How old are you?

I'm 28. I was born June 30^th, 1974 weighing in at 14 lbs. (6.3 kg), 22 inches (56 cm) in length. As you can imagine my mother was not very happy. :) I guess it’s true what they say... Everything is bigger in Texas.

When did you see LightWave for the first time?

I first caught a glimpse of LightWave when I was in school. I went to the Video Communications department and saw an instructor, Bernie Garner, showing students the Video Toaster and saw my first wireframe model. I wasn’t very interested in video or 3D at the time, so I didn’t really stick around too long to see what it was all about. I was studying design and illustration at the time and didn’t see where 3D fit in. I as you can see, I had a lot to learn.

When did you first start using it?

I first started using LightWave in 1995 while I was working as the Creative Director at Epic Software. I found myself faking 3D in Photoshop more and more. I looked around at my options and decided to go with LightWave. One of the main reasons that I chose LightWave was the large amount of resources that were available online, and the large community that supported it. I was also a big fan of Will Vinton Studios and knowing that they were using LightWave to create the M&M commercials didn’t hurt either. It seemed everything that had special effects on TV at the time was created in LightWave.

What do you like about the package?

That’s a tough one! There are so many different things that I love about LightWave. My favorite thing to do in 3D is character modeling, so I have to start there. The modeling tools in LightWave are the best I’ve seen. I used to model character in clay when I worked in advertising and I feel like LightWave works the same way. SubD is nothing new to LightWave, it’s been there since I started using it back in 1995, and to me it’s the ideal way to model. I really like the workflow of LightWave, and the ease of use as well.

The other big item on my list is the LightWave Renderer. The quality of the renderer is easily the best. I can get photo-real or cel-shaded images just as easily, right out of the box. I’ve been getting into animation a lot more in the past few years and features like Skelegons and Motion Mixer are very high on my list of cool tools. I think the main thing that makes LightWave so cool to me is that I can do it all in one package.

What could be improved for you?

A feature request for LightWave that I would like to see is something that would allow me to rig a character with a pre-made rig. Skelegons have sped up the rigging process for me, but I would like to see something like Auto Character Setup by Lukasz Pazera, with some enhancements included with LightWave. When LightWave 7.5 was released NewTek answered a lot of my wants on character tools, but having pre-made rigs would be another nice addition.

What spec machine(s) are you using it on at the moment?

I’m really not a hardware (technical) kinda person, so I’ll probably get this all wrong:

At work I use an HP Workstation x4000, dual 2.2 GHz Xeon with 1 gig of ram, but at home I have a custom machine thanks to Gary McKnickle, based around a dual 1.7 gig Intel with 1 gig Ram.

How did you get the job at NewTek?

I’ve done work with NewTek for many years on a contract basis. I worked with the Marketing department for several years on various projects since before they moved to San Antonio. I had the opportunity to do logo and packaging design for Inspire and Aura, as well as the Interactive CD that shipped with Inspire 3D. I’ve done talks all over the place preaching about LightWave since I started using it. I also stayed in contact with people like Philip Nelson and Donetta Colboch over the years and have made some great friendships with the people at NewTek.

When NewTek offered me a position, how could I say no? :)

What's your official title?

I have the world’s coolest title, LightWave Evangelist! I have so many tasks that I do in a given day it’s amazing. I work in the Marketing department and work on everything from user profiles, tutorials, LightWave sample content, LightWave demos, interactive presentations, training, and more.

As an evangelist, I’m a LightWave User first and foremost; I’m like the community's representative right here inside NewTek. I get to work closely with LightWave Artists and get to know what they think and the tools they need. I get to be a bridge between the user and the development team.

Just how tall are you? La Tour Eiffel? Empire State? Petronas Towers? :)

I get this one a lot. I’m 6 foot 7 inches (that's just over 2 m tall, metric fans!), and I think I’ve stopped growing... for the moment.