Eva Munnich: 3D artist - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Eva Munnich is an animator as well as illustrator based in London. As a visual artist she designs cute characters in 2D/3D. She was a film student at art school in Germany and was involved in various animation projects. In the wake of a absence of any creative challenges, Eva actively sought new opportunities to expand her wings. Three years ago, she travelled to London to explore its thriving and vibrant art scene which led her to explore a new venture into the realm of illustration and character design.
Below you can read about how Eva changed her path and find out more about the special X-Files animation she worked on with Phil Brookes.
In search of new challenges and a directions for your career.
Before I moved to London in the year 2017 I was in a town of a few hundred inhabitants in Germany working for a while as an After Effects animator. While there weren't many challenges to my creativity and my abilities slowed down quickly and I was very annoyed.
Moving to London and getting acquainted with everyone who is a wonderful animator here gave me a huge motivational boost. I was thinking: "Damn, I'm running with cool kids right now I need to crank up my game. "
Following my visit to the 2019 Pictoplasma event, I made the choice to become part of that community of eccentric character designers. The realization came quick that my characters perform best in 3D - something that I'm still learning, that's hard, but extremely satisfying!
My work was noticed by the folks to Greenhouse Animation, and I'm now represented as director for them.
Concerning the X-Files project, and the secrets of disappearing socks
One of the initial clients I worked on using my new design style was my Covered by Lemonade clip.
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Lemonade Insurance approached me to design a piece to promote the continuous Instagram art collaboration. As the business is a content insurance company, the idea of cute household objects in danger immediately occurred to me. That's how the X-Files idea came into being.
I spent the last winter lockdown watching all the x-files, so involving a classic alien abduction seemed to be logical. The problem was that all characters had to be in the same spot at the time of finalization to close the animation loop in order for them to actually get abducted - this is the reason I got thought of making the washing machine pop open and the one pink sock fly towards the UFO.
While modeling an UFO as well as giving it little legs, I realized how everything could be put in place. The UFO has lost its sock and is retrieving it!
For me developing a fun story best involves combining different things that seem unconnected at first. Making something unplanned happen and to give inanimate objects a personality by sticking funny faces onto them , is the best way to have fun to me!
The animation workflow
My work process starts by drawing sketches of my characters as well as a storyboard. I turned an animation of Lemonade to help communicate the concept as well as the time. After that, I jump into Cinema 4D and model all my characters. This is also where I test out materials and make style frames.
Once the animation is completed in Cinema 4D is done, I move to After Effects to do compositing and finishing touches. For the pink light beam for instance, is created with After Effects.
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Concerning the sound effects and working with Phill Brookes
It was the first time I did with a sound designernamed Philip Brookes, and he really did a great job! His work lifts the whole clip up to a new level and connects everything perfectly! It was an incredible task to complete and I'm hoping to create more of it!
We've had a conversation with Phil about the process of making sound effects to be used in The X-Files project. Listen to the full interview by Phil Brookes.
Right now I'm learning more methods for character rigging , and also how create beautiful textures using Cinema 4D and Redshift. I'm trying to combine 2D animation with 3D, and I'm looking forward to seeing what direction my journey into character design takes me next!
Tips for visual artists about how to alter a career direction
Some tips I can give to anyone wanting to change directions:
- Find which technique suits your needs best and learn about it! Moving design is a process that feels like you need to know everything there is. But that's simply not possible.
- You should take your strangeness seriously and do not minimize your weirdness. Your peculiarity is distinctive. Your unique voice and style is distinctive.
- Take your time and embrace your ideas. Whatever it is that's happening in your mind take it on and create it!
We're awestruck by the visual work, the path she's stepping, and the change she made. Here, at CreativeMindClass We believe that artists are able to form paths like Play-Doh and make them look gorgeous. We're thrilled to see dreams and courageous people succeed. Thanks for telling your story, Eva!
Go to Instagram to see new 3D animated characters as well as keep track of Eva's upcoming project. Explore a wider gallery of her work at her site.
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