Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amarildo Junior. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amarildo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

One thing I’ve always had a problem with, was having to learn things that I had no affinity with. Instead of strengthening the traits I’m good at, the education system hammered everything in me, all at once.

The traditional education system has long been a cornerstone of society, but as we progress into the 21st century, it becomes increasingly evident that it needs a substantial update. The current model often operates in a “one-size-fits-all” approach, pushing students into absorbing a vast amount of information in a limited time frame, often neglecting the development of their unique qualities and talents. This approach, while well-intentioned, can lead to unintended consequences, including high-levels of stress, burnout, and a lack of holistic approach to personal development.

While I do believe students should have a good base curriculum on which they learn the basis of their language, mathematics, history, chemestry, etc, it becomes useless trying to hammer as many subjects as possible all at once after a certain age. Every individual has unique talents, interests, and strengths that should be celebrated and cultivated. By adopting a more student-centric approach, we can empower learners to explore their own passions, develop their strengths, and build a sense of self-awareness.

Amarildo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I mainly provide two services: – for clients that want to showcase their product, I deliver beautiful renders that won’t break the bank.
– for smaller studios struggling with their pipeline and/or in need of a Senior Artist in Maya, I provide solutions that streamline production and removes redundancies. On my last job, I was named “Tech Support” even though I was hired as an artist.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

It’s stupid. There, I said it.

I don’t hold back on my opinions, and I certainly won’t do it for NFT’s.
There are basically two types of person when it comes to NFT’s: the ones trying to sell it, and the ones ignorant enough to buy them. And it’s not like you’re buying a tangible thing like a unique picture or object – you’re not even buying the NFT image/video, you’re basically buying the rights to receipt. It’s like buying a “unique” computer program but not actually having the rights to the program itself, the only thing you actually own is the receipt that says you bought the thing.

Many people bought NFT’s that were made of copyrighted material and thought they actually got the rights to the material. They didn’t. They were screwed over by conmen.

It’s a good thing that more than 95% of NFT’s are basically worthless now.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Many people know I made a project for Autodesk’s Executive Vice President. What many don’t know is that the project almost didn’t happen.

I was basically broke, and my computer wouldn’t be able to handle the project as it was a complex 3D scene. And even though the company that hired me paid 50% of my quote in advance (that’s how I charge), it wouldn’t come until several days later, thanks to Brazil’s inefficient banking system.

So, what did I do?

Gladly, my bank had just increased my CC limit and I was able to buy some new computer parts that could handle the project. And while they didn’t arrive, I was doing the parts of the scene that were light enough on resources so that my current computer (at the time) could handle.

It worked out. About a week later they arrived and I was able to finish the project on time.

But there’s a missing detail there: I REALLY wanted to do the project in Maya (made by Autodesk). However, after a while I just didn’t like the results that both Arnold and VRay were giving me, in terms of looks AND performance. In addition, after some talk with the client, we decided to not do the environment as images (HDRi) and instead we decided to make an actual 3D environment. Problem was, I didn’t have any nature assets for Maya.
That’s when we came to the conclusion that we could use Blender, which is basically a “competitor” for Maya. There was this great nature addon called Botaniq, for Blender, which was cheap enough we could buy it, and it worked out great for us.

In the end, while I wanted to use Maya for the production, I had to resort to Blender. People may not realize this, but it’s like using Pepsi to do a Coke commercial.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toquitaaa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/a.santini.junior/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amarildo-junior-a57666258/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdyqMH1x9oDaR7ACiexO1rw
• Other: https://www.artstation.com/toquita

Image Credits
All the credits go to meeee