William Faucher

Meet William Faucher

Realtime Technical Director and Unreal Artist
william-faucher-headshot

About William

About William

Mentor of Realtime

William has been in the entertainment industry for the past 11 years, starting as a 3D Modeler in the games industry, then becoming a Lighter, and DoP. The Canadian-born, Norway-based Unreal Artist is currently helping to create CG Spectrum's Realtime Technical Artist and Virtual Production course.

William's work includes VFX/CGI shots in Marvel's Black Panther, and HBO's Watchmen.

Learn from William

William shares his passion and knowledge with aspiring artists and creators through Unreal Engine tutorials such as this one:

William-Faucher-Unreal-Cinematic

Q&A with William

Which city are you currently based in?

Oslo, Norway

What did your pathway into the industry look like?

I started my career back in 2008 when I got my foot in the door of the industry working in architectural visualization. I worked in advertising, then bumped my way up into modelling and texturing in the games industry. After a brief hiatus, I joined the film industry working on Black Panther, and eventually HBO's Watchmen. Now I am working freelance, taking on modelling and lighting jobs, but also creating educational content about Unreal Engine on YouTube.

What has been the best experience of your career so far?

Funny enough, the best part of my career has been the sense of camaraderie with colleagues. Being in the trenches with your fellow colleagues in film productions is one of the best feelings. It creates a close sense of fellowship, a bond that lasts forever. My colleagues end up being my closest friends. Those are the fond memories I look back on.

What’s your advice for your students?

Never stop learning and never stop asking questions. There's always more to learn, always more to create. Don't worry so much about creating the perfect work of art, just focus on seeing a project through to completion. There's always the next piece.

 

 

Learn from industry pros 

With the rise of virtual production, how important will it be for content creators to understand Unreal Engine basics?

Unreal Engine is certainly at the forefront of virtual production at the moment, there isn’t a single other engine that can even come close to competing with what Unreal offers. And until another worthy competitor comes along to rival it, learning Unreal Engine will be rather quite important.

There is a HUGE demand for Unreal Engine artists at the moment, and with UE5 here, now’s the time to get as big of a head start as possible.

Who knows what the future will bring though, it’s entirely possible that Unreal Engine will be dethroned by newer, younger, sexier tool-set.

What do you enjoy most about being a CG Spectrum mentor?

I've always had a penchant for helping people in my field of work. I love answering questions and finding solutions to people's problems. I like that here at CG Spectrum, I'm in touch with other mentors who are extraordinarily skilled in their respective fields, and it's a humbling experience. Even with over a decade of work under my belt, it's always good to be reminded there is so much you don't know.

How do you stay creative outside of work?

I try to get out of the office as much as I can! Whether that's photography, camping, hiking, being outdoors is my favorite way to turn off my brain and recharge my batteries. I also try to get one side project going at a time, just to get a change of pace from the work I have to do on a daily basis. I get to create things I wouldn't normally get to do at work.

What excites you most about the future of games and film?

Unreal Engine 5. I love that now we can start focusing less and less on the technical nitty gritty, and really focus on the art and storytelling instead.  The results deliver.

Read our interview with William, watch his Unreal tutorials, or connect through Artstation or LinkedIn.

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