Solitary Cafe sat down with Jester to talk 3d porn (of course!), giving us an insight to what drives this artist, and to discuss sources of inspiration like videogames and movies.
Cafe: First, what got you into 3D in the first place and what themes did you start out with?
Jester: I’ve always liked animation and hentai art, and I started seeing various 3D artists from Japan, like Umemaro 3D. Ume was a big influence on my work. Then I noticed western 3D artists like blackadder 3D(huge influence/inspiration) and Epochart, both had several sets with a Lara croft character.
I would look at these artists and think “Maybe I could do this.”
So I guess the themes I started out with were Lara croft and elves. Zzomp was a big influence as well, and my OC Atael is actually based off his OC Tihanna.
I’m actually working on remaking an image set with my lara croft model, and it was the first set I ever made, back in 2013.
Cafe: I was actually going to ask about Atael; she’s a gorgeous OC. A lot of 3D artists don’t have mascots/OCs.
You mentioned that your first set was in 2013; that was quite some time ago. What was your biggest challenge starting out and did you think you were still going to be doing it seven years later?
Jester: My biggest challenge was just learning the program and which programs to use. I ended up using Daz3D because it was free, but I also tried Poser. I didn’t like the layout of Poser, so Daz seemed to work for me. Starting out and even to this day i’m still learning things in Daz. I did a lot of experimenting and trial and error to find a style that suited me, and what light setups and so on, would be best for my renders.
There was a point where I thought about quitting and just not doing it anymore, because a lot of things were going on in my life at the time. However, I got such a positive response from my fans on tumblr that I decided to keep doing 3DX and I started using patreon, so there was an easy way for my fans to support me and my art. All my earnings I get from patreon go into buying more content and a better pc for my renders and anything associated with it; I was able to buy a new pc with quicker render turnaround times and lots more content for my models.
I never once thought I would be doing this 7 years later, and I probably wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for the fans and their help.
That’s also why I try to provide free content as much as I can, to show my appreciation and so they know I’m doing this for them.
Cafe: That’s awesome! If given the opportunity, would you do 3D as a full time job, or would you prefer to keep it as a serious hobby/passion?
Jester: If I could I would do 3D as a full time job. I’ve always thought, if you love your job and what you do, you never work a day in your life.
I’ve had a few game ideas in the past with my characters but never quite got the chance to pursue them, so that may be my next step in the path i’m on, is creating a game. and the vgbabes in vgbabes3d actually stands for videogamebabes, so video games are a passion of mine. I used to have a site where I would share images of video game characters and a popular forum back in the day, but once I had to stop the site and forum, I went into 3D: A, lil’ backstory as to why I went into 3D in the first place, I forgot to mention.
Cafe: I definitely agree with you about the work thing! There’s nothing like making a living off of your passion. As a creator myself, I know that you can get a little burned out even while doing something you love. What do you do to recharge? Can I make a wild guess and say video games?
Jester: Video games or movies. Often I get inspiration from video games though, so even while i’m recharging my mind is always thinking about what’s next. I tend to get inspiration for poses in all sorts of places.
While we’re on the subject tomb raider is my favorite game to play in my downtime; classic lara I play most. So I get inspiration there for new scenes I could create with my Lara model.
Cafe: Sweet, I grew up with the classic series!
You said you mostly use Daz: what kind of rig are you running and how close are you to your “optimal” setup?
Jester: I’m using an alienware aurora r7: intel i7 with 3.20 GHZ, and 16 gb of ram, with an Nvidia geforce gtx 1080 with 16 gb of graphics memory. I’m pretty comfortable with the setup I have now, runs like a champ.
Cafe: Nice! A reliable piece of hardware can be a creator’s best friend. What is the most difficult piece you’ve ever worked on, either singularly or as a set?
Jester: Probably the walk animation i’ve done with Daz, very time consuming. Renders and poses seem to come naturally to me now, because I’ve had so much practice with poses. when I started out hand/finger poses were really difficult for me, though.
Cafe: Animations seem to be a pretty major step for most artists, I can only imagine the first time wasn’t at all easy.
What do you have planned for the future, or do you have any major projects coming up you’d like to talk about?
Jester: Well I have several remake projects i’m working from old image sets, making them better with my updated models. Somewhere down the line i’ll start working on a video game, it will either be an old school rpg with renders as prizes in the game, or an actual visual novel where Atael and my other models could interact with the players. I like the visual novel idea most. I also used to write erotic stories back in the day, so I would like to incorporate that in my works somehow. I have lots of ideas and projects, but the game is at the top of the list. Oh, and I’m trying to make a Jill valentine model before the RE3 release! Resident evil is my next favorite franchise after Lara.
Cafe: That all sounds amazing! It’s always nice to meet a fellow writer, as well!
Finally, do you have any advice for anyone trying to get into the rendering game?
Jester: Well, it may be cliche but, practice.practice.practice. I learned most by trial and error, so don’t be afraid to mess up, and save often. Also, youtube and written tutorials out there can be very helpful, if you get stuck on something. Nothing wrong with asking a fellow artist for help with something, either. Except for me, don’t bother me; just kidding. 😛 I’ll do my best to answer any questions if someone needs help either on twitter or discord.
Also, i’d like to thank the fans one more time, as i said before i wouldn’t be where I am without your help and support. So truly, thank you.
Cafe: And I thank you for your time! It’s been a sincere pleasure speaking with you, Jester. We look forward to seeing your future projects, and best of luck with that game!
Check out more of Jester’s work in our gallery section
