Daniel Thiger
Daniel Thiger, originally from Gothenburg, Sweden, has been working in the video game industry since 2005. Over the years he has held many different roles, from Environment Artist, Concept Artist, to Technical Art Director. Recently moved to Taiwan.
I always want to challenge myself, creating the themes that I haven't really explored before.
The motivation & inspiration behind Daniel's artwork
" I'm someone who thrives on creating things and working on projects, so it's not difficult to motivate myself to work. A lot of times work doesn't feel like work, I'm just having fun essentially. I like challenging myself to improve and get better, so that's a big motivator for me. Inspiration can come from anywhere. As an Environment Artist, I'm always paying attention to my surroundings, and thinking to myself, "How can I make this?" Especially when I have the opportunity to travel, I usually end up taking thousands of reference photos that often become projects later down the line."
Living and creating in Taipei
" Taipei is such an incredible city, there's such a nice blend of modern and traditional aesthetics! The culture and architecture are very inspirational. Plus the food is amazing! Oftentimes when walking around, I'll randomly stumble upon an alley or a building that I think would be cool to recreate. I feel very fortunate to have family here since my wife is Taiwanese, and since I recently transitioned to working freelance full-time, I'm able to live anywhere in the world."
Vision about future 3D texturing
" I think we're in between two different technologies right now, hand-crafted/stylized versus 3D scan technology. Realistic productions such as movies/realistic games will move more in the direction of 3D scanning/photogrammetry, for example the Epic/Quixel megascan library. At the other end of the spectrum, games, especially in the mobile market, will always be in need of the hand-crafted stylized kind. Another aspect that we shouldn't forget is AI generated graphics that we already see getting increasingly capable of creating any type of artwork."
The creation process and the device being used currently: MSI Creator 17
" It's essential to plan and think. When creating materials, I always keep in mind the specific purpose and context, to ensure that I focus on the right things without being disturbed. Having a laptop that can cope with what I want to do is crucial, to avoid any problem that inhibits my creative process. After experiencing MSI Creator 17 for a whole day, I definitely think this will be a perfect partner for me. Not only equipped with high-end processor and graphic card, it supports 100% DCI-P3 to deliver the most exceptional and accurate colors, also I'm amazingly surprised its astounding display reproduces greater depth, true-to-life images and videos, it provides all the functions I want, powerful, portable, and the detailed, sharper texture."
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