Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Lau.
Rebecca, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I completed my studies in Foundation in Design in Malaysia from Taylors University in 2019. I was able to work as a track and field coach where I coach little kids from 6-12 years old including special needs kids in athletics. After that, I went to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Animation with a concentration in Technical Animation in 2023. In my years at SCAD aside from studying Technical Animation, I also took a minor in Character Technical Direction (Rigging) and a minor in Visual Effects. In my junior year at SCAD, I was able to secure an internship position under the XBOX Summer Apprenticeship program for 343 Industries and I was able to work on future content during my time there.
Art has always been a part of my life as I grew up. I was classically trained in piano and singing. I was also trained in classical ballet and participated in a couple of school-hosted musical events which would also include traditional dances. A core memory as a kid was when my mom used to work in a stationary company called Pelikan and whenever she is back from a business trip, she would bring back test samples of the product and I would end up sculpting with clays, painting with the different types of paint mediums and colouring with either oil or chalk pastels and making a huge mess. I grew up loving to experiment with different mediums as they let me explore and mix different mediums together.
I love to bring ideas to life. Tech art has allowed me to be in the intersection between art and technology and I love the creative and technical aspects of the field and have been pursuing it ever since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The challenges that I faced has helped me to grow into a better artist, individual and leader.
One of the biggest challenges that I faced when completing my degree was when I was at SCAD Hong Kong and the protests were at its peak and sometimes, school will have to shut down for safety reasons, and that was the slow start to a virtual learning setting. The following year when I moved to SCAD Savannah, COVID-19 hit, and everything was transitioned to online learning. I spent almost two years doing online classes and that was a challenge by itself as I had to adapt to a virtual classroom setting. I was home for a year and the timezone for Malaysia and Savannah was exactly 12 hours apart. Which means if I am having a 2pm class in Savannah, I will have to be awake at 2am in Malaysia time to be there for my classes. Despite of all those struggles, Through virtual learning, I was able to complete my minors whilst taking major classes. I was also able to help a couple of senior capstone films and MFA Thesis films while juggling my classes.
I came into SCAD not knowing a single thing there is to know about technical animation. There were a lot of all-nighters and self-learning on top of the school curriculum to keep my knowledge and skills at least on the same-ish par as my peers who have already had a certificate or degree prior to being at SCAD or are able to take external classes outside of SCAD which is hard for me due to financial difficulties.
As a Malaysian international student, and I’m sure many other international students would feel the same, I feel the pressure and struggle with not being ‘seen as the same’ and I have worked really hard to get to where I am today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a 3D Character Technical Artist, my focus is on creating rigs with the help of Python (a programming language) to automate my process. I also do character effects (hair, cloth, fluid, and pyro simulations) to enhance the story and look of the character. I am also proficient in 3D modeling for props and environments, surfacing and lighting. I always believe that a good environment helps to set a good setting to set a mood of the story.
My work is known for going towards the naturalistic/realistic/semi-realism/sci-fi style and I tailor most of my work towards that genre.
What sets me apart from others is that I love creatures. I love to work on gory, weird, gross sometimes scary-looking creatures as they feel like a puzzle for me to solve, one problem at a time. The weirder the creature, the better! They are such fun characters to work with as there are so much you can do with, for example after making the rigs for the creature, then simulating fatty belly and jiggle physics for skin as the character moves that would bring out so much more life into the character! I get so excited talking/thinking about things like this.
I also love working on robots (eg. droids from Star Wars) I’m a huge fan of those droids I am currently challenging myself to work on one of the droids. Hard Surface characters have their own problems to solve where it is super fun as you have to figure out a way for a robotic-looking character with a bunch of parts on a limb to move fluidly and make it look like all the parts move together.
I’m super proud to say that I will be joining the XBOX Summer Apprenticeship program with Turn 10 as a Technical Artist Intern, which is very exciting!
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck plays a factor in success and failure. Being able to meet wonderful people, establishing connections, and seizing good opportunities. I believe luck is being able to plan and to be at the right place at the right time
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rebeccalau.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccalau.art/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccalauart/
- Other: https://www.artstation.com/rebeccalau
