Cornucopia3D Focus

Walli is a familiar name in the Vue world, and he's one of the foremost digital gardeners around. He's been growing virtual greenery for several years, and his content is a big favorite among Cornucopia3D members. He's a talented and funny person, and we're very happy to have him with us as a broker. We thought you might like an opportunity to get to know Walli a little better!

Interview with Jan Walter Schliep

Cornucopia3D: Hello, Walli! You're very well known throughout the digital art community for your wonderful images, as well as your superb content. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What part of the world are you in?

Walli: Hi, my name is Jan Walter Schliep, 35 years old, luckily married and I have a little son. I live in southern Germany, Nürnberg. I freelance in the field of 3D computer graphics, and most of my time is dedicated to 3D plants.

Cornucopia3D: What is your background in graphics software and digital art? Do you have any formal training?

Walli: Well, I have no background and I am not doing art, at least I wouldn´t say that my "stuff" is art! ;-) I became interested in computer graphics in the time of the Commodore VC20. Back then, I wrote little applications in basic or assembler and as result I got a pseudo-3D cube, or a little worm creeping over the screen. After the Commodore 128, I had a break until I got my first PC in the course of my university studies for becoming a teacher. It didn´t take long until the first 3D graphics applications were installed (Povray, for example), and only little later I decided to start freelancing.

Cornucopia3D: When, and why did you decide to start creating digital content?

Walli: When I started with 3D computer graphics, there were almost no resources for digital content – so the only possibility for me was to create my own content. As I started to create plants for Greenworks, I always had plenty of self-made digital plants that I could use for my renders.

Cornucopia3D: You seem to be fascinated with the natural world. Can you tell us why you focus on plants and natural items?

Walli: My first 'steps' into 3D mostly had to do with science fiction. But for outdoor scenes, I needed nature so I started to look around for solutions. After a while I stumbled upon xFrog, which was perfect to create digital botany. I was offered a free license in exchange for a xFrog tutorial, and shortly after that I was hired to create content for Greenworks. So one of the main reasons why I do a lot of nature renderings: I modeled many plants and just want to see them rendered! ;-)

A second reason is that I like to test out limits. I noticed that many rendered pictures and visualizations looked very sterile. So I wanted to have forest of trees and plants long before ecosystems was available in Vue.

Cornucopia3D: Could you tell us what applications you use when creating your content?

Walli: I am mostly using xFrog and Cinema4D and I also started using Silo, which is a really nice modeling application. For texture creation I am using Photoshop and my Canon Eos 300D.

Cornucopia3D: What exciting ideas do you have for future content?

Walli: I did many new plants for Greenworks which should be available at Cornucopia3D in the near future. But I can´t give away details about that so far. Apart from that I want to create some useful objects for playgrounds and parks.

Cornucopia3D: What inspires you?

Walli: The world around me. If you take the time to watch the world around you, then you will notice beautiful things that you normally overlook.

Cornucopia3D: Are landscapes your primary artistic focus?

Walli: Yes and no. Because of my work, I have to deal a lot with digital botany and nature and so many of my renders have to do with landscapes or plants. But I always try to stay an all-rounder. As long as I have the time, I also create 'regular' visualizations; I am doing abstract or fantasy renders and also science fiction.

Cornucopia3D: What version of Vue did you start with?

Walli: Oh, that´s long ago! I think I started with Vue 3( or was it Vue 2?). I loved the release of Vue 4 for it´s new atmosphere system and Vue 5 Infinite also was thrilling because of the ecosystem feature. Unfortunately I've had almost no time to play with Vue 6 so far.

Cornucopia3D: What appeals to you the most about Vue?

Walli: Ease of use and fun factor.

Cornucopia3D: Where would you like to see Vue go in the future?

Walli: I would like to see an 'unsexy' Vue 7. With Vue 5 and Vue 6 many nice features have been added. But in some cases I have the feeling that those features are unpolished or not needed. I personally don´t need a text tool in a landscape renderer, as there are many applications available to tackle tasks like text generation.

I know that this is a matter of taste. I am used to working with several applications and so I prefer that every tool concentrates on its strengths. People that use Vue as only application are of course happy about 'non-natural features'.

Cornucopia3D: Walli, it's been a real pleasure talking with you; thanks for telling us a bit about yourself and your views on Vue! Make certain you stop by Walli's Cornucopia3D store!