Meet the Masters: Agathe Préfontaine

My background

Hi Sketchfab! I work as an intermediate 3D artist at Trebuchet, a studio part of the Indie Asylum, an ecosystem of indie studios in Montreal, Canada. Trebuchet specializes in VR video games. The last title I worked on, Broken Edge; a sword fighting game, launched in 2022. I am also a part-time lecturer at l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

I’ve always had a keen interest in arts and video games. I got bored of traditional art as I wasn’t enjoying it. It only made sense for me to choose a university program in video game development. I just knew that it was what I wanted to do even if I had no knowledge of how everything worked. I went to l’UQAT and I graduated in 2017. It actually took me a year before landing a 3D artist job. Meanwhile, I worked as a QA on mobile games at Enzyme for Warner Bro. Ten months later, Trebuchet offered me a job. I learned a lot for the last 6 years and I’m still learning! It was hard for me at first to grasp basic 3D techniques. I’m really proud of all the work I’ve put in and how comfortable I am now with creating and being an artist. It was always a struggle for me to trust myself and show off my work, especially as a student. Since then, I’ve been given amazing opportunities and now I also teach, something I thought wouldn’t happen so soon in my career!

Expertise

Being an artist in an indie studio is truly amazing because I can contribute to the art direction as well as expressing my opinion on the project. I get to not only model environment props, but also characters, a challenge I’ve recently achieved. I’m always learning new techniques and expanding my knowledge. Working on video games is awesome, but VR games need to be heavily optimized for various technical reasons. As a result, my models are really low poly along with the textures being compressed a lot. Although I love working for Trebuchet and get challenged, sometimes I want to create my own art with my own style without the constraints of video game production.

I love to create small stylized dioramas because it doesn’t take months, usually, to finish them. That being said, it can be demotivating to work on a huge scene outside work hours while also taking time off from the computer. When I’m searching for inspiration, I get ideas from ordinary objects or concepts from incredible artists.

I also doodle objects from everyday life while watching TV shows.Then I recreate them in 3D with a good composition to make a diorama. I like simple shapes and simple textures—nothing too noisy—along with interesting silhouettes, all without neglecting good storytelling through composition, colors, and lighting. Back in 2020, I preferred shadeless rendering, but I would occasionally do a PBR scene because it did add something depending on the subject. For example, in Piggy’s Treasure, I really wanted to make the coins feel valuable and precious.

My textures are mostly gradients with the curvature and ambient occlusion maps baked in. A good gradient will do wonders for your albedo/diffuse. But lately, I’ve been experimenting and feeling more comfortable with PBR. The textures are still simple with light gradients and curvature highlights. It does not need to be complicated!

Sketchfab

I’ve been on Sketchfab since my first year at university. A teacher showed us the platform and I was amazed by what the website could offer. I would spend hours just turning around models and analyzing how they were made hoping that I, one day, could share my art. It is now my turn to show off Sketchfab with my students and help them elevate their presentation. Being able to see the wireframe, the different maps used, the vertex color, the UV checker, etc, is truly a big help to understand the creative process. The 3D editor is also really simple to understand and to set up. Sketchfab is a powerful tool to use to find references as well as sharing art with others.

When I started posting my dioramas back in 2020, I hoped to get noticed and earn my first staff pick. Not only did I get one, but also an Art Spotlight on the blog and a postcard. These are really nice rewards and they give a nice visibility to your creations. I think it’s a really awesome way to thank the users for producing quality content.

As a new member of the Masters program, I want to continue to share my 3D creations as well as highlighting other artist’s creations and promote Sketchfab! I also want to be more involved in the community by trying to help others with their 3D content. I’m always willing to offer advice!