Hello Paco. Vida en Marte has a strong reputation in Spain: can you tell us the story of your animation studio?

Paco: Well, we actually started our company more than ten years ago: we had all noticed that interest for graphics and 3D animation kept rising in the Spanish TV world. We all worked in the audiovisual sector therefore we were familiar with the TV business and thought it was time we made a move towards the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). We lacked equipment and information: consequently, we relied on our imagination and worked hard with the few tools available and it helped us grow. We still have that exact same philosophy: it’s our “trademark”!

And who does what within the company?

Paco: The team is split between 2D and 3D specialists. But in the end, though the nature of work is quite different, we really work as ONE team. We share the same office, which helps sharing ideas as fast as possible!

What’s your general background? How do you share the animation work within the team?

Paco: Goyo Cano deals with the modeling, the character generation and the texturing. Enrique Mulero is the 3D animator: he has a strong background in animation in general, and now applies his knowledge to 3D animation. I dedicate myself to the lighting, rendering and the pre-postproduction.

We work hard to ensure a continuous work flow between the three of us. LightWave 3D® gives us great versatility to reach that goal. For example, Goyo will model a base while Enrique will start animating in MDD (Motion Designer Deformation) so that I have the material to do the pre-lighting. NewTek LightWave is so flexible that we can work together, at the same time, and replace things on the fly!

Vida en Marte is very successful: You work for the most famous Spanish brands as well as international companies… Would you mind naming some of them?

No of course. I would name IMADE (El Instituto Madrileño de Desarrollo: Madrid Institute of Development and innovation) first: Because they gave us the opportunity to create images based on world-famous sci-fi movies.

Then the promotion work we did for TV Channel Antena 3, based on “Starwars”: Because it is Star Wars, and somehow it felt like re-enacting the movie! There is NOTHING ELSE TO SAY! It’s a dream come true in our jobs!

We did the Teatro de Mérida campaign for the"Margarita Xirgu cycle", for Extremadura brand: it was interesting to show the theater world in a fresh and different way.

And the promotion work we did before the screening of Spiderman I and II on Antena3: because you don’t get the chance to model, animate and render Spiderman on an everyday basis and… get paid for it!

LightWave 3D® seems to play a very important part in your job: what is your experience with the software?

Enrique: I’ve worked with LightWave for over ten years. From day one the software played a fundamental part in our 3D venture. And for one good reason: LightWave gave us a precise timeline and was a great asset to solve most of our problems, so that we had time left for what really matters: making sure that everything would be perfect!

Why would you choose this software over any other?

Enrique: What I really like about LightWave is that I was able to create things right from the start! From my point of view, that’s a huge quality, especially with my traditional animator background. The only things I wanted to concentrate on were questions of weight, speed, poses etc. (…): things that are not related to any 3D program in particular. LightWave allows me to devote my time to truly important questions. And the learning curve is really fast!