TurboSquid 3D BlogArchive for the ‘Company’ CategorySquid Stats 2012: The Year in ReviewFriday, January 25th, 2013 by Kate VoisinLooking back on 2012, we can’t help but be optimistic about the future of the 3D industry. The TurboSquid community, which includes artists, customers and our own staff, exceeded our expectations on all fronts. We had a great year, and still we’re looking at 2013 as the year we really up our game when it comes to quality.
Meet Christell “Grammar Woman” Gause, Member Services Trainer/SupervisorTuesday, January 15th, 2013 by jhallThis week’s first meet-the-Squids interview features Christell “Grammar Woman” Gause: part grammarian superhero, part assiduous support supervisor, part nocturnal trivia fiend. This should be interesting . . .  From Left to Right: Christell Gause, along with fellow Squids Klaudyna Stawicka-Rokuszewska, Deanna Sparkman, and Chris “CJ” Johns.
As leader of Support and Member Services, how do you spend most of your time in the office? There’s really no telling what I’ll be working on each day. One of the things I like about my job is that my day-to-day changes from day-to-day. One of my main responsibilities is to educate and encourage the support team to provide the best customer service that they can. I then do individual quality reviews to help agents continue to develop their strengths and to pinpoint areas where they may need some more coaching. With that said, my job has so many more facets. I’m consistently involved in finding and developing ways to improve the TurboSquid experience for artists and customers. I also maintain the Knowledge Base, adding articles and editing existing ones when things change. I also review new articles that other employees add to make sure that they are as clear as possible and, as my superhero name implies, grammatically sound. Meet Adam O’Neal, QA InspectorFriday, January 4th, 2013 by jhallAfter a brief sabbatical, we’re back and hoping you had a very happy New Year. We’re ringing in 2013 with another addition to our meet-the-Squids series. This week, we’ve got Adam O’Neal: a 3D modeling, video-game playing, New Orleanian inline skater. Sound interesting? Please continue. Like nearly all of our inspectors, you often work on your own modeling while at home. There’s certainly a unique dynamic at TurboSquid, in which the line between work-life and personal-life occasionally seems blurred (in a good way). How does it work for you? Is there a clear divide between when you’re in work mode and when you’re thinking more along the lines of an artist? (more…) Meet Anthony Sardenga, QA InspectorMonday, December 17th, 2012 by jhallThe holiday season is in full gear here at TurboSquid, and we’re getting in the spirit by continuing to celebrate the talents and efforts of our awesome staff. Today, let’s get to know another QA’er, Anthony Sardenga, a little more. From zombie apocalypses to Checkmate inspections, Anthony’s got you covered for the holidays. Routine opening question: what’s your day on the job consist of? I communicate with the artists back and fourth, assisting them with getting their models up to the CheckMate standard, whether it’s through full preview pages or inspecting their models for clean geometry. I mostly work in Maya, but I do work in 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Softimage, and LightWave as well. Best part of it all, I am able to interact with so many talented artists from around the world. Every once in a while I get to teach someone something, but I also find myself learning something from our artists every now and then. You’re never too old to learn something new. If I’m correct, you’ve just graduated (congrats!); but, until recently, you were balancing life as both a full-time student and a TurboSquid employee. How did you manage to pull that off, and what were you studying in school? Thanks! Yes, I just finished my last day of class recently and I have officially graduated. I am beyond excited! I can say that my planner had become my best friend. It was important to plan ahead of time for what I wanted to do and what I needed to do. You just have to want to make the time. As far as studies, I went for Art and Graphic Design. So when you’re not completely booked—and hopefully that’s about to change—what do you enjoy doing in your free time? When I get the chance, I love to draw anything from portraits to cartoons. I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid. I’m also a big geek when it comes to Marvel or DC comics. I read them religiously. Aside from that, I like to keep active and exercise (running, sports), as well as eating right. (I’m in New Orleans, so don’t judge me if I cheat once in a while!) But keeping active is important to me outside of work, because I never find the time to do so anywhere else. I also enjoy spending time with my friends and family—which is a priority. What kinds of comics are you most interested in? I’m mostly into The Walking Dead right now. Like many, I started watching the television show, and that’s how I’ve found out about the comics. I would say they are some of the best comics that I am currently reading now. And how did you get into modeling? I’ve always found 3d modeling interesting. However, when I took a 3d modeling class and was introduced to 3ds Max . . . I was beyond amazed. So when the opportunity for TurboSquid came about, I did not hesitate to accept the offer. I have learned a whole lot more about modeling just by working at TurboSquid. Not just from my co-workers, but from the artist as well. It’s inspired me to begin building my own models in the future. What’s the best part about working here, for you? Overall, I love the people that I work with. Everyone is fun to be around, and there are so many different personalities that get along great with one another. Everyone has been taught differently when it comes to 3D modeling, and I have learned so much from my other fellow inspectors. Needless to say, you’ve seen and inspected a lot of TurboSquid models. Do you have a favorite?
I have worked with Massimo Righi many times before, which I’ve enjoyed. His models of animals are always top quality and just down right beautiful. The first time I saw this lion, I had to wonder if this was an actual model or if it was real. Do you enjoy meeting our colorful crew? You could be one of them. We’re hiring! Be sure to check out our current job openings. Meet Brennan Steele, Associate ProducerMonday, December 10th, 2012 by jhall
What’s your job as Associate Producer? I manage a portion of the content group inspector team, develop custom 3D content for clients, beta test software, swap the CO2 tank out of the soda machine, and design fun content to 3D print on our Makerbot. We like hearing about how our staff got into 3D modeling. What’s your story? I studied Architecture at the University of Oregon and was exposed to 3D modeling there. I started work at an architecture firm 7 days after I graduated, and produced construction documents and presentation renderings for 3 years before I quit and went on an 8 month long road trip that eventually landed me here in New Orleans. You’re involved in several projects outside of TurboSquid. Can you tell us a little bit about them? 1) Atelier Vie LLC – A Startup artisan distillery located in mid-city built from scratch about two years ago with three other partners. Our sugar cane vodka Buck 25 has been available for a couple months now, but our signature spirit Toulouse Red a red absinthe made its debut on December 5th. Our green and white absinthes are still in government testing and label approval, and should be available shortly after the new year. 2) Bebe Brulee – A Burning Man art installation as part of the CORE (circle of regional effigies) project, where over 30 regional burner communities create their own large scale burnable sculptures. After I completed the design of the installation—with the help of Eric Arvidson and Josh Anderson of TurboSquid, and many others—we constructed a 20’ diameter 7’ tall ki 3) Cosmic Convergence Festival – An upcoming epic event that celebrates the end of the Mayan calendar countdown and beyond. It will take place in New Orleans at the Sugar Mill on Friday, December 21st, 2012. I’m the production assistant for the event and will be hard at work making sure everything runs smoothly and the world doesn’t come to an end. Come party with me, Ghostland Observatory, and Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, and help us ward off the apocalypse in style! Favorite thing about TurboSquid? I really enjoy working for a company with so many direct ties into interesting fields: art, film, design, architecture, and animation just to name a few. Not to mention New Orleans is a fantastic city where there is seldom a dull moment. Got a favorite model on the site?
A parting note… I’m allergic to chocolate. Ouch. Do you enjoy meeting our colorful crew? You could be one of them. We’re hiring! Be sure to check out our current job openings.
Meet Corey Cambre, Checkmate InspectorThursday, December 6th, 2012 by jhallFor our third installment of the new meet-our-staff blog series, we interviewed Corey “Fluffy” Cambre, a Checkmate Inspector for our team here at TurboSquid. Read on to learn more about this illustrious modeler, bowler, and dragon connoisseur. Why “Fluffy”? It was a joke from Gabriel Iglesias. He said there are 5 types of fat. I fell into the fluffy category. So when someone called me fat I said I’m not fat I’m fluffy. Thus the name stuck with me. |
We hope you’ve enjoyed our ongoing bio series as much as we have. This week we press on with Brennan Steele, who took the long road to New Orleans and TurboSquid, but is certainly doing his best to leave his mark on both.
