://youtu.be/4J1_CyNJshs / http://youtu.be/SalMFnL6jhw ). I’ve also made promos for a Video Games magazine ( http://youtu.be/nDFm4RIEe_Q ). And I really enjoyed making some of 1UP.com ‘s April fools videos ( http://youtu.be/5eQ5LBuVag4 ). If people ask me to do some quick 3D work and if I like their project I’m very glad to help out. @Gamesyouloved ( https://gfycat.com/WarmUnsteadyDwarfrabbit )and @Numskulldesigns ( https://twitter.com/NumskullDesigns/status/573793829091962880 ) come to mind.
By Jan Neves
KD: What Nintendo games/series inspire you the most?
JN: I’ll have to say the Mario games. For me it’s difficult to imagine a more pure form of entertainment. Mario 64 being my favourite. It figures, it being the first 3D one.
KD: What are some of your favorite animations you’ve created? Is there a specific one that’s a little more special to you than the rest?
JN: I really like my NiGHTS into Dreams 2 trailer I made way back in 2006. It fooled a lot of the internet back then and some sites even had debunking articles about it, haha ( http://youtu.be/FrAsCMFPLck ). A year later I made a Panzer Dragoon View 4 trailer. It wasn’t as successful but I really like that one ( http://youtu.be/mIiuGYfSED8 ). This new Space Channel 5 trailer is very special to me as well, more so because Tetsuya Mizuguchi himself has complimented me on it personally, so how could it not be ( http://youtu.be/_NwBWqWgpUs). Also my Plants vs Zombies videos are really popular, they mean a lot ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-zBKlvJqJk ). Ofcourse all of the Nintendo related animations I’ve sent before, those are all really special to me as well.
By Jan Neves
KD: Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?
JN: I am always thinking of new videos and animations and I publish them on my youtube channel. ( https://www.youtube.com/user/Jan3d. )
Im also dabbling on kind of a stupid mobile app to see how far I can go on my own, so if you have an Android platform you can checkout ‘Smackbox – Bustin Heever’ and have a whole 30 seconds of stupid fun, haha.
By Jan Neves
KD: Thanks for the interview Jan! I absolutely love seeing your imagination unfold through your animations. Where can our readers view more of your videos or contact you if they’re interested in commission work?
JN: Thank you so much! You can watch my videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/Jan3d
And you can find me on Twitter @Jan3D or send me an email at jan_neves@Hotmail.com.
Any artist interested in having their artwork on PureNintendo.com or in PNM can contact me at Kaelyn@purenintendo.com. Submit fan art, sculptures, baked goods, comics, etc. If the theme is ‘Nintendo’ we want to see it! You could be the next Pure Nintendo featured artist! Also to see artwork from artists featured in our magazine, PNM, please head to PureNintendo.com/magazine to subscribe! Thanks for reading.
