Interview with Professional 3D Artist Dizzy Viper

One 3D artist I have been following for a very long time is Dizzy Viper. He’s an incredible designer with a very wide range of styles and capabilities.

I interviewed him to learn more about his process, favorite plugins, the way he uses VDBs in his work and his thoughts on AI. Let’s learn more about my friend Dizzy Viper!

3D Art Artist Dizzy Viper Pixel Lab VDB Volumes Interview

(Check out our Cloud VDBs seen in this render here)

Tell us about yourself! What do you do?

Hi! I’m a 26 year old 3D artist from Italy with an amazing community of over 150,000 followers. I specialize in Automotive, Surreal and Scifi Renderings.

How long have you been creating 3D art?

I have been active in the 3D scene for a little over a decade now. I started because I needed visualizers for my music which I used to make back then. I’ve also been creating daily renders ever since I switched from Blender to Cinema 4D over 7 years ago.

What is your background? How did you learn motion design/3D art?

I come from the music branch. I’ve been making music for fun since the 2010s using FLStudio and when I released my first album I needed a visualizer for the YouTube video. So I looked up where I could get those for free and found Beeple. The cool thing was that he offered the source files for free too.

So that’s what got me started in exploring 3D animation. Of course I started with a free software, Blender. Which was kinda fun, but didn’t really hit the spot. Things really started to become fun when I got Cinema 4D which felt incredibly intuitive to me, especially once I got myself Octane Render.

What type of work do you like to create?

I like to create whatever I feel like that day. I do many different themes and topics but I specialize in anything Scifi, Nature, Surrealism and Automotive, especially combining some of these themes.

What software and plugins do you use most?

I use Cinema 4D and Octane Render as my main software and render engine. Of course I also use various other software to complete certain tasks, for example: Embergen, Notch, Nuke, After Effects, Photoshop, Marvelous Designer and World Creator.

I use Cinema 4D and Octane because they feel intuitive to me. Everything is built up to fit my logic, and that way I can get the result I want as quickly as possible. The interface of C4D is also very simple and easy to understand in my opinion.

(Learn more about render engines in this article)

What is your process for using VDBs in your designs?

Vdbs and Fog Volumes in general have always been a consistent thing in my renders because they can completely change and control the feel and lighting. Using volumes, I can manipulate a rather simple scene into a very rich feeling scenery because they add so much dynamic lighting with relatively little effort.

(Check out our Atmospherics VDBs seen in the shuttle render here)

Is there anything you don't like about VDBs?

Nothing in particular, actually. The only thing I can think of would be that Vdbs can be very heavy on the system if they are detailed and dense. Especially with multiple light sources affecting them. At least in Octane. But I think that goes with any other object as well. The more detailed it is, the heavier it gets.

(Check out our Nebula VDBs seen above here)

What is your favorite thing about VDBs?

I love how much they can add to a render and how dynamic they react to light. And most software also support Vdb sequences which is a game changer. As it is the only way to have actual volumetric animations of fire, smoke and clouds, unless one simulates it directly inside C4D using something like TurbulenceFD.

I personally found it much easier and quicker to either get VDBs from the internet, like Pixel Lab. Or just create them myself using Embergen (that one definitely took my fear of simulations and made it fun, like playing a game).

(Learn more about VDBs in this article)

Any tips for people who haven't used VDBs yet?

Be prepared for slower render times, but a fantastic addition to your art. Get yourself comfortable with seeing how you can use light in combination with different VDBs you have. It can really spark some great ideas too.

What are your thoughts about the future of our industry?

I think it is going to be fine. The space might shift into different tasks than we do now. I believe it will shift more towards conceptualization and Raw rendering where the AI does the last 10% of the work, which in my opinion is something good. With software like magnific AI we can achieve a render quality that previously wasn’t even possible.

What are your thoughts on AI? Is it going to take all of our jobs?

I’m not against AI in general. I think it can be an incredible tool for us artists that we all should give a try and not be against from the get go.

The issue I see is the misuse of AI. AI will be something very dangerous in the wrong hands, and there are a lot of them. Also in the art world of course, it can be used as a tool to make our lives easier, but will also be used by corporate greed to save money and cut certain people out of a job.

So in conclusion, AI for the Artist as a tool is amazing! AI in combination with corporate greed, BAD!

Have you used AI in your work yet?

I have but in a very careful manner, as I don’t want my work to look like AI, and I also want my work to be my work which I crafted with my own hands.

I have no problem with AI helping me on certain things, like the last 10%. To me, it’s important that it doesn’t change my style/look. It still has to be me and leave me in full control.

I rarely use Midjourney for example, maybe once in a while when I have an artistic block, just to spark some inspiration. But I sometimes miss the times when AI was very bad, as it was able to spark inspiration but it was vague enough to still leave me some room for interpretation.

What I use AI for mainly actually is asset and texture creation. I use Stable diffusion to create certain textures I cannot find online, and use Controlnet to create the various channels for the render engine (Normal, displacement etc) and then use those in my renders.

What makes you most excited about the future of our industry?

Funny enough, as much as I’m afraid of it, I look forward to what AI will do to us artistically, as I don’t think it will be fully a bad thing.

Oh and real time rendering to be more widely supported. Unreal Engine speed, with Cinema 4D interface (and file size) and Octane lighting…..that….that would be THE thing for me.

Any tips for people who want to begin in this industry?

Find the right way to learn for you. What works for others doesn’t have to work for you. I started off with tutorials and thought I was just too dumb to learn anything when I didn’t understand or remember things from the tutorials. I learn most of the things by trial and error, it takes more time, but it will stay in my head forever and it gets me creative.

Business wise, or to gain clients, I think it is best to share your work as much as you can. If you want to work with a specific client, I have found the best way is to do something including that client. I mean something like fan art which more often than not they will see and if you’re at the right place at the right time, with the right product, they will get back to you.

It takes a little bit of luck as well. But it is definitely a way that has worked well for me in the past.

Where can we find out more about you and follow you?

My name is The Dizzy Viper (@thedizzyviper) on social media. I’m mainly active on Instagram where I post every single day. In my Bio there also is a Linktree that will direct you to other channels of mine, such as my YouTube, Twitch, Website, Asset Packs, Discord etc.