INTERVIEW WITH ANIMATOR JEFFRY SYAHPUTRA WY
We, here at Gamma Minus, are very fortunate to have the very talented Jeffry Syahputra Wy in our team. Jeffry is currently working on bringing Brute to life for Cold Comfort, – and he is truly giving it his all.
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?
Hi! My name is Jeffry Syahputra Wy. I’m a character animator from Indonesia, currently working in Tokyo. Have been working on both Western and Japanese projects ranging from, mostly, TV series to feature films, for almost 10 years. Recently I have been more involved into Game and VFX animation and am still having fun with it.
How did you first get into animation? What inspired you?
Final Fantasy VIII is my first hook to animation. Right after watching that epic opening cinematic, I decided that I will join in the animation field. But it’s only during the time at my first company, EL Videographics, that I figured out I want to be Character Animator.
Did you have any formal art education or are you mostly self-taught? Is there anything you’d go back and change about the way you learned to either improve your skill set or to learn faster?
Yes, I studied Animation in LimKokWing University, specializes in 2D Animation, before getting my Animation Degree from Middlesex University. I find that every path is a learning curve. So definitely have no complains here. If I have to pick one thing, it’s more on observation and listening to feedback from peers as often as possible. I used to be a very stubborn student.
What do you think is essential in becoming a 3D Animator? What are you continually trying to improve?
Observation, willing to listen to feedback and perseverance is highly essential. Even now, I still have difficulties nailing down timing and body mechanics and capturing certain feel. When facing with that situation, often those three elements mentioned become the keys to solve the problems.
Of all the projects, that you’ve worked on, which one are you most proud of and why?
Cold Comfort!!! Not out yet but definitely looking forward to it 🙂 (I like anything related to horror!). Other of my proud work are feature films like Sheep n Wolves, Snow Queen 3: Fire and Ice, The Garfield Show season 3, Garo spin-off Zero: Dragon Blood, and TV anime The Snack World.
What are your artistic ambitions?
Currently, my ambition is to achieve the level of mastery in animations that some of my favourite animators, like Chris Goodal and Cameron Fielding, are.
When you made the decision to become an Animator, what was the first step you took to make that decision a reality?
Practice 3-4 hours a day on weekday and practice more hours during weekends. Life comes later 🙂
Could you share any bits of advice for aspiring artists or practicing artists looking to get into the field of 3D animation?
Observe and practice. Do research on the stuff you want to animate like human, beast, tigers. Keep getting inspired. Never settles in whatever you are good at. As professional, you have to be able to animate regardless of the styles and concept design. Aside from skill set, tries to network around. Join Artella or any animation-related group in Facebook. No matter how good you are, it won’t help if you isolate yourself from the world. Reach out with your work.
For all the aspiring animators out there what would you say are the top 5 skills that should honed to become a professional animator?
For animators, there’s 12 principles (there is more now) that every animator should know. But the most important principles for me are below:
- Timing is super crucial. 1-2 frames can differentiate between impact punch and normal punch. Often some animations might appear boring because of this timing issue.
- Body mechanics & weight is also super crucial. Audience or gamer don’t know what’s wrong with your body mechanics and weight but they can feel it.
- Pose. Super important!! Beast pose is different than human pose. Boy pose is different than girl etc etc. Everything has to come with clarity to audience or gamer.
- Breakdown. This guy is important because it will help determining several things like readability or contrast, which is also related to path of action.
- Ease in and out. There is a delicate point between too much or too little in every animation style. Too much and it will cause the animation look floaty and weightless. Too little and the animation will look dead. Nailing this balance is, in my opinion, one of the trickiest in animation.
How do you keep up to date with trends, techniques and practices within the industry?
The internet has pretty much allowed me to keep up to date with trends or new techniques shared by the masters. I’m lucky to be living in this time!!
Where do you find inspiration for your artwork?
Films, video games, artwork, animation reel, daydreaming etc etc …
What’s your opinion on the animation industry as a whole? Do you think it’s growing or shrinking, and where do you see the industry going in the next 5-10 years?
I think the industry is growing as a whole. With the amount of quality games generated by independent developers and progression in VR, who knows what might happen in game or animation industry. Maybe a new platform or a new type of media. Whatever it is, it will be an exciting one.
You can check out Jeffry’s vimeo page here.
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